4 | NOV EM BER 2014
bangkok101.com
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
T
he festive season is already well underway. This month perhaps the two prettiest annual Thai merit-making festivals take place; the countrywide Loy Krathong festival in which locals pay homage to the water spirits by floating candle-lit krathongs on any available body of water, and the festival of Yi Peng, which sees a profusion of colourful home-made paper lanterns lighting up many northern towns and villages. This is also the month in which thousands of Thais, expats and visitors turn out for the annual Ploenchit Fair. Organised by the British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy (BCTFN), the fair has been going strong for almost 60 years, during which time it has become synonymous with a great day out for the whole family and has raised many millions of Baht for worthy Thai charities. You can read more about it in the City Pulse pages. Elsewhere in this month’s issue we get off the beaten track in Phayao, visit a previously war-torn region of Sri Lanka and serve up our usual smorgasbord of piquant restaurant reviews. All this and our 101 archive and extras can be found online at bangkok101.com. A couple of clicks is all it takes to keep in touch with what’s happening. If there’s something you feel we’re not covering but should, then please drop us a line at info@talisman.asia.
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WHAT IS BANGKOK 101 Independent and unbiased, Bangkok 101 caters to savvy travellers who yearn for more than what they find in guidebooks. It brings together an authoritative who’s who of city residents, writers, photographers and cultural commentators. The result is a compact and intelligent hybrid of monthly travel guide and city magazine that takes you on and off the well-worn tourist track. Bangkok 101 employs the highest editorial standards, with no fluff, and no smut. Our editorial content cannot be bought. We rigorously maintain the focus on our readers, and our ongoing mission is to ensure they enjoy this great city as much as we love living in it.
Enjoy.
Mason Florence Publisher
B A NGKOK 101 PA R T N E R S
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NOV EM BER 2014 | 5
CONTRIBUTORS
publisher
Mason Florence editor-in-chief
Dr Jesda M. Tivayanond associate publisher
Parinya Krit-Hat managing editor
Matt Wilde
editor-at-large
Joe Cummings associate editor
Pawika Jansamakao Bangkok-born but internationally bred, DR TOM VITAYAKUL has a background in communication and branding but now runs his family’s boutique hotel and Thai restaurant. An avid traveller and a bon vivant, he has contributed to magazines including Lips, Lips Luxe and the Bangkok Post ’s the Magazine, and has also helped edit several books on Thai subjects.
Award-winning writer JOE CUMMINGS was born in New Orleans and grew up in France, California and Washington, DC. Joe became one of Lonely Planet’s first guidebook authors, creating the seminal Lonely Planet Thailand guide. Joe has also written illustrated reference books such as Buddhist Stupas in Asia; Sacred Tattoos of Thailand; Muay Thai; World Food Thailand; Buddhist Temples of Thailand; Chiang Mai Style and Lanna Renaissance.
Food and travel writer HOWARD RICHARDSON lives beside the Chao Phraya River in downtown Bangkok, from where he’s spent years exploring the city as magazine editor and freelance writer. He’s contributed to publications such as GQ , the BBC’s Olive magazine and the New York Times online, and written a monthly column in Sawasdee, the Thai Airways inflight magazine.
editorial coordinator
Leelawut Petkongtong editorial intern
Pataraporn Hemachadra art director
Narong Srisaiya graphic designer
Thanakrit Skulchartchai strategists
Nathinee Chen Sebastien Berger contributing writers
Gaby Doman, Bill Bredesen, Philip Cornwel-Smith, Dave Stamboulis, Keith Mundy, Tom Sturrock, Adam O’Keefe contributing photographers
Dejan Patic´, Jatuporn Rutnin, Paul Lefevre, Ludovic Cazeba, Leon Schadeberg, Marc Schultz, Niran Choonhachat general manager
Jhone El’Mamuwaldi British-born writer-artist STEVEN PETTIFOR stopped over in Thailand 13 years ago on his way to Japan, but never left. An authority on contemporary Thai art, Steven is a commentator on the local art scene, contributing to international and domestic newspapers and journals. In 2004 he published coffeetable book Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art . When not musing, he is often found travel writing.
AVAILABLE AT:
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Native-Bangkok writer, photographer and incurable travel addict, KORAKOT (NYM) PUNLOPRUKSA believes in experiencing the world through food. She can usually be found canvassing the city for the best eats. Nym has been a host for music and film programmes, a radio DJ, a creative consultant for TV and a documentary scriptwriter. Her work appears in magazines, including Elle, Elle Decoration and GM .
Very Thai author PHILIP CORNWEL-SMITH is a writer, editor and curator specialising in the areas of culture and travel. He has lived in Thailand for over a decade, editing its first listings magazine and the Time Out Bangkok guides, updating Thailand: A Traveller’s Companion, presenting Noodle Box: Bangkok on Discovery Channel, and squeezing Bangkok into the city’s first phone guide for Nokia.
director sales and marketing
Itsareeya Chatkitwaroon
director business development
Willem Deenik circulation
Pradchya Kanmanee published by
Talisman Media Group Co., Ltd. 54 Naradhivas Rajanagarinda Soi 4, Sathorn Tai Rd, Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120 T 0 2286 7821 | F 0 2286 7829 info@talisman.asia © Copyright Talisman Media Group Co., Ltd 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the express written, prior permission of the publisher. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher, which accepts no responsibility for them.
SNEO PV T EM BER 2014 | 7
CONTENTS 46
20 42
16
CITY PU LSE
A RT & C U LT U R E
10 metro beat
52 exhibition highlights
94 new collection:
14 hot plates: peppina
54 interview:
disaya
16 out and about:
palm priyawit
96 unique boutique:
ploenchit fair
56 cheat notes
bellet shoes
20 best of bangkok:
58 photo feature:
105 spotlight tailor:
eu heritage app
of salt & men
moonriver by vj
S N A P S H OT S
FOOD & DRIN K
24 tom’s two satang
65 food & drink news
26 very thai
66 meal deals
27 thailand at random
67 restaurant reviews:
28 joe’s bangkok
centara brunch, opus,
30 bizarre thailand
seafood market and
32 temples, historic
restaurant, la bottega
buildings and museums
di luca, crepes & co,
SHOPPING
54
94 67
signature@ku de ta
T R AV E L
76 in the kitchen:
WELLN ESS
38 up country now
duangporn ‘bo’
100 spa listings
40 hotel review
songvisava
101 massira spa at
42 up country escape:
77 eat like nym
ramada plaza bangkok
phayao
78 restaurant listings
menam riverside
N IGHTLI FE
REFERENCE
46 over the border: sri lanka
85 nightlife news
102 getting there
86 review: beervault
104 maps
88 nightlife listings
112 my bangkok: shane suvikapakornkul
ON THE COVER ‘Of Salt & Men’, a photo exhibition by six French ladies, highlights the thankless hard work of the men and women who harvest Hua Hin’s salt pans. Turn to p58 for more. 8 | NOV EM BER 2014
bangkok101.com
CITY PU LSE
metro beat
by Howard Richardson
ROCK & POP
Kyary Pamyu It’s Bangkok’s turn to welcome the fashion model and J-Pop singer Kyary Pamyu, who plays the Thailand leg of her Pamyu World Tour 2014 on November 21 at Centerpoint Studio (9-11 Sukhumvit Soi 105 (Soi Lasalle), 02-361-9229). The tour promotes her latest album Nanda Collection, which reached No. 1 in Japan. The show starts at 7.30pm. Thai Ticketmajor (02-262-3456, thaiticketmajor.com) have tickets at B2800-B4000. There’s more info at kyary.asobisystem.com.
BLUES & JAZZ 25 Hours Some of Bangkok’s best known pop and rock acts will gather for the Toyota It’s Mine Festival at BITEC (km1, 88 BangnaTrad Rd, 0 2749 3939, bitec.co.th) on November 8 and 9. Among over 20 bands appearing are The Yers, 25 Hours, Apartment Khunpa, Paradox and Flure, all for the price of B200 or B300. Both days start at noon; tickets are available from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). The full line up and more information are at facebook.com/toyotaitsmine. Brazilian composer, keyboard player and vocalist Sergio Mendes brings music from some of his 35 albums to Changwattana Hall (Central Changwattana, 999, 99/9 Moo 2 Changwattana Rd, 0 2831 5555) on November 13. The three-time Grammy Award winner, whose latest album Magic features this year’s World Cup theme ‘One Nation’, was also Oscar nominated for ‘Real In Rio’ from the animated 3-D feature film Rio. The show starts at 8pm, tickets from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com) cost B1000-B5000. British metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon plug their latest album Sempiternal with a gig at Centerpoint Studio (9-11 Sukhumvit Soi 105 (Soi Lasalle), 0 2361 9229) on November 19. The album, which continues the poppier, more accessible sound that the five-piece introduced with the previous release There Is a Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let’s Keep It a Secret, reached Gold sales in Australia and Silver in the UK. Tickets are B1500 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). 10 | NOV EM BER 2014
Kenny G Seven Swiss pianists arrive in town with Piano Seven for a concert of original compositions influenced by 20th century French classical music, tango and jazz. Catch them at Aksra Theatre (8/1 Soi Rangnam, 0 2677 8888, aksratheatre.com), 7.30pm on November 8, with an entrance fee of B1000-B3000. Tickets are at Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com) and there’s more information at facebook. com/pianoseveninbangkok. Grammy-winning sax player Kenny G heads the smooth jazz line up at this year’s River Jazz Festival held at Asiatique (Charoen Krung Sois 72-76, 0 2108 4488; asiatiquethailand.com) on November 16. Also on stage, with an early 6pm start, are Thai band ETC. Tickets are B1000-B3000 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). bangkok101.com
metro beat
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NIGHTLIFE
DJ duo Nervo Expect House music in all its various colours when female DJ duo Nervo, voted No. 16 in DJ Magazine’s Top 100, head the bill at the Waterzonic Festival at Rajamangala Stadium (2088 Ramkamheang Rd, Huamark, 0 2318 0940-4) on November 22. Also appearing are Showtek (No. 27), Sick Individuals, and two artists unnamed at press time. The team of engineers, designers and performers at Arcadia Spectacular take their Spider stage outside the UK for the first time for Arcadia The Bangkok Landing at Siam Park City (203 Suan Siam Rd, 0 2919 7200, siamparkcity.com) on November 29. The Spider has a fully programmable DJ booth suspended above the dance floor, armed with lasers, jets of CO2 and fire cannon that shoot flames 50ft into the air. Aerial performers will also give a choreographed show suspended from the Spider. The music will be a mix of Dubstep, Drum & Bass, Breaks and Electro House, from DJs Roni Size, MC Dynamite, Skism and Far Too Loud. Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com) has tickets at B2500 and B3500. Kick off is 7pm. There’s an under-18 age restriction on this event.
FAIRS
The Thailand International Motor Expo The Thailand International Motor Expo gets into gear up with the theme ‘Moving Forward Together ASEAN Autos’, at Impact Arena (99 Popular Rd, Pakkred, 0 2504 5050, impact. co.th) from November 29-December 10. The latest cars, motorbikes, concept vehicles and accessories will all be on display. Weekdays are noon to 10pm, weekends from 11am. Entry is B100. See autoinfo.co.th/motorexpo for more details. bangkok101.com
DANCE Several international contemporary dance companies will converge in the capital for the International Dance Festival 2014 at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (939 Rama I Rd, 0 2214 6632, bacc.or.th) from November 21-December 3. As well as performances by dancers from Thailand, Italy, Spain, South Korea, Israel, Turkey, Singapore and India there will also be free workshops, master classes and showcases from the best young choreographers in Thailand. Additional performances will be held at the Art Center Chiang Mai University from November 28-December 3. Tickets, available from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com), are B600-B1800. For the full programme see dance-festival.info and bacc.or.th.
