Bangkok
16 – 20 May 2023 | 20 – 23 June 2023

Sawadee kha!

We successfully organised not one, but two study trips over the past month due to overwhelming response from members to visit the exciting shopping scene at Bangkok’s shopping malls. The two groups of 40 participants each were excited to see what’s new as Thailand was the first country in the region to re-open their borders to tourists after the pandemic.

Participants on both trips gained invaluable insights from the unique characteristics of each of the lively malls we visited, with participants enjoying the eye-catching interior designs, unique mall layouts as well as the vibrant shops run by local Thai retailers. As some participants shared, it was an ‘overall good learning experience’ and ‘all the malls had different characteristics and were fascinating’.

Travelling outside your home country will definitely open up our minds and our senses, especially when we are there to recce shopping malls and the retail scenario. Do continue reading for quick thumbnails of the Bangkok malls we visited – revel in their inimitable characteristics from pet-friendly amenities to quirky washroom décor to fashionable, luxury living and even a floating market inside a luxury mall.

Central Festival Eastville (CFE) was designed with the concept of The New Nature Experience of Bangkok. Indeed, nature was both indoors and outdoors, as part of the beautifully landscaped mall was open-air with natural ventilation, which at times, proved to be very warm thereby cleverly driving shoppers into the air-conditioned retail spaces. Open since 2015, CFE is very pet-friendly with a specific area offering a ‘Dog & Cat Cart Service’ for shoppers to stroll with their pets all over the mall, as well as discreet facilities for pet waste disposal. Above it all, the Sky Run, an open air running track is located on the top floor together with FarmLab – altogether the most unique amenities found in a typical shopping mall.

Asiatique The Riverfront opened in 2012 as a shopping and leisure space, having been converted from the docks and warehouses built during the late 1890’s. This clever re-use of the defunct port successfully combines two of the most popular shopping experiences in Bangkok, a night bazaar and a mall and also offers entertainment and the international dining choices.

At both Terminal 21 Asok and Terminal 21 Rama 3 malls in Bangkok, each retail floor represents different touristic cities from around the world with London, Paris, Tokyo, Istanbul, San Francisco and Rome at Asok whilst Rama 3 features Caribbean Street, Paris, London, Istanbul, Tokyo, San Francisco and Hollywood. These malls’ one-of-a-kind experience involves our basic necessities at the washrooms a.k.a. toilets, with the décor leading to and inside the mall toilets being uniquely themed after the various locations. Participants reckoned that the cleaning and maintenance must be meticulous and indeed, the toilets had high standards of hygiene and cleanliness. Both malls offered specialty stores and fashion shops plus a value-for-money food court and hundreds of instagrammable spots over all the floors.

At yet another mall, Emquartier, the unique feature here is the impressive spiral walkway with food and beverage outlets lined along both sides. Opened since 2015 and directly linked to the BTS Sky Train station which was also landscaped by the mall developers, Emquartier also has a suspended landscaped centrepiece décor with an open-air garden on the fifth floor and a five-storey waterfall. It is one of the three malls in the ‘EM District’, including the existing Emporium and EmSphere currently under construction.

The well-known Siam Paragon is one of the most popular shopping malls in Bangkok, housing, amongst others, multiple international high-end fashion brands, luxury car showrooms, an aquarium and a comprehensive selection of world cuisine. The focus at Siam Paragon is fashionable, luxury living.

Within close walking distance are its sister malls, Siam Centre and Siam Discovery which have been extensively renovated and relaunched respectively as Siam Centre – The Ideaopolis, focusing on imagination and creativity and Siam Discovery – The Exploratorium. The interior décor of Siam Discovery is unusual and somewhat ‘arty’ and styles itself as the first and biggest specialty lifestyle store.

IconSiam opened in 2018 and is known as the ‘Mother of All Malls’ offering high-end brands, an indoor floating market, Sook Siam, an art gallery and an exhibition space. The eye-catching dining zone ‘Paradise of Eatery’ on the sixth floor is designed by leading Thai artists and also houses the mall’s iconic 15-meter waterfall. With its beautiful riverside location, it also features a fountain show every evening.

Central World is one of Bangkok’s largest malls with the largest Apple Store in South East Asia. It originally opened in 1990 as the Word Trade Centre but has since gone through several extensive renovations and in 2005, relaunched with its current name. Adjacent to Central World is the Bangkok Convention Centre and a five-star hotel. It is also probably one of very few malls with its supermarket located on the top floor.