Lights, color, crowds, roaring music, concerts, food, contained chaos....it sounds like a festival, but it's a mall. In the kingdom's capitol, malls are almost as ubiquitous as embassies. And they give me a headache.
It would seem easy enough to avoid malls. At home, I walk into a mall perhaps two to three times a year. I'm not a mall shopper and when I do go, I have a specific errand in mind - run into Nordstrom for cologne, go to the Apple Store to test iPad's, buy Emily's Aveda shampoo. Specific, non-everyday errands.
But in Bangkok, malls are somehow unavoidable. It's as if they've built themselves around the arteries of society. Malls are the home of drugstores, supermarkets, movie theaters, chain restaurants (past sushi runs, Sizzler, Thai sukiyaki...).
It feels like we've spent most of the last 24 hours in and out of malls. First it was the movies. As I've mentioned in a post from our February Bangkok visit, Bangkok has the best movie theaters in the world - hands down. A trip to the movies is one of my favorite things to do here. Big comfy seats, first class luxury theaters at prices cheaper than a regular seat at home, giant screens, the latest sound technology and the King's Anthem - my favorite piece of nationalism ever - before the movie.
So we grabbed dinner at a restaurant in the mall and caught a movie (Hangover II, filmed here in Bangkok) - a clean, nice, comfortable way to spend a Friday night.
Today, after shopping one of the most tailor-filled streets in Bangkok, we decided to go back to a tailor we noticed in Malbukrong - one of Bangkok's first Siam Square malls. It had a great advertised special and seemed worth checking out.
I was in the market for a suit. Because on the 27th we head directly to a wedding in Vermont without stopping off at home, I can't access my suits. Emily and I decided our best course of action was to have a suit made for me in Bangkok.
Although it turned out the advertised special had a catch and was sort of false advertising, the price was the same as three other tailors outside the mall and the nice Nepali guy who worked there closed the deal. There's no way Emily was giving her business to someone other than a Nepali if she had the choice.
For $165, I have a made to order, blue wool pin striped suit and dress shirt on the way. Sure, it's not as cheap as a Bangkok tailor once was, but it's a great deal on a suit nonetheless and how often do you get a tailor made suit?
Meanwhile, Emily is scouring the malls for a dress, shoes and makeup. In every country we get Emily a dress - and she's found one fairly easily everywhere but here in Bangkok. So, she's finally set herself to task. Of course, the shoes and makeup are for the wedding.
The thing that makes Thai malls so amazing is that they're more modern and advanced than anything we have at home - and yet, completely chaotic. Malls here aren't just places to shop and hang out, they're places to be entertained - they're complete experiences.
That means the decor has to in-and-of-itself stimulate and entertain. There's not a wall without a poster, advertisement, sign or design. Lights fill every part of the mall - from the bright lights that light up the walkways to the colored lights that accent signs to the ones behind translucent walls that add to the decor. Colored lights even line the escalators, elevators, and restrooms.
Floor plans and layouts are bizarre. Every mall has multiple sets of escalators, leading to different sections of the massive buildings. Each floor has pathways that branch out in various directions, leading to different corners and corridors - some coming to dead ends. The bizarrely staggered escalators can make figuring out how to go from bottom to top and back again a strategy game. Only a true Chutes and Ladders champion can get in and out of a Bangkok mall with ease.
Malls always have something going on. Stores place displays of sale merchandise in the center courts. Large companies host promotional events in front of or in the middle of malls. Adidas is having a sportswear skateboarding demonstration in front of the one in which I'm writing complete with loud music and a troop of more than 20 performers.
Along with all the special entertainment, the newer malls have amusement parks and complexes. The Paragon, for example, has a Ocean World on the bottom floor and a children's amusement park on the top. It also has automobile showrooms, art galleries -and a sports hall. With restaurants lining every floor and two stories of Bangkok's nicest movie theaters at the top - a total of 22 screens including IMAX, digital and regular theaters - the Paragon people hope you'll stay all day and maybe come back for more.
It's hard not to - the Paragon is irresistible in a sick sort of way. I was impressed that among it's culinary offerings, the Paragon has a Le Notre - one of the nicest patisseries and pastry schools in France with locations in Paris, Cannes and now Bangkok. Le Notre where I majorly splurged just to have an afternoon snack in France is operating in Bangkok.
American chains are well represented too. The malls include Tony Roma's, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Sizzler, TGI Friday's, Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse, McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, 13 Coins (shout out to Seattle!), Swensen's (remember them?!) and A&W - just to name a few.
