The festive season is fast approaching, and that means dinner parties with friends, Christmas stockings, festivities and the dreaded office raffle. Whilst you always vow to plan and shop ahead every year, it just never happens. So, Bitesize has curated a mix and match of easily accessible gift stops you could make before heading to your friend’s potluck feast. We have an eclectic mix of fun things for the stocking, as well as thoughtful gimmicks.

Now, let’s get 2020 over with.

Another Story (For the last minute pit stop)

We assume you’re all familiar with Another Story, the curated multi brand store that sits in Emquartier and acts as like easy pit stop for presents before you meet friends for dinner in Sukhumvit. It’s one of those places where even if you pick out two small things, it’ll look like you made the effort.

This is where we’d go if we wanted to have a gift in hand, but not a specific person in mind.

Peruse the colorful counters, stacked with generally likeable items like notebooks, soaps and decorative goods which could be great for a Christmas raffle on a budget, or simply a personalized gift with nice wrapping.

Everyone’s going to know you stopped by Emquartier before dinner, anyway.

Kinto (for the one who’s #WFH, or that sporty friend)

Kinto is a Japanese import that sells modern, minimalistic and (mostly) reasonably priced coffee cups, glasses and on the go water bottles. It’s accessible and honestly? it’s not too hard to please someone by choosing a to go coffee flask in their favorite color.

Again, this present also works when you’re not quite sure what to get someone but you don’t want them to think no effort was made. Or, it could be an ideal addition to your friend (who’s still working from home)’s morning ritual of AM news together with drip coffee.

There is something calming about a nice drip bag with a Kinto glass. For those who are buying presents for coffee enthusiasts, we also recommend checking Kinto’s online store, where they sell a series of well designed coffee equipment, from pour over kettles to cold brew carafes.

White Wood Green (for your boyfriend’s mother)

Your significant other’s mother is exactly who you’d like to be on good terms with. There’s no better way to impress a potential in-law than to gift her with a voucher to Bangkok’s newest spa, White Wood Green, which is tucked away in the leafy part of Ekamai and enclosed within serene, modern landscapes.

Not only is this a perfect gift of relaxation and self care, it’s also a subtle way of saying you’d like her to relax a little (we’re kidding).

White Wood Green has quickly become one of our favorite spas, with its natural light, soothing treatments and generally giving off the feeling that you’ve stepped away from the bustle. A voucher is perfect, because whoever is receiving the gift has the option of choosing whichever treatment she fancies.

A little insider tip? WWG recently launched a casual clothing line under the same name, and sells it on the third floor of the building at its multi-label concept store. This is also worth rummaging around for gifts, but definitely keep the voucher for your mother in-law’s hectic day.

You’ll thank us later.

Warehouse 30 (for that colleague you don’t quite know)

Personally, we really like to head over to Warehouse 30 in Charoenkrung for a nice Sunday afternoon stroll with some quick bites and coffee. Tucked inside the warehouse, there are some carefully curated multi-brands hidden behind Library Coffee, housing some local brands such as Anan Soap Bar (now this is a perfect stockings gift), we personally like the advocado smell-just saying.

Also nestled among the local brands are scented candles, ceramic plates and mugs, as well as other homey things you can grab for a few different people. This place is like the slightly edgier Another Story, with some crossover brands at that. This place would be top of mind when we’re gifting someone we don’t know all that well-perhaps you share a desk, or worked on a presentation together this year.

Warehouse 30 is perfect for when you have an afternoon to browse, take your time with coffee, and pick up a few affordable but nice gifts for your colleagues along the way. What more, you can also gain some anecdotes for small talk the next time someone tells you how much they love Charoenkrung.

Roots (for the coffee connoisseur)

Bangkok’s very own Roots Coffee, known for its locally sourced coffee and charismatic beans, cold brew bottles with well designed packaging has released its festive gift sets, ranging from Christmas inspired Holiday Brew with a tint of cherry to gift sets where you can pair the coffee beans with a french press or a cold brew tumbler.

This is the perfect place to grab a gift for whoever drinks coffee, and you can simply head over to their website, click “add to basket” without getting up. We, for one, love to receive festive themed gifts, we’re eying that Christmas brew for ourselves already-is it snowing outside?

Cheese & Wine (for your significant other)

This is a nice, thoughtful gift you can customize for your significant other, close friend, or that aunt who always seems to be knocking back the drinks before noon.

Head over to Cheese n Wine‘s instagram profile and choose from their many bottles of wine, ready to be delivered. There’s a nice selection to choose from, and what we really like is the special drawing you can customize. Why not choose a picture you snapped from that wild weekend, or a cozy snap with your pets at home? The picture will be drawn and stuck on the bottle as a label, and you win points for being extra thoughtful.

Promptkin (for family and clients)

The festive season is also time when you do the rotational rounds of visiting clients, suppliers, manufacturers and distant relatives. For this particular occasion, you don’t want to show up with quirky scented candles, but instead opt for a special curated festive box from Bangkok based Promptkin, a locally sourced and grown food brand that specializes in ready made salted fish, Thai seasonings and instant curry packages for that very client who doesn’t cook well. In this case, the new year box is already curated for the price of THB750, all you need to do is click “buy now” through their various online channels; Line, Shopee and Lazada.