SHOPPING Get kitted out early for this year’s Christmas at the ThaiCraft Fair, which sells handcrafted products from village artisans around the country at Jasmine City Building (2 Sukhumvit Soi 23, 0 2204 5885) on November 15. There are usually crafting demonstrations, too. And there’s more info at thaicraft.org. NOV EM BER 2014 | 11
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THEATRE
ART
The Bangkok Theatre Festival returns with an even bigger event this year. Shows will pop up at various venues across the capital from November 4-16, including at Santichaiprakarn Park, pubs and restaurants in Banglamphu and at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (939 Rama I Rd, 0 2214 6632, bacc. or.th). Around 60 professional and amateur theatre groups will participate, with international guest artists, in productions ranging from traditional Thai and folk theatre to contemporary and experimental drama, dance and musicals. There will also be seminars and workshops. There’s more information at bangkoktheatrefestival.com and at bacc.or.th. The traditional Khon performance The Battle of Indrajit, Episode of Nagabas, staged at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) from November 7-December 5, tells the story of Indrajit, the son of Tosakan, and the battle of Rama-Ravana, as related in the traditional epic tales of The Ramakien. Tickets are B400-B1500 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com).
‘J’ Wattanasin Thailand’s gymnastics team take the stage with singers including Jetrin ‘J’ Wattanasin and Katreeya English for the show We Can Fly: Gymnastics in Concert at the Indoor Stadium Hua Mark (2088 Ramkhamhaeng Rd, 0 2318 0940) on November 16. The show starts at 4pm. Tickets are B1000-B2500 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com).
The London Project: A State of Mind An exhibition related to Thailand’s political upheaval appears in the photographs of Steve Pace, entitled The London Project: A State of Mind, showing at Soy Sauce Factory (Charoen Krung Soi 24, 09 2115 8696, soysaucefactory.com) from November 7December 7. The photographs were taken over a seven month period after Pace had returned to London after working on Thailand’s civil unrest. The organisers say, “We get a glimpse of how traumatic events can change one’s assessment of the world and how meaning can be achieved through the process of overcoming.” Pace, whose work has also appeared in the New York Times, Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal, adds that “An altered perception of the physical world allowed me to capture images that create a visual translation of the co-existence of my past and present state of mind.” The gallery opens Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 11pm.
CLASSICAL
SPORT Runners in the 2014 Bangkok Marathon will depart at 2am and make their way around the old streets of Rattanakosin on November 16. The start and finish lines are on Sanam Chai Rd. for a choice of micro-, mini-, half- and full marathons ranging from 1.5km upwards. Get the full schedule at bkkmarathon.com.
FESTIVALS Often called Thailand’s most beautiful festival, Loy Krathong sees people pay respect to the water spirits by floating candles, flowers and incense in banana leaf trays on any available body of water. Candles will twinkle on lakes, rivers and canals all over the country. In Bangkok, illuminated boat processions will fill the Chao Phraya River and riverside hotels will prepare special dinners and floating ceremonies. This year’s festival is on November 7. 12 | NOV EM BER 2014
Christian Leotta The pair of guest performances this month at Sala Sudasiri Sobha (158/20 Ladprao 41, Yaek 7-2, 0 2541 8662, salasudasirisobha.com) opens with Christian Leotta playing Beethoven piano recitals on November 5 and 8. The guitar duo Tomonori Arai and Hitoshi Miyashita follow on November 23 with pieces including new arrangements of Asian and traditional Thai music. The nights start with a reception at 6.30pm, before the concerts begin at 7.30pm. Tickets are B500, which includes parking and a light meal with drinks. bangkok101.com
CITY PU LSE
hot plates
Peppina By Howard Richardson
T
here’s been a buzz around chef Paolo Vitaletti since he opened the excellent Appia last year, and now it’s slipped around the corner to his new pizza and grill joint Peppina, launched in August. Again it hits lots of high notes, in particular the important trick of getting the ambiance right. It’s another place that just feels good to sit in. The almost shed-like interior has exposed corrugated roofing, which rises in a high ‘V’ shape beyond wooden rafters. It’s rustic to the point of ruin, which keeps the concrete floor and walls comfortably outside the all-too-common factory look. The busy open kitchen is lined with diners on stools, while behind it are meat slicers and a spanking new pizza oven, its funnel rising through the roof. A glass deli display has meats, cheeses and pickles, all available by the kilo or gram listed on the blackboard menu behind the bar. Further in, the room becomes almost cellarlike, with faux alcoves adding intimacy, and, overhead, the low lights have bulbs with ornate elements glowing like radio valves. Lively photos line the walls, including one of Tony Gandolfino and The Sopranos that recalls Da Vinci’s The Last Supper. While the interior may have familiar design elements, the soundtrack refreshingly leaves the ubiquitous loungey electro behind in favour of mainly 60s and 70s pop and rock. Fans of Bowie, Hendrix and Pink Floyd are well served. From the paper menus, which come in regular and daily specials, we started with balsamic roasted vegetable salad and toasted pine nuts (B180++) – refreshing and light, and not too acidic – and fregola, parsley, roasted tomato, candied lemon and burrata (B220++). Pizzas come in two sizes (from B200/B320++) run on favourite lines like Margharita, Qattro Formaggi and Diavola, and however you like them (ours was on the wet side from lashings of tomato), the quality ingredients ensure good flavour. From the grill section, we grabbed Italian sausage (B390++ to share), which was meaty with good fat content, subtly flavoured and very moreish. There’s a short wine list from B1,200++ a bottle, with most under B2,000, including five by the glass (mainly B240++), and for those with a thirst on there are daily magnums at B4,900++, with glasses available at B400++. The handful of cocktails includes the classics bellini and negroni, while labels from Birra del Borgo on rotating taps (from B220++) appear among several craft beers. Peppina is a cracking neighbourhood restaurant with simple, honest food – a joint for boisterous Italian- or, for that matter, Thai-style dining with family and friends rather than quiet tête-à-têtes. The tables are so closely spaced you could spoon feed your neighbours. Ideally situated on the back route between major Sukhumvit sois, it attracts a wide mix of people of all ages, Thai, Asian and Western. And it’s busy. You’d expect that on the Friday night we visited, but, even so, they were turning people away by 7pm. You need to book ahead.
PEPPINA
[MAP 3/L8]
27/1, Sukhumvit Soi 33 | 0 2119 7677 facebook.com/peppinapizza | Tue-Sun 6.30pm-11pm
14 | NOV EM BER 2014
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J U N E 2014 | 15
out & about
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BANG KOK’S BIG DAY OUT
The Ploenchit Fair, the British Community’s annual fund-raising blockbuster event for Thai charities, takes place at the end of this month and promises once again to be a great day out for one and all.
A
rguably the largest event of its kind in Asia, the Ploenchit Fair is a traditional day out for the whole family and has been one of the biggest events on the social calendar in Bangkok since it was first held in the grounds of the British Embassy in 1956. Everybody goes to the Ploenchit Fair – there is something for all – and with thousands of prizes to be won visitors can go home rich in the knowledge that every Baht spent goes towards helping those less fortunate. The fair is planned, organized and managed by the British Community in Thailand Foundation for the Needy (BCTFN along with an army of over 2000 volunteers. Many organizations assist the BCTFN hugely including private and public companies, businesses and the British Embassy. The money raised during the fair is disbursed by BCTFN to a wide range of projects. Since the year
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2000 alone, the Fair has raised over 70 million Baht which has benefited a diverse range of organizations. In recent years, priority has been given to self-help projects that benefit and enable a community to become self-sustaining. Assistance has also been given in the provision of basic necessities and equipment to improve healthcare, nutrition, education, agricultural projects and the lives of the disabled. Donations are never made in cash. Once a project is approved, building plans, estimates and invoices etc. will be met by the BCTFN and payment made directly to contractors and suppliers. Children love the Ploenchit Fair and once again the organisers have put on a host of child-friendly rides and activities; paddle boats, a giant wave slide, a shooting gallery, water roller ball, a train ride and Bungy jumping compliment numerous games stalls, a colouring
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out & about
competition, entertainment by Eckie the Clown and an early appearance by Father Christmas. For Dads there is the usual old favorites – a coconut shy, darts and golf to name but a few – not to mention whisky galore to be won on the Bangkok Banger’s Bottle stall. The Pirate’s Treasure Island will be full of great prizes and Castrol BP Speed 2 has games for all the family. The British Chamber will be manning their stall, the Grand Raffle, which this year features 80 top prizes including air tickets to London. The Petticoat Lane bazaar has many temptations for Mum. Some 50 shopping outlets along with the usual Charity stalls selling their wares, offer a vast array of different products. This is a great option for some Christmas gift shopping and to pick up handicrafts and ‘bits of nonsense’. Tesco will be returning this year with their ‘Finest’ range and Boots, the UK’s favorite High Street store, will be offering their range of tempting toiletries and cosmetics. When exhaustion overtakes after the shopping, Mums can leave purchases with Left Luggage and maybe have a foot massage before heading to the stage area for the live music program which starts at lunchtime. Speaking of lunch, food plays an important part at the Fair and this year the temptations include a Fish & 18 | NOV EM BER 2014
Chips stall and cuisine by Masala Art, Sunrise Tacos, Tenderloins and Bistro 33. All sorts of pasta, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizzas and steak sandwiches grilled to taste are available. Kids in particular will head for Krispy Kreme’s ice cream offerings. Of course, food is needed to soak up all the booze consumed at the Ploenchit Fair. This year’s ‘refreshments’ include premium beers and wines from Tenderloins, ice cold larger from Paulaner, Thailand’s own Chang Beer on draught and cocktail specials from The Londoner Brew Pub. Whilst the Fair may have started as a way for members of the British community to express their appreciation of their Thai hosts and share a traditional bit of British fun, today they are enthusiastically joined by a host of nationalities resident in Thailand.
The Ploenchit Fair takes place on Saturday, November 29 from 10am-9pm at Bangkok Patana School, 643 Soi La Salle, Sukhumvit 105. Entry costs B150 for adults and B50 for children. There will be a free shuttle bus service from Bang Na skytrain station to and from the Fair. Ample parking is also available. Visit bctfn.org and ploenchifair.com for more information.
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Stained Glass Window, Kalawar Church, Bangkok
best of bangkok
CITY PU LSE
BANGKOK’S EUR PEAN
HERITAGE GOES DIGITAL BY LUC CITRINOT
B
angkok is a fascinating, vibrant and cosmopolitan capital, with a rich history dating back more than 250 years. In even earlier times, the Siamese Kingdom centered on Thonburi as its capital, and its upstream predecessor, Ayutthaya. European nations were among the first to establish diplomatic, commercial and cultural relations with Siam and over the centuries many European traders and officials, architects and artists, engineers and clergymen visited, lived and worked in the Kingdom, leaving a heritage in all three successive capitals. Following the success of last year’s print version of the European Heritage Map of Bangkok and Ayutthaya, the Delegation of the European Union (EU), together
137 Pillars House, Chiang Mai bangkok101.com
with the Thailand cluster of the EU National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC Thailand) and Talisman Media Group, have developed an android and iOS compatible app for smart phones called the European Heritage Map and Cultural Calendar of Thailand. It describes and illustrates some 220 sites at 25 destinations across Thailand that represent a common heritage resulting from centuries of Thai-European interactions, and it presents an up-todate overview of all cultural events organised by the EU’s Member States (and their institutes) in Thailand. In this way, the app aims to promote awareness and appreciation of the long and rich history of Euro-Thai relations, as well as promote the vibrant cultural exchanges of the present.