Amazingly, these are just some of the international chains. Malls have Thai and Japanese chains plus loads of food court stands - which far outnumber the restaurants. People go to malls just to grab a bite.
Someone at home might read this and think - yeah, but people at home are completely sucked into our malls as well - we're just as consumerist. True 'dat. However, Thais take it to the next level. These malls are bigger than anything I've ever seen at home. Couples, families, groups of friends just fritter the days away walking their corridors. Something about it is the hollowest of hollow.
It's also a sign of the times. Despite it still being a third world country, Thailand is a nation on the rise. Wealth and the standard of living have increased dramatically in the past decade. More people than ever have expendable income. Thailand is wealthier than it has ever been. In our current global climate, nothing shows success like conspicuous consumerism. It's the place to be when you've made it and no one understands the importance of appearances like Thailand.
That's why Siam Square - Bangkok's central shopping area - now boasts five malls where 10 years ago there were two. Around the city, there are all sorts of new malls ranging all the way out to the far suburbs. In 2001, there was one mall in the suburban area of Bangkapi - today three. I've noticed that they now build malls around supermarkets and hyper-marts instead of just department stores as they did before.
Gerald Ford once said that it made him sad that when he traveled, he so often felt that the world took mostly the worst aspects of American culture. That's how I feel about the massive consumerism and mall culture of Bangkok.
Yet, here I am - writing from a Starbucks in a mall in Siam Square while my wife runs around looking for a dress, shoes and makeup. My iced tea tastes good. It's hard to escape the familiar and even harder to take the hard stand.
Even more, it's equally difficult to say, "No, you shouldn't go this way. You shouldn't do as we do and what we have. Find something better - something more meaningful...." while I go home and stop by the Topanga Mall to grab my wife some salon shampoo and conditioner.
For better and worse, many Bangkok Thais are increasingly living the dream. And while I wonder if they aren't borrowing someone else's dream - I can say with their bright colors, hive of activity, light entertainment and social use of their malls, they're living it their way.
**Photos to be posted in a few hours.
Sent from my iPad
It would seem easy enough to avoid malls. At home, I walk into a mall perhaps two to three times a year. I'm not a mall shopper and when I do go, I have a specific errand in mind - run into Nordstrom for cologne, go to the Apple Store to test iPad's, buy Emily's Aveda shampoo. Specific, non-everyday errands.
But in Bangkok, malls are somehow unavoidable. It's as if they've built themselves around the arteries of society. Malls are the home of drugstores, supermarkets, movie theaters, chain restaurants (past sushi runs, Sizzler, Thai sukiyaki...).
It feels like we've spent most of the last 24 hours in and out of malls. First it was the movies. As I've mentioned in a post from our February Bangkok visit, Bangkok has the best movie theaters in the world - hands down. A trip to the movies is one of my favorite things to do here. Big comfy seats, first class luxury theaters at prices cheaper than a regular seat at home, giant screens, the latest sound technology and the King's Anthem - my favorite piece of nationalism ever - before the movie.
So we grabbed dinner at a restaurant in the mall and caught a movie (Hangover II, filmed here in Bangkok) - a clean, nice, comfortable way to spend a Friday night.
Today, after shopping one of the most tailor-filled streets in Bangkok, we decided to go back to a tailor we noticed in Malbukrong - one of Bangkok's first Siam Square malls. It had a great advertised special and seemed worth checking out.
I was in the market for a suit. Because on the 27th we head directly to a wedding in Vermont without stopping off at home, I can't access my suits. Emily and I decided our best course of action was to have a suit made for me in Bangkok.
Although it turned out the advertised special had a catch and was sort of false advertising, the price was the same as three other tailors outside the mall and the nice Nepali guy who worked there closed the deal. There's no way Emily was giving her business to someone other than a Nepali if she had the choice.
For $165, I have a made to order, blue wool pin striped suit and dress shirt on the way. Sure, it's not as cheap as a Bangkok tailor once was, but it's a great deal on a suit nonetheless and how often do you get a tailor made suit?
Meanwhile, Emily is scouring the malls for a dress, shoes and makeup. In every country we get Emily a dress - and she's found one fairly easily everywhere but here in Bangkok. So, she's finally set herself to task. Of course, the shoes and makeup are for the wedding.
