SEA 2023 (7/17) – Bangkok: Malls

Malls were a big part of our daily itinerary in Bangkok. First reason was that, like in many other Asian cities, there were these gigantic and ritzy shopping complexes worthy to be tourist destinations. Second reason was that we needed air-conditioned hideout from the tropical Southeast Asian climate.

centralwOrld

Yeah, I hate the spelling, too, but that’s how this mall brands itself. Being diagonally across the intersection from our hotel at the Erawan Shrine in Siam Square, this was the first place we visited in the entire city.

On the top floor, adjacent to what looked like 5,000 restaurants, was a food court with a street food cart theme. We had our very first meal here. It was just alright, but fun.

This was a giant mall and we ended up spending a whole afternoon here and fighting against jet lag. There was some sort of celebrity appearance on stage that drew waves of young girl screams. Too bad we didn’t do homework on Thai celebrities and had no idea who we were missing out on.

ICONSIAM

Located on Chao Phraya River with a dedicated pier and a dedicated BTS station, ICONSIAM was only a few years old and one of the nicest malls we had ever seen in the world.

This mall gave off Dubai vibes left and right – grand, rich, and blingy. You’d get a sense of “don’t touch anything because if you break it we can’t afford to pay for it.” On the 6th floor was an indoor waterfall called Alangkarn, but it wasn’t running when we checked it out.

Of course, the true quality of a place isn’t reflected on the store fronts… it’s reflected in its bathrooms. ICONSIAM’s bathrooms were totally amazing.

On the ground floor was a feature that interested me the most – Sook Siam, the food court built to look like a floating market. The idea was neat and the pictures looked gorgeous, but in reality the “floating market” part was merely a long pool of water with some anchored props on it, so consider it falling short of expectations.

The food court itself was bustling to a point of almost overcrowding, which we enjoyed. However, the utter lack of seating made it an unpleasant experience to dodge people while holding plates of food.

Terminal 21

Terminal 21 wasn’t in Siam Square or on the river, and its stores were more down to earth for the commoners than other malls on this list. We wouldn’t have gone out of way to see it if it weren’t conveniently near Ung Jia Huad, a hole in the wall that we had to eat at. However, it turned out to be the most fun experience of them all.

This mall was travel themed – with each floor decorated to look like a famous international city, and the escalators made to look like airport departure and arrival gates. From bottom to top were Caribbean, Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London, Istanbul, San Francisco (2 floors), and Hollywood (appropriately occupied by a cinema). We were flattered that our home city and state were so prominently featured. The theme was not limited to paints, props, and fixtures, either. There were several large sculptures such as a lighthouse, Golden Gate Bridge, and London bus fully integrated into the building’s design.

There was a bakery at the bottom level (Caribbean) that made these super cute cakes. We couldn’t resist, and brought a fox one back to the hotel. Unfortunately, its qualities were limited to the looks.

Now, we weren’t fully impressed until we needed a bio break… the bathroom was totally faithful to the corresponding theme, too. This meant a different set of bathroom signs, sinks, faucets, and more on each floor. Some of these components were so customized that it was hard to imagine the cost of maintenance in this mall’s operating budget.

So we did what any reasonable tourist would do – visit the bathroom on every floor. Looking for a toilet anywhere else had never brought us this much joy.

Siam Paragon

We saved this one for the last day because it was close to our hotel and often regarded as the best mall in Bangkok. It fell a bit short of that anticipation as being less playful than Terminal 21 and not as glitzy as ICONSIAM. Though it was home to that incredible aquarium, so that counted for something.

Aside from the aquarium, at this mall we spent the most time in a Kinokuniya bookstore. It was a treasure, but in an awkward way. The store was dominated with Chinese and English books, each taking up more visible real estate than anything in the Thai language. I’m not sure how I’d feel about such foreign invasion if I were a local. But there was plenty to keep Hong and the kids busy, and I was ecstatic to see shelves full of comic books from my childhood… some of which I thought were long out of print. I looked real hard in the Thai-language comic book section hoping to buy a copy of something I recognized (translated from HK or Japan) as souvenir, but failed to find it.

We had lunch in the basement food court, and made sure to get a couple plates from Thip Samai, the supposedly queen of pad thai in Thailand. We had no hope of getting in its OG location, and didn’t want to wait in line at its sit-down outlet in ICONSIAM. This stall, which we merely stumbled upon, was a far more accessible option. Though the staff here made gigantic batches of pad thai in a big wok, which I’d suspect not to be the best this brand had to offer.

Southeast Asia 2023 – Index

1. Kicking Off 15 Intensely Fun Days in Thailand and Singapore
2. Attempting the Thai Language
3. Modes of Transportation
4. Bangkok: Grand Hyatt Erawan
5. Bangkok: Itinerary 1
6. Bangkok: Itinerary 2
7. Bangkok: Malls
8. Overnight Train to Chiang Mai
9. Chiang Mai: Itinerary
10. Chiang Mai: Elephants!!!
11. Chiang Rai: Itinerary
12. Wats in Thailand
13. Notable Eats in Thailand
14. Singapore: Itinerary
15. Singapore: Deja Vu
16. Singapore: Changi Airport & Flight Home
17. Notable Eats in Singapore