Baan Chinpracha, Phuket NOV EM BER 2014 | 21
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best of bangkok
Siam Commercial Bank Headquarters, Bangkok
Portuguese Embassy, Bangkok
The print version of the map, which featured an initial 65 heritage sites, was hailed as a valuable tool for exploring this common heritage. The digital version surpasses its predecessor by some margin. The information it reveals may come as a surprise – there are palaces designed by Italian and German architects, churches established by the French and Portuguese, trading posts left by Danish and Dutch businessmen, bridges of Belgian and British make, and even military uniforms of Polish design. Examples of some of the magnificent historic buildings contained in the European Heritage Map include the residence of the Portuguese ambassador, Europe’s oldest diplomatic mission in Bangkok. Situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the residence has been in Portuguese possession since 1820. Not far away, also on the river, is the headquarters building of Siam Commercial Bank, the Kingdom’s oldest bank. The building was designed by Italian architect Annibale Rigotti in 1910 and built in a majestic neo-Renaissance style. This shared Thai-European heritage forms a strong foundation for the excellent relations that exist today between the Kingdom and the European Union and its Member States. Whether it helps you to discover new sites or encourages you to see them in a new light, the 22 | NOV EM BER 2014
Nakhon Phanom Library
European Heritage Map and its app can also inspire you to contribute, even in small ways, to the heritage of European-Thai relations. The European Heritage Map and Cultural Calendar of Thailand app is available FOR FREE in both the android market and app store. android market
app store
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LET’S CELEBRATE THIS FESTIVE SEASON CHRISTMAS'S EVE
CHRISTMAS DAY
The World & Ginger Traditional Christmas Eve Buffet Free flow of selected wines and egg nog. Baht 1,999++ per person / 18.30 - 22.30 hrs
The World & Ginger Deluxe Christmas Day Lunch Buffet Baht 1,390++ per person Baht 1,999++ per person with selected wines 11.30 - 15.00 hrs Deluxe Christmas Day Dinner Buffet Free flow of selected wines & Prosecco. Baht 1,999++ per person / 18.30 - 22.30 hrs
Wednesday 24th December 2014
Fifty Five Restaurant Christmas Eve Hors d'Oeuvres & Dessert Buffet Traditional choice of Christmas main courses to order a complimentary bottle of Wyndham Estate wine per couple. Baht 2,555++ per person / 18.30 - 22.30 hrs Red Sky Restaurant A la Carte Dinner Menu & Christmas Specials 18.00 hrs onwards.
Thursday 25th December 2014
Fifty Five Restaurant Christmas themed 3-course set menu Baht 1,555++ per person / 11.30 -14.30 hrs Red Sky Restaurant A la Carte Dinner Menu & Christmas Specials 18.00 hrs onwards.
NEW YEAR’S EVE
Wednesday 31st December 2014 The World & Ginger Grand Deluxe New Year’s Eve Buffet Free flow wines & sparkling wine. Baht 2,700++ per person / 18.30 - 23.00 hrs Fifty Five Restaurant New Year’s Eve “Champagne” Surf & Turf Gala Buffet Ultra deluxe seafood & dessert buffet Unlimited main courses to order Free flow of Bruno Paillard Champagne. Party favours – complimentary entrance fee for the NYE Countdown at Red Sky Bar. Baht 8,555++ per person / 19.30 - Midnight
Red Sky Restaurant 7-Course Gala Dinner A complimentary bottle of MUMM Cordon Rouge per couple Party favours, live music, fire works Baht 15,555++ per person / 19.00 - 02.00 hrs Red Sky Bar Grand Count Down Party Live Big Band & DJ Baht 2,500 net per person including a glass of Champagne & party favors. This is a standing / dancing party (no seats) 18.00 – 02.00 hrs
NEW YEAR’S DAY
Thursday 1st January 2015 The World & Ginger New Year’s Day Brunch Free flow of wine, beer, soft drinks & juices. Kids entertainment provided. Baht 1,999++ per person / 11.30 - 15.00 hrs
All prices are quoted in Thai Baht and subject to 10% Service Charge and 7% Government Tax.
www.centarahotelsresorts.com
•
T: +66 (0) 2 100 6255
•
E: diningcgcw@chr.co.th
THE GOLDEN KHON MASK OF THE MULTI-FACED THOSAKAN
24 | NOV EM BER 2014
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insight
S N A P S H OT S
Tom’s Two Satang Join Bangkok-born but internationally bred aesthete Dr. Tom Vitayakul as he gives his own unique take on Thailand and its capital. Each month he tackles a different aspect of the local culture – from art and festivals to 21st-century trends – in a lighthearted yet learned manner
ON THE RAMAKIEN
Photograph by Tom Vitayakul
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f all the literature that is fundamental to Thai cultural consciousness, the Ramakien (the Glory of Rama), or the Ramayana epic, transcends into local philosophical and social contexts. Each version may vary in detail but the moral of the story remains the same – virtue wins over evil as Dharma conquers all. The Ramayana lives not only on the page – it has been interpreted into all kinds of artistic and dramatic media, including mural paintings, shadow puppet shows, Burmese marionette performances, animation, plays, TV series, and dance. The most celebrated form of dance for the Ramakien is called ‘Khon’ or the mask dance, derived from Kathakali in southern India. Since it requires a large cast and crew comprising dancers, musicians, singers and craftsmen, Khon has often been seen as a courtly art (Lakorn Nai). However, it can be performed in various styles both in and out of the court. As the poetic verses are sung to narrate the story, it was the habit of many Siamese kings to revise and pen their own version. King Rama II in particular is said to have changed many of the crucial dance scenes. And Khon still has royal connections – every November one can witness the most extravagant production of Khon dance royally sponsored by HM the Queen at Thailand Cultural Centre. The crafts of creating intricate costumes, masks, accessories and stage sets have been revived and exhibited for the public. As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”, so the Ramakien was adapted, told, retold, and performed again and again to remind Thais of their social structures, values and roles. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying model characters such as the ideal father, the ideal king, the ideal wife, the ideal brother, and the ideal servant. In Vaishnavism, the sect within Hinduism that worships Vishnu, and within Dhevaraja doctrine, the Ramakien serves to propagate absolute monarchy as well as point the audience to good deeds and Dharma. The five main characters in the Ramakien – Rama, Lakshmana, Sita, Thosakan, and Hanuman – are wellbangkok101.com
known in modern Thai society. Rama symbolizes the archetypal hero, the avatar of Vishnu. As a divine ruler, Rama is noble, virtuous, perfect, and revered – hence from the the reign of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) the title of ‘Rama’ was retrospectively ascribed to all previous Thai monarchs and to him and his successors. Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother, portrays a loyal supporter. He is, in fact, another avatar of Vishnu. In the old political system, he represented the Wang Naa or the Front Palace where the king’s brother resided. This was before Siam had a Crown Prince. Sita epitomises a perfect lady, the queen. She is beautiful, devoted, chaste, and peerless. As an archetypal wife she stays at home, cooks, cleans, and takes care of her husband. She has no voice until she finally wants something – a golden stag which becomes her ruination. A good woman should not want! If the story had been written today, feminists would have had a fieldday criticising the Sita character. Thosakan, or Ravana, the ten-faced demon, is possibly the most human of all. He embodies all kinds of sins and emotions ranging from shame to greed and love and lust. If one has ten faces, how can one be blamed of having too many feelings? Dramaturges often view villains with more shades of grey. With his illustrious back story, Thosakan’s character is certainly charismatic and he commands the stage with his many masks. Hanuman, the great white vanara or simian, faithfully serves Rama and Co. As with other animal roles, he was often played by soldiers in the time of peace. As the leader of the simian army, he signifies ardent subjugation to the king. However, he is not only a great fighter but also the philandering lover to many of the female characters, both human and demon. Whether the Ramayana is dramatically recounted in a one-hour dance by an Indian troupe or in the lengthy and measured style of Khon, this allegory tale explores more than just Dharma and human values. It combines both organisational viewpoints and devotional elements and also holds up a mirror to our modern social behaviour. NOV EM BER 2014 | 25
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very thai
GATES & GRILLES MARKING BOUNDARIES BEAUTIFULLY
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Photo: Philip Cornwel-Smith
recent survey identified a need for Thailand to catch up with regional rivals in academic prowess. Except in one respect. Thailand boasts Southeast Asia’s best – and most expensive – school gates. The proportion of funding poured into plaques, pillars and ironwork seems to outpace that spent on teaching. Travel the country’s roads and it’s apparent this status symbol isn’t exclusive to schools, but conspicuous evidence of pride in progress, from civic compounds to factory gates to gaudy mansion railings and golf club archways, complete with clock tower. Architectural one-upmanship is nothing new. Temples (wat) have long had their porches adorned to soar gloriously above plain timber housing. Historically, temples had far grander building materials, such as glazed roof tiles in green and orange oblongs derived from cloth covers on the tented roof of a royal barge. With wealth generally increasing, the human impulse to upgrade has seen commoners cover everything in shiny ceramics: roof, railings, walls and, yes, gleaming, wipe-clean gateposts. Now condominiums look like 40-storey bathrooms, accessed via towering screens of gilded wrought iron, twice the height of the security guard heaving them ajar. Despite Thailand’s class system, upward mobility is not just possible, it can take mere dressing to achieve. Look like a winner and you might just win. To keep ahead of the neighbours, wealthier wat leave antique architecture to moulder yet erect gold-painted portals inlaid with kaleidoscopic glass mosaic. Golden gates indicate good karma. Gates, of course, are a building’s face. And face must be built up, burnished and bowed to. Each social class has its own way of shouting about how impressive they have become, with the nouveau riche shouting the loudest. Hence the neo-classical embellishments found in the suburbs, where builders erect vast gated housing estates, industrial parks and country clubs with towering arched sentry posts and engraved marble name placards.
> Very Thai
River Books by Philip Cornwel-Smith with photos by John Goss and Philip Cornwel-Smith B 995
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Now out in an expanded, updated 2nd edition, ‘Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture’ is a book that almost every foreign resident has on their reading table, a virtual bible on Thai pop culture. Now with four extra chapters, 64 more pages and a third of the 590 photographs being new, it guides you on a unconventional Technicolor tour of the quirky things that make Thailand truly Thai. From the 70 chapters, we present a different excerpt every month. Prepare yourself for the sideways logic in what seems exotic, and buy a copy of the new edition at any good bookshop.
bangkok101.com
thailand at random
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WASHING AWAY YOUR SINS .....
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he Loy Krathong festival typically occurs on the full moon night in November. Loy Krathong sees millions of people create or buy krathong, decorate them with flowers, incense sticks, and candles, and then head to a river or lake (or a bathtub if they are too far away) to float them. The original krathong was made from folded banana leaves to resemble the shape of an open lotus blossom. This offering to the Ganga (Goddess of the river) is to express thankfulness and also ask for forgiveness, if people have exploited the river. The act of floating one’s krathong down the river is also seen as a way to be purified of one’s sins and start afresh. Krathong are made not only from banana leaves but other materials, including those seen as environmentally friendly, such as bread, which can be consumed by the freshwater fish. An illustrated collection of Thailand trivia, Thailand at Random is filled with anecdotes, statistics, quotes, idioms, cultural explanations, historical asides, facts, folklore and other unusual and useful tidbits. This veritable treasure trove of information on Thailand is arranged, as the title suggests, randomly, so that readers will come to expect the unexpected on each and every page. Designed in a charmingly classic style, and peppered with original illustrations, Thailand at Random is a quirky and irresistible celebration of everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about this diverse and captivating country.
