Photography Thailand Forum

[lancemueller]

Does anyone have knowledge of a local vendor in BKK that sells large sheets of white tile board (or equivalent)?  In the US, these are readily available at most hardware stores and come in 4ft X 8 ft sheets, for at $10US. These sheets are bright white (normally used as wall paneling) and have a reflective white finish that a resembles glass reflection when shot on an angle. You can see a picture of it here:
http://lightandpixels.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/20090329-121624-238x300.jpg


I have checked Home pro, but they dont seem to carry any items like that. They do have large panels of "future board" which are great as a reflector, but not as a surface to stand on.

Alternatively, if anyone knows of a local source for large sheets of thin acrylic or plexiglass, please let me know. B2S sells small pieces (60cm X 60cm), but I am looking for something at least 1.5 meters X 1.5 meters.

Thanks,
Lance

[Marc Schultz]

The only place to really get stuff like that is down in the China Town area. They sell 4' x 8' sheets of reflective acrylic / PVC in just about every color under the sun. Same size as a sheet of plywood. Something around 3mm thick is good. Otherwise 5mm its too thick and heavy to deal with and 2mm is so thin it would crack too easily. Around 2,000 Baht a sheet if I remember correctly. This is one shop I have bought some from:

Khun Prasit Sitijitrawat
Ekasilp Bangkok Co., Ltd
119-121 Siyek Worachak
Luang Road
Thepsirin, Pomprab
Bangkok 10100

Tel. 02-223-9101 / 02-221-8859-60 / 02-221-6393

[lancemueller]

Mark,

I meant to reply to this sooner, thanks for the info. I never made it to chinatown, but I did find 4' X 8' white tile board in 4mm, 6mm & 8mm thickness from a local hardware shop on Ramintra Road in Bang Khen. 6mm thickness cost me 500 baht for one 4' X 8' sheet, and they delivered it.

Its a perfect reflective surface for stock and full-body portraits. I have also found large sheets of white & black future board at Home Pro for 300 baht. These are very light, flexible and great to use as a reflector or flag.

[Marc Schultz]

Your welcome Lance. Glad to know you found something that works. Also, good to know about the large pieces of future board at Home Pro. Black obviously wouldn't work as a reflector, but good for a flag. Do they have white as well and approximately what is the size of it if you recall?

[lancemueller]

Marc (sorry  ),

I am using the black as flags/gobos and the white as reflectors. In fact I took one large piece of future board and cut a circular hole in the middle to stick my lens through. The future board is so light and flexible, I have been curving it into a half circle and effectively having it "wrap" around a person. I then hit the future board with a flash from behind which diffuses it and spreads it across the entire length of the future board. Its like having a huge (8 foot) strip softbox that I can wrap around the front of a person.

The pieces of future board that I found at Home Pro are very large. They are approximately 1.2 meters wide by 2.5 meters tall. They are essentially the same size a a sheet of plywood or the white tile board that I bought.

Lance