There are a few shopping centers that may be worth a look for the tourist. Note that several of these are located in the Siam area, Bangkok's Shopping District.
Siam Square
Outdoor cluster of shophouses which is currently given over to independent clothing designers, music stores and other things of interest to the young crowd attracted to Siam Square.
Siam Paragon
Opened in December 2005, Siam Paragon takes center stage, both literally and figuratively, in the heart of Bangkok's Shopping District. Most of the shops are decidedly high end, with names such as Armani, Chanel and Mazerati on hand, but there are enough distractions such as movies and Asia's largest aquarium to keep the place packed on weekends.
The Silom Galleria is a shopping mall in the base of the Jewellery Trade Center on Silom Road. It was meant to be Bangkok's premier shopping center for gems and jewellery.
Asiatique The Riverside is certainly one of the more ambitious projects I've seen in Bangkok in recent years. For starters, it's a renovation, something almost unheard of in Bangkok. The project is built in and around the old East Asiatic Company's warehouses, which were first established back in the mid-nineteenth century, although the refurbished buildings date from the early 1900s.
One of the walkways lined with small shops The old buildings were restored and turned into a sort of market.
Central Plaza Ladprao, with its new look in late 2011 Central Plaza is one of the grand dames of Bangkok shopping malls. It was opened in the 1970s, and after lengthy negotiations one the renewal of the lease for the land, it underwent a major remodel in 2011. The facelift was accompanied by a shift in focus, with more up-scale shops replacing many of the cheap stalls that attracted hoards of teenagers to the mall.
Central Plaza Rama IX Central Plaza Rama IX opened in December 2011, on Ratchadapisek Road near the Rama IX intersection, and opposite the old Fortune Town mall. The anchor tenant is a Robinson department store. There's also a large cineplex, ice rink, supermarket and an extensive range of restaurants. There's nothing really unique about the mall to warrant a special trip, but it is a nice new place.
The mall is right at the Rama IX subway station.
Cham Churi Square shopping mall Cham Churi Square, sometimes spelled "Charm Churee", was opened in 2010. It directly abuts Chulalongkorn University, and in fact sits on land owned by the school, so it should come as no surprise that there are a lot of educationally related shops, including a branch of the university's book store. Aside from these, and a lot of restaurants, there isn't much else to the mall.
The restaurant row and conference center of the Crystal Design Center. The sparkling new Crystal Design Center, opened in 2010, won't figure on most Bangkok visitor's radar, but if you're interested furniture and home decor, you may wish to think about paying it a visit. The massive complex mixes large showrooms with smaller boutique shops in an open plan suburban location. There are also a number of restaurants, a supermarket and several other shops of the kind you'd expect in a typical shopping mall.
Emporium Shopping Mall The Emporium is a five floor shopping mall anchored by the Emporium Department Store. Outside the department store are shops belonging to Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Cartier and many more. Several restaurants dot the complex, while the top floor has a plush multi-screen movie theater. Located above the mall are the Emporium Suites serviced apartments, which are available for short or long term rents. If you're planning an extended stay in Bangkok, this is a very good place to consider.
Esplanade shopping mall The Esplanade was opened in late 2009 as a high-end 'life style' mall in a similar vein to Siam Paragon, but without a major anchor tenant. The mall has a rather posh cineplex, complete with a bowling alley, but the real unique features to the mall are its ice rink and a broadway-styled theater. The theater hosts regular road companies of broadway shows, many of which are years past their prime.
Fortune Town IT Mall Fortune Town is not quite as big as it may appear, but it's still a large place. The building seems to extend for several blocks along Ratchadapisek Road, but it's actually quite narrow for most of that length. The mall is anchored at one end by the Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel and at the other end by a Tesco Lotus discount store. Above the Tesco, and running most of the length of the building on the third and fourth floors, is the "IT Mall".
Gateway Ekamai opened in July of 2012 at the Ekamai junction on Sukhumvit Road. It's right at the Skytrain station and has a bridge linking the station right into the mezzanine floor. The mall calls itself a “Japanese Lifestyle Mall” and indeed when you enter the mall from the train station, all the restaurant concepts you see, along with the decorations, are very Japanese. Some of the brands are new to Bangkok.
Mahboonkrong Center, as seen from the Skytrain walkway. The "grand -daddy" of Bangkok's shopping centers, in places Mahboonkrong - more commonly known as MBK - feels more like a covered bazaar, with many small shops and sometimes very narrow aisles. You'll find one floor devoted almost entirely to mobile phones and accessories. Two others have clothes as well as bags while another floor is mostly furniture. To top it all off - literally - is a large multi-screen cineplex, surrounded by several restaurants and a bowling alley.
In the 1990s, Panthip Plaza was "the" place to go if you needed anything computer related, and in many ways it still is. While there are now several IT Malls around town, Panthip is probably still the best place to go for the serious hobbyist in search of esoteric parts or the latest thing. Unfortunately, you have to sift through a lot of chaff to find the good stuff, so be prepared for a lot of touting and junk if you visit Panthip.
The River City shopping mall, as seen from the river. River City is Bangkok's oldest 'antiques' mall, and still the best destination for serious Asian art lovers to go. When I first came to Bangkok in the late 1980s, the mall had a lot of shops selling cheap souvenirs, tacky French Empire reproductions, and some rather dodgy 'antiques'. Over the years, the mall has been updated several times. Newly remodeled inside and out in 2010, the latest re-work seems to have seen the last of the tacky and dodgy stuff cleaned out.
High fashion on display at Siam Center Siam Center is one of the area's oldest shopping centers. It has been remodeled several times over the 30 years or so it has been around, with the latest upgrade just being completed as 2010 came to a close. The mall now occupies a generally up-market postion, with many local and international fashion brands that target younger people.
The shopping center has quite a few restaurants, which includes many international chains as well as some distinctive local concepts.
Siam Discovery Center shopping mall in the Siam Square area. The Siam Discovery Center is right on the corner facing MBK and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. The relatively small mall is connected to Siam Center, which is owned and operated by the same group. The mall has a selection of shops selling branded fashions and trendy home decor.
The hook: After a major remodel in 2010, Siam Discovery did away with their "me too" cineplex and replaced it with a branch of madame Tussauds wax museum.
The grand atrium Terminal 21 shopping mall Terminal 21 opened in October of 2011 at the very busy Asoke intersection. Asoke Road is also technically known as Sukhumvit 21, hence the "21" in the name. The "Terminal" part alludes to the design theme of the mall, which sports an airport motif. The signs suggest the escalators are like planes, which whisk you to different parts of the world. Each floor of the mall sports a different world theme.
Union Mall in Bangkok Union Mall is a relatively new (opened in 2006) mall across the street from the aging Central Plaza Ladprao. The rather massive bright yellow building is more like a covered market, with hundreds of small stalls selling mostly clothes and fashion related items targeted at the mall's younger target market. It's probably not worth a visit, unless you're a pro shopper looking for the latest trends that young people are buying.