POULTRY
IN MOTION
> Thailand at Random EDM Books | editors Grissarin Chungsiriwat and Nicholas Grossman | B650
still life in moving vehicles
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esides elephants, chickens could be considered a national symbol of Thailand. You can find real chickens strutting around on Buddhist temple grounds and even on some city streets. Furthermore, cockfighting has long been a form of popular entertainment and roosters are a traditional Thai motif that can be found on ceramic bowls, in the form of offerings at sacred shrines, and even printed on stickers. And poultry is one of the main staples in the Thai diet. Once you’ve eaten gai yang (grilled chicken) with sticky rice or chicken satay on the streets of Bangkok, you’ll see why these feathery friends are so popular here. Visual artist and academic, Dale Konstanz snaps photos of the sacred decorations and other bits and bobs he finds in Bangkok taxis, then writes about them on his blog, still life in Moving Vehicles (http://lifeinmovingvehicle.blogspot.com). Published by River Books, the spin-offbook, Thai Taxi Talisman, is available at bookstores around town for B995.
bangkok101.com
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Joe’s Bangkok Award-winning writer Joe Cummings was born in New Orleans but became one of Lonely Planet’s first guidebook authors, creating the seminal Lonely Planet Thailand guide, as well as several other titles and updates for the region. Each month, he picks out his favourite cultural gems throughout Bangkok.
LAND OF STYLES
BANGKOK FASHION DESIGNERS ARE HOT, BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD.
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ver the last 20 years the Bangkok fashion design scene has outgrown its domestic market and found a comfortable and lucrative connection with international buyers. Time magazine first took note in a 2006 article entitled “Land of Styles,” proclaiming Bangkok had landed “on the style map.” Only two years earlier, Paris-based fashion critic Diane Pernet had attended Bangkok Fashion Week, saying afterwards that said she was struck by the amazing enthusiasm of Thai designers. “You don’t see anything like that in Paris or Milan,” Pernet told the press at the time. Bangkok’s increasingly vibrant fashion scene can be traced to a convergence of two influential sequences of events. First came a purely artistic flow emanating from a
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handful of creative Thais who had studied design abroad in the 1980s and 1990s – financed by Bangkok families whose fortunes increased rapidly during Thailand’s boom years – and returned to Bangkok, where they set up their own small, independent fashion houses. Rising incomes in this era, along with increased exposure to global trends, also helped create a critical mass of Bangkok consumers with a genuine interest in fashion and the means to indulge that interest. The second and more powerful influence came via the “Asian flu” of 1997, a regional economic crisis that brought Thailand’s economy to its knees. The Thai baht halved in value overnight, and all of a sudden imported rags were beyond the reach of almost everyone earning bangkok101.com
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a Thai salary. Even the Bangkok rich were forced to tighten their Gucci belts, as flea markets in Thonglor sold repossessed Mercedes autos for a pittance. All of a sudden lots of rack space became available in Bangkok department stores, space that had to be hung with something other than imported clothes and accessories. During the years that followed the crash, Bangkok fashion designers steadily came into their own. Greyhound led the way with its original Siam Center boutique, which was in the beginning little more than a side passion for advertising executive-turneddesigner Bhanu Inkawat. His designs favoured clean, contemporary lines and comfortable fabrics. Seeing the future clearly Bhanu closed his ad agency in 2003 to make Greyhound a full-time occupation. Today Greyhound’s style empire encompasses a dozen house designers, a chain of clothing stores in Bangkok with franchises in Taipei and Manila, and outlets in Paris, New York, Moscow, Tokyo and a number of other style capitals around the world. A second brand called Playhound offered more flamboyant colours and designs, appealing to more youthful buyers. Kloset, a name now widely identified with contemporary Thai fashion both inside and outside of Thailand, opened in 2001. Founder Mollika Ruangkritya, who as a young girl made her own toys and dolls, emphasised the handmade element of her designs. She was among the first of a new generation who leaned on the main strengths of traditional Thai design and manufacturing. Over the last decade her unique creations of hand-stitched and embroidered fabrics adorned with lace and ribbon have become extremely popular among Bangkok celebs and high-society women. bangkok101.com
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Another Bangkok fashion house expanding rapidly overseas is Senada Theory, created by designer Chanita Preechawitayakul in 1992. Mixing vintage charm, ethnic chic and street funk, Senada Theory is doing extremely well among fashionistas in New York, London, Paris, Milan and Tokyo. Chanita has also become the darling of fashion bloggers abroad, dubbed “Designer to Watch” by The Social Code blog and “Designer I love” in Le Belle Laide blog. Katy Perry, Leighton Meester, Rachel Bilson, Zooey Deschanel, Paris Hilton and Beyonce Knowles have had their fancies tickled by Sretsis, a 12-year-old label which embodies the collective spirit of its three founding sisters, Pim, Kly and Matina Sukhahuta. Inspired by classic romanticism, the tight-knit sisters at Sretsis (‘sisters’ spelt backwards) work with silk, chiffon, satin and large prints to create passion and feminity that work just as well at a private dinner as on the red carpet. Sretsis’ flagship Gaysorn Plaza store is so popular that opening hours are often kept short to prevent stock from selling out. The sisters have recently opened a store in Tokyo and also have stockists in the USA, France, UAE, Kuwait, Singapore China and Australia. Meanwhile Central Saint Martins grad Disaya Sorakraikitikul helms Disaya, another Bangkok fashion house that has earned international recognition, producing playful yet sophisticated ready-to-wear clothing and jewellery that is “flirty in design and luxurious in fabrication,” according to company branding. Today the label is found in more than 20 countries at such esteemed retailers as Henri Bendels, Le Bon Marche, Seibu, Harrods and Harvey Nichols. Disaya’s celebrity client roster rivals that of Sretsis, with marquee names that include Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Osbourne, Agyness Deynand and Camilla Belle. NOV EM BER 2014 | 29
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Bizarre
Thailand
A long-term resident of Thailand, Jim Algie has compiled some of his strangest trips, weirdest experiences and funniest stories into the non-fiction compilation ‘Bizarre Thailand’ (2010) and the shortfiction collection ‘The Phantom Lover and Other Thrilling Tales of Thailand’ (2014). More bytes and pixels at www.jimalgie.com.
PATTAYA:
THE VEGAS OF VICE?
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ith golf courses and scuba-diving, go-karts and shooting ranges, cheap hotels and bars with Happy Hours from 10am to 10pm, and working girls on tap 24/7, Pattaya is a young man’s wet dream come true and an old guy’s fountain of youth. As diverse as the city and its denizens are – from a motorcycle club of Harley riders who do charity work for underprivileged kids, to a mosque and sizable Islamic community beside a Catholic church – its reputation is best summarised by the popular T-shirt slogan: ‘Good Guy Goes to Heaven, Bad Guy Goes to Pattaya’. The city’s name is practically a synonym for ‘debauchery’ and a mere mention pricks up ears, causing either smirks of approval or scowls of disdain. The Vegas-like excesses of late-night carousing and serial womanising have inspired a local twist on an often30 | NOV EM BER 2014
quoted line from Martin Scorsese’s film Casino: ‘What happens in Pattaya stays in Pattaya’. As a hotbed of vice, or so the legend goes, ‘Fun City’ has racked up substantial media coverage on both local and international fronts for harbouring foreign criminals and sexual deviants. Within the same week in mid-July 2010, the police arrested a former cop from Belgium wanted for impersonating one of the embassy’s staff, and a Finnish man who changed his nationality to Swedish after he was caught bringing kilos of cocaine into Thailand. He later swindled a Swedish real estate company out of almost 1.5 million dollars before being nabbed in Pattaya when he returned to see his Thai wife. These men were small fry compared to Mikhail Pletnev, the Russian pianist and conductor arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old boy. After arriving at the bangkok101.com
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Pattaya provincial court on 19 July 2010, the 53-year-old read a prepared statement: “I have always stated that I will assist the police in every way I can with their enquiries into the allegations that have been made against me. I say again these allegations are not true. I also state, contrary to media reports that during the police search of my home nothing connected with the allegations – no photographs or other visual material – was found in the computer.” The highly regarded virtuoso also denied running a music school in Thailand or ever being a fulltime resident. For the last decade, Pletnev said he had only ever stayed in the country for a week or two at a time. If convicted, he faces up to 14 years in prison and a 40,000 baht fine. [Note: The charges against Mikhail Pletnev were dropped in September 2010]. To ferret out foreign criminals on the lam in Pattaya, the police opened a branch office of the Transnational Crime Data Center (TNCDC) off Jomtien Soi 5 in August 2010. Cooperating with Interpol, the FBI and the US Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as that of EU countries and Australia, the office’s sign outside the building lists the top crimes in order: ‘International Terrorism, Identity Fraud, Arms Smugging (sic), People Smugging (sic) or Legal Labour, Money Laundering, Drug Trafficking.’ At the press conference to open the centre, Police Superintendent Colonel Athiwit announced, “Information technology is used to expedite the identification and capture of fugitives. The TNCDC gives us the technological support and databases we need to catch criminals who have become more sophisticated in hiding their identities.” Considering these preventive measures and the numerous crime stories, surely Pattaya must be one of bangkok101.com
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the most dangerous cities in Southeast Asia? Not so, say the expats. Gavin, a young Brit whom I spoke to – who, along with his Thai wife, co-runs the New Hope Massage and Fish Spa over on Soi 13, where patrons sit outside with their legs immersed in a glass tank as dozens of fish nibble on the dead skin – said, “I think the danger element is overrated in Pattaya. Anywhere can be dangerous if you’re looking for trouble.” His claim is echoed by Christopher Moore, the Canadian novelist and Bangkok expat, who has spent a lot of time in the city over the years, especially when researching his 2004 thriller Pattaya 24/7. “I don’t find it very threatening, but like most things in life, the level of threat correlates to the risks you’re taking. You can take those kinds of risks in Bangkok or Des Moines, Iowa. Pattaya is no more dangerous than any midsized American city.” During his research, however, he discovered that the amount of smuggling along the coast is prodigious. “It’s impossible to police a coastline that long. It’s like the border between Mexico and the United States.” And that is only the beginning. Stay tuned for future excerpts from this chapter, showcasing everything from volunteer foreign cops to the Russian mafia, the biggest march protesting violence against women, and clubs that promise “pussy without attitude” in bi-polar Pattaya.
This is an excerpt from Bizarre Thailand: Tales of Crime, Sex and Black Magic, which chronicles the strange, surreal and supernatural sides of Thailand, as well as the country’s weirdest museums and tourism attractions. NOV EM BER 2014 | 31
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listings
Ananta Samakhom Palace Throne Hall
HISTORIC HOMES ANANTA SAMAKHOM PALACE THRONE HALL [MAP 8/F8] Uthong Nai Rd, opp Dusit Zoo | Tue-Sun 10am-6pm | B150 Located at the tail-end of Dusit district’s stately ceremonial boulevard, Ratchadamnoen, this stately parliamentary palace was built during the reign of Rama V and completed by Rama VI. Cast in white Carrara marble, it is still used for the ceremonial opening of the first parliamentary session. Influenced by Renaissance architecture, the interior is decorated with detailed frescoes by Italian Galileo Chini of royal ceremonies and festivities. Out front stands a statue of King Rama V still worshipped today.
JIM THOMPSON HOUSE [MAP 4/A3] 6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama I Rd | BTS National Stadium | 0 2216 7368 jimthompsonhouse. com | 9am-5pm B100/B50 students American Jim Thompson was the Princeton graduate and former spook who revived the hand-woven Thai silk industry before disappearing mysteriously in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands in 1967. One of the things to do in Bangkok is visit his tropical garden home beside a pungent canal: six traditional teak houses from around the country kept exactly as he left them
M.R. KUKRIT’S HOUSE [MAP 5/H8] 19 Soi Phra Pinit, Sathorn Rd | 0 2286 8185 Sat-Sun 10am-4pm, Daily | B50/B20 kids Kukrit Pramoj was one of Thailand’s mostloved statesmen of the 20th century. A natural all-rounder, he was a poet, a writer and even served as prime minister. His peaceful abode with its lovely gardens is a terrific example of Thai architecture.
VIMANMEK MANSION [MAP 8/F8] 139/2 Ratchawithi Rd | 0 2281 1569 | TueSun 9.30am-4pm | B100 32 | NOV EM BER 2014
Erawan Shrine The world’s largest teakwood building was originally built on the island of Koh Si Chang, in 1868, and then moved to Bangkok for use by King Rama V. Its 81 rooms spread over three floors overlook a beautiful garden.