The thing that makes Thai malls so amazing is that they're more modern and advanced than anything we have at home - and yet, completely chaotic. Malls here aren't just places to shop and hang out, they're places to be entertained - they're complete experiences.
That means the decor has to in-and-of-itself stimulate and entertain. There's not a wall without a poster, advertisement, sign or design. Lights fill every part of the mall - from the bright lights that light up the walkways to the colored lights that accent signs to the ones behind translucent walls that add to the decor. Colored lights even line the escalators, elevators, and restrooms.
Floor plans and layouts are bizarre. Every mall has multiple sets of escalators, leading to different sections of the massive buildings. Each floor has pathways that branch out in various directions, leading to different corners and corridors - some coming to dead ends. The bizarrely staggered escalators can make figuring out how to go from bottom to top and back again a strategy game. Only a true Chutes and Ladders champion can get in and out of a Bangkok mall with ease.
Malls always have something going on. Stores place displays of sale merchandise in the center courts. Large companies host promotional events in front of or in the middle of malls. Adidas is having a sportswear skateboarding demonstration in front of the one in which I'm writing complete with loud music and a troop of more than 20 performers.
Along with all the special entertainment, the newer malls have amusement parks and complexes. The Paragon, for example, has a Ocean World on the bottom floor and a children's amusement park on the top. It also has automobile showrooms, art galleries -and a sports hall. With restaurants lining every floor and two stories of Bangkok's nicest movie theaters at the top - a total of 22 screens including IMAX, digital and regular theaters - the Paragon people hope you'll stay all day and maybe come back for more.
It's hard not to - the Paragon is irresistible in a sick sort of way. I was impressed that among it's culinary offerings, the Paragon has a Le Notre - one of the nicest patisseries and pastry schools in France with locations in Paris, Cannes and now Bangkok. Le Notre where I majorly splurged just to have an afternoon snack in France is operating in Bangkok.
American chains are well represented too. The malls include Tony Roma's, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts, Starbucks, Sizzler, TGI Friday's, Applebee's, Outback Steakhouse, McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, 13 Coins (shout out to Seattle!), Swensen's (remember them?!) and A&W - just to name a few.
Amazingly, these are just some of the international chains. Malls have Thai and Japanese chains plus loads of food court stands - which far outnumber the restaurants. People go to malls just to grab a bite.
Someone at home might read this and think - yeah, but people at home are completely sucked into our malls as well - we're just as consumerist. True 'dat. However, Thais take it to the next level. These malls are bigger than anything I've ever seen at home. Couples, families, groups of friends just fritter the days away walking their corridors. Something about it is the hollowest of hollow.
It's also a sign of the times. Despite it still being a third world country, Thailand is a nation on the rise. Wealth and the standard of living have increased dramatically in the past decade. More people than ever have expendable income. Thailand is wealthier than it has ever been. In our current global climate, nothing shows success like conspicuous consumerism. It's the place to be when you've made it and no one understands the importance of appearances like Thailand.
That's why Siam Square - Bangkok's central shopping area - now boasts five malls where 10 years ago there were two. Around the city, there are all sorts of new malls ranging all the way out to the far suburbs. In 2001, there was one mall in the suburban area of Bangkapi - today three. I've noticed that they now build malls around supermarkets and hyper-marts instead of just department stores as they did before.
Gerald Ford once said that it made him sad that when he traveled, he so often felt that the world took mostly the worst aspects of American culture. That's how I feel about the massive consumerism and mall culture of Bangkok.
Yet, here I am - writing from a Starbucks in a mall in Siam Square while my wife runs around looking for a dress, shoes and makeup. My iced tea tastes good. It's hard to escape the familiar and even harder to take the hard stand.
Even more, it's equally difficult to say, "No, you shouldn't go this way. You shouldn't do as we do and what we have. Find something better - something more meaningful...." while I go home and stop by the Topanga Mall to grab my wife some salon shampoo and conditioner.
For better and worse, many Bangkok Thais are increasingly living the dream. And while I wonder if they aren't borrowing someone else's dream - I can say with their bright colors, hive of activity, light entertainment and social use of their malls, they're living it their way.
**Photos to be posted in a few hours.
Sent from my iPad
Hey, Eric! Some people are probably envious of your experience, especially when you watched the movie Hangover II! It must be cool to watch a movie right where they filmed it! Have you been to the place where they filmed the scenes in a bar that they ruined? Haha! Where are the photos of your whole experience?
Posted by: Larissa Dobbin | 09/21/2011 at 11:31 AM