SUAN PAKKAD PALACE [MAP 8/K11] Si Ayutthaya Rd, Ratchathewi | BTS Phaya Thai | 0 2245 4934 | suanpakkad.com | 9am4pm B100 A former market garden that was converted into a residence and garden by Princess Chumbot. Consisting of five reconstructed Thai wooden houses, Wang Suan Pakkard pays testament to her dedication to collecting Thai artefacts and antiques.
SHRINES ERAWAN SHRINE [MAP 4/G5] Ratchadamri Rd, near Grand Hyatt Erawan BTS Chit Lom | Free Don’t expect serenity here. This is one of Bangkok’s busiest intersections: the crowded shrine to the Hindu creation god Brahma and his elephant Erawan is filled with worshippers lighting incense, buying lottery tickets and watching the traditional dancing group.
GANESHA SHRINE [MAP 4/G3] Outside CentralWorld and Isetan Department Store | Ratchadamri Rd | Free A prayer in front of this pot-bellied gold elephant – the son of Shiva and Parvati – is said to help get the creative juices flowing, as well as protect you from harm. Aside from marigold garlands, bring bananas, ripe mango or sticky rice-flour Thai desserts – Ganesha has an eternal appetite.
TRIMURTI SHRINE [MAP 4/G3] Outside Centralworld and Isetan Department Store | Ratchadamri Rd | Free
The Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew If your love life is in the doldrums then this shrine is for you: at 9:30pm each Thursday it’s rumoured that Lord Trimurti descends from the heavens to answer prayers of the heart. To maximise your chances you should offer nine-red incense sticks, red candles, red roses and fruit.
TEMPLES THE GRAND PALACE & WAT PHRA KAEW [MAP 7/D10] Na Phra Lan Rd, near Sanam Luang | Tha Chang Pier | 0 2222 0094, 0 2623 5500 8.30am-3.30 pm | B500 Bangkok’s most beloved temple and top tourist site is a fantastical, mini-city sized royal complex enclosed by quaintly crenulated whitewalls. Building began in 1782, the year Bangkok was founded, and every monarch subsequent to King Rama I has expanded or enhanced it. Today, despite being able to visit many sights on its grounds, much of it remains off-limits. The Chakri Mahaprasat Hall – the “Westerner in a Thai hat” – is worth seeing, and there are some state halls and rooms open to visitors.
WAT ARUN [MAP 7/B13] Temple of Dawn, Arun Amarin Rd | 0 2465 5640 | watarun.com | 8am-5pm | B100 Across the river from Wat Po is Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn, one of the city’s most important religious sites. Before being moved to Wat Phra Kaew, the Emerald Buddha was temporarily housed here. The five-towered structure is covered in colourful porcelain and designed as a representation of the Khmer home of the gods.
WAT PO (RECLINING BUDDHA) [MAP 7/D12]
Chetuphon, Thai Wang Rd | 0 2226 0369 watpho.com | 8am-5pm | B100 bangkok101.com
listings
Wat Ratchanatda
Wat Arun
The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is the oldest and largest wat in Bangkok. Originating in the 16th century, it houses the largest reclining Buddha statue in Thailand as well as the greatest number of Buddha images.
WAT MAHATHAT [MAP 7/C8] Tha Prachan, Sanam Luang, Maharat Rd 0 2221 5999 | 9am-5pm | Free An amulet market is situated near this 18th century centre of the Mahanikai monastic sect and an important university of Buddhist teaching. On weekends, market stalls are set up on the grounds to complement the vendors of traditional medicines.
WAT RATCHANATDA [MAP 7/K8] Mahachai Rd | 0 2224 8807 | 8.30am-6pm free This striking temple on the corner of Ratchadamnoen and Mahachai Road features the bizarre Loha Prasat, a multitiered castle-like structure with 36 steel spires. Climb the spiral staircase to the top for good views of the Old City and its many temples.
WAT SAKET [MAP 7/L8] Chakkraphatdiphong Rd | 0 2233 4561 7.30am-5.30pm | B10 Referred to as the Golden Mount, this wat on a small hillock is worth the hike up 318 steps for the views of Chinatown to the south and the Old City to the north. The hill is all that is left of the fortifications for a large chedi that Rama III planned to construct on the site that gave way under the weight. Rama V later built a smaller chedi on top.
WAT SUTHAT & THE GIANT SWING [MAP 7/H9]
Bamrung Muang Rd | 0 2222 9632 | 9am-9pm Wat Suthat is one of the most important Buddhist centres in the kingdom and home to excellent examples of bronze sculpture. The city’s iconic Giant Swing, where brave men used to swing up to great heights to catch a bag of gold coins in their teeth during annual harvest ceremonies, sits out front.
WAT TRAIMIT [MAP 6/L3] 661 Charoen Krung Rd | 0 2623 1226 MRT HuaLampong | 8am-5pm | B50/B100
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Wat Traimit Housed safely in this unassuming Chinatown temple is the world’s largest solid gold Buddha. Its worth has been estimated at over US$10 million.
MUSEUMS – IN TOWN BANGKOK DOLL MUSEUM [MAP 8/L11, 12]
85 Soi Ratchataphan (Soi Mo Leng) Ratchaprarop Rd | 0 2245 3008 bangkokdolls.com | Mon-Sat 8am-5pm free Since opening in 1956 the Bangkok Doll Museum has continually attracted tourists, students and aficionados alike with its remarkable collection of hand-made Thai dolls. Founded by Khunying Tongkorn Chandavimol after she completed a doll making course in Japan, it showcases collections of dolls produced by a small team of artisans in the atelier out back, and clad in traditional costumes based on designs lifted from museum originals, temple murals and illustrations from antique books.
Ma ma makes i e k i l t s t!! Ju Authentic Italian home cooking on Thong Lor Set lunch starts@290B
387/15 Sukhumvit 55, Thong Lor soi 21 Tel: 02 185 2199
www.solemiobkk.com bangkok101.com
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listings
Madame Tussauds
BANGKOKIAN MUSEUM [MAP 5/E3] 273 Charoen Krung Soi 43, Si Phraya Pier 0 2233 7027 | Sat-Sun 10am-4pm | free Smack in the middle of Bangrak, one of the most traditional districts of the city, find this oasis of four traditional Thai houses, one of them lovingly converted into a private museum by the compound’s charming owner, Ms Waraporn Surawadee. She decided to dedicate the place to the memory of her family and bygone daily life of Bangkok everymen – and open it to the public. While visitors shouldn’t expect breathtaking revelations here, the displays are nevertheless surprisingly fascinating. They include antiques and ceremonial items.
MADAME TUSSAUDS [MAP 4/C4] 6th F, Siam Discovery Centre, Rama 1, Phaya Thai Rd | BTS National Stadium 0 2658 0060 | madametussauds.com/ Bangkok | 10am-9pm | B800/B600 kids Probably the best thing about Bangkok’s version of Europe’s famous waxwork museum is the line-up – it’s clearly designed to keep tourists and locals alike snappy happy. About as common as international sporting legends, world leaders in sharp suits, pouting Hollywood A-listers, and sequined global pop stars here are wax likenesses of Thai and regional musicians, soap stars, sportsmen and women.
MUSEUM OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS [MAP 2/E12] Supalai Grand Tower Bldg Rama III Rd 0 2653 5555 | tillekeandgibbins.com Mon-Fri 10am-4pm (App required for textile and computer collections) In 1989, Thailand’s oldest international law firm, Tilleke & Gibbins, decided to convert their evidence of counterfeit goods into educational tools for law students. To help spread the word about the perils of buying fake it’s open to 34 | NOV EM BER 2014
The National Museum Joe Public too. Over 3,500 items – from Ferrero Rocher chocolates to antimalarial tablets and a fake Ferrari motorbike – are neatly laid out, forgeries next to the originals.
MUSEUM OF SIAM [MAP 7/D13] 4 Samachai Rd | Rajini Pier | 0 2622 2599 ndmi.or.th | Tue-Sun 10am-6pm | Free A truncated history of Thailand unfurls through this down-with-the-kids discovery museum, located in a beautifully restored former government building that dates back to the 1920s. Design company Story Inc! delivered the conceptual design with pop graphics and interactive games galore. Entertaining highlights include dressing up as a 20th-century nobleman, blowing up Burmese soldiers on elephant-back with a canon and mapping out the borders of your own Siam using a touch screen.
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM [MAP 7/C6] 5 Chao Fa Rd, Sanam Luang | 0 2224 1333 thailandmuseum.com | Wed-Sun 9am-4pm B200 | no photo allowed Previously a palace during the reign of Rama V, the National Museum features extensive displays of Thai artifacts from all of Old Siam’s main historical periods, encompassing the Lanna, Ayutthaya and Sukhothai kingdoms up to the present day. Thai culture is well documented in sections on dance, music and drama. The first example of Thai literature and the Thai alphabet, inscribed by King Ramkhamhaeng on a black stone during the Sukhothai period, is also displayed.
RATTANAKOSIN EXHIBITION HALL [MAP 7/K7]
100 Ratchadamnoen Klang Rd, next to Wat Ratchanatda | 02621 0044 nitasrattanakosin.com | Tue-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 10am-8pm | B100 This multimedia museum a short walk from Khao San Road offers a skillfully
Royal Barge Museum abbreviated introduction to an area that many admire, but few truly understand: Rattanakosin Island, Bangkok’s glittering birthplace. Wandering its eleven rooms – free of relics but rich in models, dioramas, interactive videos, text and audio clips in Thai and English – brings the area’s hard-to-fathom history, arts, architecture and traditions into much clearer focus.
ROYAL BARGE MUSEUM [MAP 7/B4] 80/1 Rim Khlong Bangkok Noi, Arun Amarin Rd | Thonburi Railway Pier 0 2424 0004 | 9am-5pm B30/B100 photo/ B200 video This collection of ornate royal barges, some of which are up to 50 metres long, is housed on the Thonburi side of the river in a series of elaborate sheds near the Pinklao Bridge. The barges are best seen in action during rare ceremonial processions on the Chao Phraya where the colourful crews can number up to 64, including rowers, umbrella holders, navigators and various musicians.
MUSEUMS – OUT OF TOWN ANCIENT SIAM (MUANG BORAN) [MAP 1/F6]
296/1 Sukhumvit Rd, Samut Prakan 0 2709 1644 | ancientcity.com B500/B250 kids/B1500 private guide in English for two hours Samut Prakan province’s Ancient Siam crams reproductions of over a hundred of the Kingdom’s most venerable palaces, temples, stupas, stone sanctuaries and traditional houses into a huge map-of-Siam shaped plot of land only an hour’s drive from the capital. Don’t come expecting a tacky themepark. Its late founder, eccentric culture preservationist Prapai Viriyahbhun, demanded that every replica look and feel like the real thing. bangkok101.com
OKURA PRESTIGE HAMPERS PERFECT GIFTS FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON
Okura Prestige Hampers make wonderful festive gifts for family, friends and business associates. Choose from three fabulous hampers or create your own hamper by choosing from an extensive range of quality Christmas goodies. Order now by calling our festive hotline: 090 880 5622 or email fb@okurabangkok.com for more details. Free delivery service in Bangkok city centre (Sukhumvit, Silom and Sathorn roads) or orders of 20 hampers or more.
Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand T. 02 687 9000 F. 02 687 9001 E. info@okurabangkok.com okurabangkok.com facebook.com/theokuraprestigebangkok
SIMIAN FEAST: A LOPBURI MACAQUE TUCKS INTO A PIECE OF FRUIT
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MONKEY BANQUET
LOP BURI T
he townsfolk of Lopburi host a vegetarian banquet on November 30 for their 3000 strong long-tailed macaque population to say thank you for all the tourist dollars the simians bring in. Resembling the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, this free-forall takes place around the spectacular Prang Sam Yot temple and usually draws around 10,000 people. Many locals believe the animals are godsends from Kala, a Hindu divinity who holds sway over time and death, because many of the monkeys live around the 10th century Khmer-style shrine devoted to him. Others believe that the monkeys are soldiers of Hanuman, the monkey god and warrior who led simian armies to great victories in the epic Indian tale, the Ramayana. Located just a few hours away from Bangkok, the old city of Lopburi has many other historical attractions worth a visit, including the Khmer ruins at San Phra Kan and Phra Narai Ratchaniwet.
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November 1-February 28 Tha Kham Dolphin Festival We humans have an affinity for dolphins, hence the popularity of the Bangpakong River over the next few months. Locals and visitors flock to its banks to catch a glimpse of Bottlenose, Humpback and rare Irrawaddy dolphins. Adventure seekers also like to hike down the river to spot exotic birds and mischievous monkeys. A further bonus is the many seafood restaurants in the area where tasty dishes, including the locally famous sea bass, are served ultra-fresh.
November 6-7 Yi Peng Traditional Lanna-style sky lanterns float gracefully into the night as people make merit in this northern festival. Folk also decorate their houses, gardens and temples with pretty shaped paper lanterns. The most elaborate celebrations can be seen in and around Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the former Lanna kingdom. Yi Peng coincides with the Loy Krathong festival. The result sees twinkling lights floating on many stretches of water, hanging from trees and buildings and soaring high into the sky, giving many districts a fairytale feel.
November 13-15 Krabi Bergfah Andaman Festival This cultural event celebrates the beginning of Krabi’s tourist season. It offers a mix of arts and crafts, music and dance performances, and the chance to experience tasty southern culinary delicacies. The event kicks off with a spectacular evening market-cum-fair in the Thara Park area near the river. Visitors will especially enjoy the southern Thai Nang Thalung puppeteer shows, while the river plays host to a number of fun activities.
November 14-21 Asian Beach Games The Olympic Council of Asia stages the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket this month. It is anticipated that over 3,500 athletes and officials from 45 countries across Asia will participate in 23 sports including beach volleyball, beach basketball, sailing, windsurfing, paragliding, jet-ski, water ski, triathlon, beach soccer, and beach athletics. Patong and Karon beaches, situated on the west coast of Phuket, are the main competition venues.
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November 15-16 Surin Elephant Round-Up The northeastern province of Surin is known locally as the Land of the Elephant but since the gradual demise in roles for the gentle beasts, their mahouts have had to think of other ways to make a living. Hence the Elephant Round-Up, an internationally recognized event that includes a procession of over 300 elephants marching through Surin to the traditional corralling area in the south of the city. Here games of elephant football and tugs of war demonstrate the strength and skills of the pachyderms, who also get to enjoy a vast elephant’s breakfast of fruit and vegetables.
November 26-December 5 River Kwai Bridge Week and Kanchanaburi Red Cross Fair 2014 This annual event takes you back to the dark days of World War II and the infamous Bridge on the River Kwai, the story of which is partially told through a spectacular World War II sound and light show complete with simulations of shrieking Allied bombers and pyrotechnics. The event also features a remembrance ceremony held at the main Allied War Cemetery, the H.M. the King Bhumibhol exhibition, and the annual Red Cross Fair.
Throughout November Muaklek Cowboy Festival Saraburi Chamber of Commerce, in association with Saraburi Tourist Association stages the “Muaklek Cowboy Fest” throughout November. Renowned for its beef and dairy industries, the province is home to over a hundred Thai cowboys. To add to the excitement, there will be a Wild West theme throughout the event with the cowboys showing off their roping and gun-handling skills. The event also features live country music, home-cook local foods and souvenirs stalls selling handicrafts made in the province.
Until January 31 Lop Buri Sunflower Blooming Festival If you’re an aspiring Van Gogh or just plain into flowers you’re in clover this month, as endless fields of bright yellow sunflowers are now in bloom in nearby Lopburi province. The perfect location for an outdoorsy daytrip – it’s only an hour and a half’s drive away – locals flock here to photograph and roam amidst the tall, sun-drinking sprouters, which usually hang around until February. They’re also blooming over in nearby Saraburi.
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hotel review
ASITA ECO RESORT - Fireflies and Floating Markets BY JOE CUMMINGS
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peaceful river-and-canal lifestyle, unique floating markets and historic temples have made Amphawa, in nearby Samut Songkhram Province, every Bangkokian’s favourite day-trip or weekend escape. Until recently places to spend the night leapt from rustic homestays to a handful of posh hotels, with little in between. Asita Eco Resort adds a new dimension to the local offerings with a laidback collection of 20 villas plus a three-room house set back from the banks of the Mae Klong River. The brainchild of Asita Vimolchaichit, former marketing director at Novotel on Siam Square, the resort architectures makes abundant use of wood, stone, terracotta, thatched roofing and other eco-friendly materials. An intimate, natural-appearing canal and pond system, backed by a large grove of coastal pines, contributes a sense of calm. The spacious, pleasantly landscaped grounds also boasts a salt-water swimming pool. Asita’s helpful staff can arrange boat tours to experience the many local sights. On weekend mornings and certain other special days (depending on lunar phases), palmfringed canals lead to Tha Kha Floating Market, where elderly ladies in lampshade-style hats paddle wooden boats laden with flowers, fruit and noodle soups. 40 | NOV EM BER 2014
Near the junction of Amphawa Canal and Phi Lok Canal stands ancient Wat Chulamani, the most venerated Buddhist temple in the area. A stately semi-open-air chapel in the small complex displays a number of artefacts chronicling religious life in Amphawa since the Ayutthaya era. Another temple worth checking out is Wat Bang Kung, often called ‘Banyan Tree Temple’, where a small ordination chapel is entirely encased within the branches and roots of a massive banyan tree. The chapel contains a highly revered bronze seated Buddha. First-time visitors to Amphawa usually pay a visit to the much-photographed Railway Market, a collection of vendors who set up their stalls on active railway tracks running between Bangkok and Samut Songkhram to sell fresh seafood, fresh produce, herbs and spices. When a train approaches, the vendors deftly shift their stools, tarps and umbrellas away from the rails, leaving just enough room for the train to squeeze through. Once the train has passed, the market quickly re-assembles. At nightfall, continue further up Amphawa Canal to glimpse the nightly lightshow performed by millions of fireflies cavorting in the trees along the canal banks. Further on is Amphawa Canal Market, an extensive bangkok101.com
hotel review
complex of wooden shophouses lining both sides of the canal, the descendant of a market which flourished as early as the 17th-century reign of King Prasat Thong. Over a hundred traditional wooden shops, most dating to the early 20th century, flank wooden walkways on each side of the canal, linked by quaint pedestrian bridges. Vendors sell everything from spicy fresh clams to souvenir T-shirts and thick Thai-style coffee or tea sweetened with condensed milk. As at Tha Kha, wooden rowboats move along the water below, offering local sugar-palm sweets, handicrafts and one-dish meals. The Amphawa Canal Market is open only on weekends, beginning around 3pm but reaching peak attendance after dark when the walkways are thronged with visitors. Asita Eco Resort’s world-class resident chef takes excellent advantage of abundant fresh seafood
a Pedigree& Passion for Sartorial Perfection Crafting bespoke apparel for discerning ladies and gentlemen for over 40 years
60/2 SILOM RD., BANGKOK Open Monday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. On Silom Road next to the BTS station, opposite Silom Complex.
T: 02 233 9236 F: 02 267 1267
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acquired directly from the local fishing fleet in the Mae Klong River (which feeds into the nearby Gulf of Thailand). A riverside table at Asita, piled with steamed clams, grilled prawns and baked fish, is a perfect way to end the day. Villas and rooms at Asita Eco Resort start at B3000 a night on weekdays, B3750 on weekends. A special Loy Krathong Festival rate of B2500, inclusive of buffet breakfast for two, boat trip to view fireflies, Amphawa Floating Market and other local sights, and a riverside launching of krathong is available on November 6 only.
ASITA ECO RESORT 3/3 Taihard, Samut Songkhram | 08 9866 2168 asitaresort.com
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Tourist Heaven and Buddhist Hell The quaint lakeside town of Phayao offers adventurous travellers some of Thailand’s most bizarre visions of the underworld, says BY MARCO FERRARESE
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I have been living in Chiang Mai for over ten years but this is the first time I have come to this place,” says Rudy, a grey mustachioed Italian in his early fifties. He gravitated to my breakfast table after he overheard a conversation in his mother tongue. It’s not common to hear Italian spoken in northern Thailand, even in worldly Chiang Mai. “Imagine how good it sounds here in Phayao then,” Rudy says, emphasizing with his left hand, while his right stuffs a piece of croissant into his mouth. “This place looks like Chiang Mai did when I came to Thailand for the first time, twenty five years ago.” I’m too young to be able to relate to the glories of Chiang Mai in the early 1990s, but I can imagine what Rudy is referring to. He’s talking about a Thailand without cookie-cutter restaurants for foreigners on every street corner, poor English signage, no hustle and bustle of too many visiting farangs. In fact, besides us, Rudy and his heavily tattooed nephew Andrea, today there seems to be no other travellers in Phayao town. We have a bend of its shimmering lake all to ourselves. It is part of the reason I came here.
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I pointed the wheels of a rented Toyota to this part of the Kingdom with a simple goal: to get off the beaten track and explore at my own pace, soaking up a hopefully more authentic atmosphere away from all the tourist amenities. Phayao seemed like a good place to start my quest. Bordering a corner of Laos, hemmed between the more popular provinces of Chiang Rai and Lampang, and gateway to low-key Phrae and Nan, Phayao is a deeply green piece of upland Thailand. At its centre, Phayao town stretches over the eyelid of an oval shaped lake, as if it were a line of concrete mascara. A collection of low rise sunbathed buildings and seafood restaurants, Phayao town doesn’t look too appealing to the first-timer. But the lakeside, the heart of an otherwise quiet city which calls it a day right after sundown, has some charm. “No need to worry about your car,” the smiling hotel manager reassured me. “We have a CCTV security camera.” Looking at the empty streets, thieves and burglars are the least of my worries. Thai ghosts, maybe? Which boils down to the main reason for my visit: I didn’t come to look for rest and relaxation on the
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lakeside, but to have a peek at something far more bizarre. In fact, Phayao hides a very peculiar slice of Buddhist hell on Earth, one oddly guarded by a petite, angry dinosaur. Just a few kilometers to the west of the lake, the gardens of Wat Khom Kham offer a collection of larger than life statues depicting heaven and hell, with the emphasis on the latter. The statues on display are among the quirkiest in the whole of Southeast Asia. Scary depictions of the netherworld are common throughout the Buddhist world, but they’re not often found in a quaint garden setting. At the gates of Khom Kham’s green hell stands the mini replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex next to a spearwielding blue demon with an elephant’s head. As soon as one sets out on the main path, two more fanged guardian
PHAYAO HIDES A VERY PECULIAR SLICE OF BUDDHIST HELL ON EARTH, ONE ODDLY GUARDED BY A PETITE, ANGRY DINOSAUR demons appear, the precursors to the real attractions: a series of ghastly, extremely realistic oversized stone creatures. Behind a cluster of the screaming damned who slowly burn in a stone cauldron, a monster woman that looks very much like a zombie from Tales from the Crypt digs into her own open stomach. “Beware,” she seems to warn us, “For this is what happens to women who decided to have abortions.” Next to her, a bald and rotting man awaits, his freakishly long tongue rolled all the way down to his lap. He was transformed into a zombielike anteater because he lived a life telling deceitful lies. The show is stolen by a giant figure looming at the back of the park: a tall, slender monster man who stands 4 4 | NOV EM BER 2014
behind the morbid couple, the third in a trinity of ghastly abnormalities. Next to it, a few naked damned clamber up a thorny tree chased by wild dogs hungry for flesh. In the opposite corner, looking as though these hellish extravaganzas were normal business, a serene Buddha figure sits meditating atop a miniature cliff. A group of men with animal heads pray before him. They have repented to the right path just in time, just before their bodies were turned into something even more grotesque. It is a relief to be back at the lakeside, where some boats are leaving from a pier for a wat set on an islet in the middle of the lake. Until a few years ago, diving trips to an alleged underwater wat were one of the attractions for travellers to these shores, but today they’re long gone. “It used to be good business, but we can’t bring people there anymore. It’s for safety, they say,” one of the boatmen explains. A few meters further on, children play on a floating fishing platform. It’s a way to get closer to the water and from here the row of restaurants and cafes lining the shore look less significant, overshadowed by a vast scape of water and sky. A solitary longboat appears on the horizon, gliding over the dark water. The round straw hat of a fisherman moves rhythmically with the strokes of his paddle, until the boat breaks into a mass of floating leaves and bumps to a stop against the walled shore. His meager catch might feed a few tourists but he’s not interested and after hanging up his nets, he walks away with a timid smile. Returning to the hotel, we find Rudy sitting on the veranda, cigarette in one hand coffee in the other. He announces that he will drive his rental car back to Chiang Mai the next morning. “This place is nice, but there’s nothing much to do here,” he says, “plus, my nephew needs to get back to his Muay Thai training, you know… he’s a city type.” I can’t help thinking back to the monsters of Wat Khom Kham. Rudy seems not to appreciate the heavenly side of Phayao. What would he say if he’d been dragged to hell with me? bangkok101.com
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Back to Serendip Largely neglected by travellers in the aftermath of years of civil war and a devastating tsunami, tourism is gaining traction in eastern and southern Sri Lanka. BY JOE CUMMINGS
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ar has a way of holding back development, a boon for natural conservation wrapped in a curse for local lives and livelihoods. Starting in the early 1980s, Sri Lanka suffered through two decades of civil war, a period of stress and instability compounded by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which claimed tens of thousands of lives and homes along the island nation’s eastern and southern seaboards. Although the Tamil-Sinhalese conflict ended in 2009, rehabilitation has been slow, and international visitors are only now reappearing to enjoy the empty beaches, friendly people, tantalising cuisine and wild jungles. On my last visit nearly a decade ago, my travels focused on Colombo, Kandy, the Hill Country and the Cultural Triangle of Sigiriya, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa in north central Sri Lanka. This time I headed straight for the formerly troubled areas, starting in Trincomalee and working my way down the coast and around to Galle. Its natural, deep-water harbour drawing seafaring international traders for centuries, Trinco, as the name is popularly abbreviated, remained virtually off limits to all but locals, relief workers and military until the truce of 2009. Before starting my journey south, I stop off at Koneswaram Temple, the focus of religious life in Tamildominated, Hindu-majority Trinco. Perched on a rocky bluff overlooking the Bay of Bengal known as Swami
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Rock, the temple lies entirely within British-built Fort Frederick, now occupied by the Sri Lankan Army, and is considered one of Sri Lanka’s most potent pilgrimage sites. In the hour and a half I spend at Swami Rock, I don’t spot any other non-Tamil, non-Sinhalese visitors. From Trinco it’s a long day’s drive to Gal Oya National Park, 62,937 hectares of protected forest and savannah that shelter such exotic mammals as common langur, toque macaque, leopard, sloth bear, elephant, wild boar, axis deer and wild buffalo, not to mention around 150 bird species and rare medicinal plants used in Ayurvedic medicine. I’m the first guest to stay at just-opened Gal Oya Lodge, whose wood-walled, thatched-roof cottages blend naturally into the fringes of the national park while offering luxurious canopy beds and spacious open-air garden bathrooms. Gal Oya is the only national park in Sri Lanka that doesn’t restrict visitors to safari vehicles, and I’m delighted to follow one of the lodge guides on a vigorous hike along a jungle path high above rocky streams. We end at the top of a waterfall, watching a resident elephant herd stroll across the savannah below. The following day we leave the coastal plains and drive towards the Hill Country till we reach Living Heritage Koslanda, a mountain idyll set amid the southern extent of Devianga Kale – Sinhalese for ‘God’s Forest’ – a vast area of jungle, rock and stream stretching from Adam’s
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Peak to Kataragama. Living Heritage Koslanda kicked off over 30 years ago when Sri Lankan film director Manik Sandrasagra sought to preserve Sri Lanka’s natural beauty and cultural heritage. Designed in collaboration with renowned Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswatte, the peaceful retreat was completed in 2012 by Manik’s wife Lucy, four years after his death. As the sole guest, I have the run of the traditionally constructed lodge and lounging pavilions, a rock-framed swimming pool with stunning views of the valley below, and a network of trails leading to a hidden year-round waterfall. It suits me so well, I vow to return for a longer stay one day. Next on the journey southward comes Yala National Park, checking in at a luxury tented camp operated by Leopard Safaris. Yala’s dry thorn scrub and dusty glades are reminiscent of African bushveldt, and similarly filled with elephants, wild boar, spotted deer, crocodiles, jackals and the world’s highest concentration of wild leopards. Over the next two days, Leopard Safaris owner Noel Rodrigo and his experienced guides take me through the park aboard a Toyota Land Cruiser in search of wildlife. We are rewarded with a leisurely sighting of the namesake prize early on the second morning: a noble pair of svelte leopards lounging in boulder-studded grass near a watering hole frequented by deer and buffalo. While negotiating the park’s dusty, unsealed roads, we see scattered groups of Hindu pilgrims, some walking from as far away as Jaffna at the island’s northern tip, as they slowly make their way on foot to the great temple at Kataragama. Home to the six-faced, 12-armed Hindu war god, Skanda (known locally as Murugam), the temple site is said to be the southernmost terminal of an Axis Mundi extending all the way from Tibet’s Mount Kailash. This yearly pilgrimage, known as Pada Yatra, was suspended during most of the 1983-2009 civil war. Nowadays it’s thriving once again, culminating in a huge temple festival every August. After several consecutive days of glamping it, I make my way to Tangalla, a southern seacoast town, where wild, beautiful and mostly undeveloped sand coves undulate along an indigo sea swirling with coral, rock and foam. My home for the night is Last House, the architectural swan song of legendary Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. Separated from secluded Mawella Beach by 48 | NOV EM BER 2014
grassy grounds and a rickety wooden gate, the large and simply laid-out, two-storey seaside villa features high ceilings and extensive pillared verandas, encouraging the circulation of sea breezes year-round. Our lengthy road trip ends at Galle, a garrison town on the Bay of Galle originally built by the Portuguese in 1588, then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century. Atop a rocky promontory, 36-hectare Galle Fort encloses a maze of narrow streets lined with a hodgepodge of architectural styles which today form a living time capsule. Unesco has recognised the walled area as a World Heritage Site, calling it ‘the best example of a fortified city built by Europeans in South and Southeast Asia’. I take a pleasant and informative walking tour of the fort with Juliet Coombe, a photographer and publisher who is married to a local resident and raising a family inside the fort. Coombe and I meander from majestic sea wall to blind alley as she reveals a compelling narrative in which the town plays hero. I stay outside of town at peaceful Kahanda Kanda, one of the first and most well-known boutique villa resorts to flourish in picturesque villages between Galle and Tangalla. Known to local residents simply as KK, the ochre-hued collection of stylish villas is surrounded by a working tea estate and acres of jungle, with Koggala Lake visible in the distance. My final night on the Trinco-to-Galle route is spent relaxing at Why House, an Italianate-cum-Sinhalese manor house surrounded by a three-acre tropical garden in Mihiripenna village. There’s a long swimming pool less than a stone’s throw from the veranda. I’m happy to stay put, kick back and reminisce on a successful trip through parts of Sri Lanka that are opening anew. USEFUL LINKS Gal Oya Lodge | galoyalodge.com Living Heritage Koslanda | koslanda.com Leopard Safaris | leopardsafaris.com The Last House | thelasthouse.com Kahanda Kanda | kahandakanda.com Why House | whyhousesrilanka.com
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LADY IMAGE2 Lady Image2 is the continuation of Anchalee Arayapongpanich’s highly successful original solo painting exhibition “Lady Image” – works which earned her the accolade of being the only artists to win first prize at the National Gallery’s “Panasonic Contemporary Painting Exhibition” two years in a row (2012 and 2013). This latest exhibition presents imaginative paintings of the artist herself in the roles of various fictional characters. In the works Anchalee adopts (among others) the personas of a biker, a hunter in the snow and a shark wrangler to portray the confidence, strength and bravery of females, idealized images that challenge the current notions of the roles taken by women in society. Lady Image2 will be on display at Ardel Gallery of Modern Art, (99/45 Belle Ville, Boromratchonnanee Rd (Km 10.5), 0 2422 2092; Tue-Sat 10.30am-7pm, Sun 10.30am-5.30pm), from November 27-December 21.
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DAYS OF (ENDLESS) MEANINGLESSNESS 100 TONSON GALLERY [MAP 4/J5] 100 Phloenchit Rd, Soi Tonson | 0 2684 1527 | Thu-Sun 11am-7pm 100tonsongallery.com | BTS Chidlom
October 16-January 4 “Days of (Endless) Meaninglessness”, by Sydney-based Thai contemporary artist Phaptawan Suwankudt explores the underlying layers of content in a set of photographs she took on a visit to her hometown, Bangkok, during the political turmoil of late 2013 to early 2014. Selected photographs are cropped and re-created on canvases with a re-imagined colour selection. Despite being chronologically ordered to dates the photos were taken, the works are not meant to depict what happened sequentially but to illustrate an imagined emotional resonance.
SCULPERE
CHULALONGKORN ART CENTRE [MAP 5/J2] Centre of Academic Resources, Chulalongkorn University, Phaya Thai Rd | 0 2218 2965 | Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-4pm car.chula.ac.th/art | BTS Siam
October 22-December 4 In his latest solo show entitled Sculpere, Bangkok-based Japanese artist Soichiro Shimizu exhibits abstract paintings created over the past two years, as well as pieces of sculpture. Shimizu’s works are known for their sense of duality. Where one feels naturalness, one can also sense artificiality, where there is a toughness, there also exists delicacy. His works exude strong life energy through shapes, lines and textures reminiscent of cells that multiply to form tissue and organs.
TIME: GALLERY’S PRINTS AND DRAWING COLLECTION
NUMTHONG GALLERY 72/3 Aree Soi 5, Soi 7 Phahonyothin Rd | 0 2617 2794, 08 1918 5067 Mon-Sat 11am-6pm | gallerynumthong.com | BTS Aree
Until November 11 This exhibition celebrates its 18th anniversary of Numthong Gallery. Prints and drawings by famous artists and also emerging artists have been selected for this special showcase. The exhibition features works by the likes of Niti Wattuya, Somboon Hormtienthong, Kamin Lertchaiprasert, Natee Utarit, Kraisak Chirachaisakul, Kanya Charoensupkul, Jirachaya Pripwai and Kwanchai Lichaikul.
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INSON WONGSAM: THE AUTONOMOUS SPIRIT
BANGKOK ART AND CULTURE CENTRE [MAP 4/B4] 939 Rama I Rd | 0 2214 6630-1 | Tue-Sun 10am-9pm | bacc.or.th | BTS National Stadium
Until November 23 In the early sixties, young graduate Inson drove a Lambretta scooter from Thailand through India and Pakistan and on to Europe before eventually heading to America. Using a stack of woodcut prints as barter for lodgings, he didn’t return to Thailand until some 13 years later. Today his abstract works of art are internationally acclaimed. Inson Wongsam: The Autonomous Spirit features over 100 pieces including polished teakwood sculptures, woodprints and recent paintings.
THE 4TH ASIA PLUS ART CONTESTRHYTHM OF LIGHT AND COLOUR THE QUEEN’S GALLERY [MAP 7/H6] 101 Ratchadamnoen Klang Rd | 0 2281 5360 | Thu-Tue 10am-7pm queengallery.org
Until November 30 Asia Plus Security PCL showcases the best 56 paintings from the 4th Asia Plus Art Contest under the theme of ‘Rhythm of Light and Colour’ – 6 award-winning works and 50 additional pieces that received notable praise at the contest. The theme of the annual art contest was picked to encourage younger generations of artists to be more imaginative and creative in the composition of their work.
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interview
The Art of Darkness Hero or villain? One can only wonder when one views Preyawit Nilachulaka’s latest artworks, part of the Dramathais exhibition at Adler Subhashok Gallery. Devoting most of his time to his role as the front man of leading Thai rock band Instinct, painter Preyawit is also highly involved in the local art scene and has been showing his work since 1997. Producing almost comic-like images using bright pop-ish colours, often on large-scale canvases, his interpretations of stock Thai characters such as policemen, monks, students and members of the ‘hi-so brigade’ are witty, mocking and yet profound, raising questions about the influences of authority and media on society. He chats to NAN TOHCHOODEE. 54 | NOV EM BER 2014
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interview
How do you divide your time between music and painting? I would say that I give my music career first priority because I have an obligation to my band mates. Working as a group, you have to be considerate of others and think about the needs of the team. Whenever I am not working on music, I devote most of my time to painting. Of course, this balance can be skewed when I have to complete paintings in time for an exhibition. But on the whole music comes first. In what ways does music influence your painting? I wish music had more influence on my paintings. But this is a challenge given the themes of my work, which basically question Thai society and the moral priorities we seem to have. My work gently mocks society most of the time. The musical side of life is different because, as I said earlier, you have to compromise with producers and band mates to achieve something you all agree on. Perhaps things will work the other way around and the views I express in my paintings will work their way into the music. At the moment our music is about love, relationships and life’s lessons, but we may grow into darker, more sarcastic social commentary in the future. Who knows? Who inspires you? There are a few artists who inspire me. I have a lot of respect for Damien Hurst. To have the guts to produce the work he does…you must be completely insane! I can’t just wake up one day and think “hey, I’m going to put a dead shark in a tank” and just do it. He’s very daring in his approach to work. I also admire Jeff Koons and Murakami Takashi for their amazing attention to detail. Yue Minjun’s work has had an impact on my painting too. He uses bright and seemingly cheerful colours for quite dark and sometimes controversial subject matter. These artists have assistants to help them with technical aspect so they are free to have the mental space to think about concepts. That’s really interesting to me because they show that it’s not all about craft. Much is to do with the main ideas that go behind the works. The problem with some Thai artists is that they put too much emphasis on the technical aspects of painting, missing the chance to fully explore the conceptual ideas behind their pieces. bangkok101.com
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Your latest works offer a sardonic view of society and authority. Why so anti-establishment? I suppose I approach painting with a degree of mockery, with an almost anti-art feeling if you like, because in many ways I am bored with the current state of Thai society. For example, people are being overtaken by social media, with the whole Facebook and Instagram thing. It has become obsessive and a way of showing off. That said, most of the work I have produce for the current show derives from stories I have heard and seen via social media. Take the homosexual monk, and the policemen paintings, which contrast how seriously these characters are taken in real life with the general fun being made of them on social media. Contemporary Thai art is growing. What defines contemporary Thai? In a sense whatever can stay timeless counts as being contemporary. I’m not so sure about the definition of being Thai because that comes down to each individual to define for themselves. For my pieces though, I use obviously identifiable contemporary Thai characters – the policeman, the monk and the student in uniform etcetera. What more could be done to promote Thai art? First of all I think that artists need necessary funding so that they can keep on producing work. We are fortunate that the likes of Adler Gallery, and many other amazing galleries, are supporting local talent more and more. This needs to continue. Secondly, Thais from all levels of society need to be more open-minded and supportive of the various styles of art out there. Art shouldn’t be solely about decoration, it should be thought-provoking too. Your plans for the future? In terms of art, I’m hoping for a solo show in the near future and I’m keen to experiment with different mediums.
DRAMATHAIS UNTIL NOVEMBER 30 ADLER SUBHASHOK GALLERY
[MAP 3/L8]
160/3 Sukhumvit soi 33 | 0 2662 0299 | sacbangkok.com | Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat-Sun 11am-6.30pm
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cheat notes
THE LAST SIAMESE JOURNEYS IN WAR AND PEACE Teddy Spha Palasthira l B350 The social and political landscape of Thailand changed forever after three crucial events that took place during the last century. The first occurred in 1932 when the world still knew the country as Siam. A cadre of young army officers seized control and forced King Rama VII to give up his absolute powers and accept a constitutional monarchy. The second event was World War II, and the third was when Thailand became an anti-communist ally of the United States in the Vietnam War. At the turn of each event, the Thai people were forced to make practical and emotional choices. This book relates the history of these momentous times from the perspective of a select group of people who witnessed them, detailing how their individual lives were impacted and how some of them, unwittingly, ended up on opposing sides.
EXPATZ - WHITE TRASH GO CRAZY IN ASIA ! Jimmy Wing | 2014 Multi-award winning EXpatZ, a short film by Jimmie Wing, describes the strange and twisted stories of Westerners in Asia and the adventures of one Asian people’s turnabout in fortunes. The film is a satire on the ridiculousness of the superiority of white people and lampoons standards of racial stereotyping. Through extreme subversion and sabotage, EXpatZ presents a multi-faceted view of the relative relationship between the West and Asia within the ecology of Southeast Asian colonialism. Filmed in Bangkok and Taipei, EXpatZ has won various awards around the world including the Grand Prize at Urban Nomad Film Festival in Taiwan. EXpatZ will be screened at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) on Wednesday 19th of November at 7pm followed by a brief Q&A with director Jimmy Wing.
art & culture photofeature
Salt of the
Earth
S
ix Bangkok-based French ladies, all keen amateur photographers, are staging a photo exhibition titled “Du Sel et des Hommes” (Of Salt and Men) at the gallery of the Alliance Française this month. Anikó Palánky, Catherine White, Isabelle Touyarou, Marie-Christine Reitz, Stéphanie Breton and Stéphanie Noto have come together to document their experiences of living in Thailand and their photos can be
found on a dedicated Facebook page, “Bangkok Snapshots”, and in the French TukTuk magazine. In this latest series of images, the women pay tribute to the hard work of the salt workers who prepare the taken-for-granted condiment in salt pans along the main Bangkok to Hua Hin road. Their vivid photos are on the one hand beautiful and yet on the other descriptive of the harsh conditions in which the salt workers travail.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------“Of Salt and Men” runs until November 22 at the Gallery of Alliance Française, Bangkok, 179 Witthayu Rd. For more information call 0 2670 4222 or email warittha.kraiwee@afthailande.org
TIPAWAN GATESOMBOON
TAJINE ZITOUN AT CREPES & CO P74 64 | NOV EM BER 2014
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AROY NO LIMITS AT KISSO
Sunday lunch choices abound in Bangkok, but you’ll be hard pushed to find anything like the new all-you-can-eat à la carte Japanese Sunday Lunch at Westin Grande Sukhumvit’s Kisso Japanese restaurant. Featuring more than 100 premium dishes, guests can order from a menu including not just Japanese delicacies but also seafood and meat dishes from around the world. In addition to Hokkaido Scallops, Japanese Oysters, Japanese Yellow Tail and Kurobuta Pork, there’s Australian Wagyu Beef, Canadian Snow Crab, French Foie Gras and Norwegian Salmon. Kisso Sunday lunch prices are B2490 net per person and additional B930 net for free-flow of sake, wine, beer and soft drinks.
GIVE THANKS AT OKURA PRESTIGE BANGKOK
Celebrate Thanksgiving at The Okura Prestige Bangkok’s Up & Above restaurant with special buffet lunch and set dinner menus on November 27. The buffet lunch is available from 12pm-2.30pm priced at B1200++ per person and features traditional roast turkey and other popular Thanksgiving Day dishes and trimmings. The special four-course set dinner menu comprises a ‘modern interpretation’ of a Nicoise-style tuna salad; foamy topinambur soup with breaded langoustine stick; oven roasted turkey with root vegetables and ginger-pumpkin mash and, for dessert, raspberry ripple cheesecake ice cream bars. The set dinner is available from 6pm-10.30pm and is also priced at B1200++ per person. Up & Above is located on the 24th floor of hotel. Call 0 2687 9000 or email upandabove@ okurabangkok.com for reservations.
TOP TABLE DINING
Tables Grill at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok invites steak enthusiasts to discover new dining experiences with a new range of premium quality cuts of beef from the US, Australia and Japan. Beautifully prepared to personal tastes and carved tableside, the steaks are complimented by a choice of toothsome sauces. Succulent seafood dishes such as Lobster Thermidor and Dover Sole meunière are also available. For reservation and more information, please email Tables Grill at restaurants.bangh@hyatt.com or call 0 2254 6250.
BARSU GOES GASTRO
Last month, BarSu at the ground floor of Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit reopened as an exciting new lounge venue serving exceptional cuisine at down-to-earth prices. The unique BarSu Goes Gastro concept allows diners to relax in a distinctly chic and contemporary environment while enjoying crudités and cured meats, terrines, imported cheeses, and delicious European main dishes and seafood, all enhanced by a soundtrack of cool music. Liquid attractions include two hours of free flow beverages for just B765 net, with an additional hour charged at B388 net. Available from 6pm, the free flow promotion includes beers, creative cocktails, mixed drinks and mocktails. bangkok101.com
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meal deals GARDEN BARBEQUE DINNER AT BRASSERIE EUROPA SIAM KEMPINSKI HOTEL BANGKOK 991/9 Rama 1 Rd | 0 2162 9000 | kempinski.com/en/bangkok The barbeque dinner is held in the beautiful surrounding of the garden at Brasserie Europa every Thursday to Saturday from November 6 until January 31st 2015. Enjoy a scrumptious feast from barbeque cooking stations rustling up a variety of imported grilled meats, seafood, salads, Thai and Asian dishes, as well as mouth-watering desserts. The price is B1800++ per person, including freeflow non-alcoholic beverages. The unlimited alcoholic beverages package (limited menu) is available at an additional charge of B850++.
ALBA WHITE TRUFFLE FESTIVAL AT FIFTY FIVE CENTARA GRAND AT CENTRALWORLD 999/99 Rama 1 Rd | 0 2100 1234 | centarahotelsresorts.com/centaragrand Chef Hugo Coudurier has created an Alba White Truffle set menu based on premium quality tuber magnatum – white truffles – imported from northern Italy. This scrumptious 4-course menu features Alba white truffle risotto and poached Guineafowl. It ends with the impressive Apple Tarte Fine, bourbon vanilla ice cream and Martell Cognac truffles. The set is offered at B7999++ per person. Each course is also available on an a la carte basis.
OMAKASE ODYSSEY AT KUDETA KU DE TA BANGKOK 39 Fl, Sathorn Square Complex, 98 North Sathorn Rd | 0 2108 2000 | kudeta.com/Bangkok Throughout November at Ku De Ta’s flagship restaurant, Signature, executive chef Jonathan Maza takes guests on an Omakase culinary journey. Comprise the freshest catches of the day, this Omakase ‘chef’s selection’ means guests can relax without having to make any decisions. All they have to do is enjoy the tasty ride and take in the panoramic views of Bangkok’s skyline. The Omakase selection is priced at B3000 per person.
MOROCCAN PROMOTION AT CREPES & CO. CRÊPES & CO. 59/4 Langsuan Soi 1 | 0 2652 0208-9 | crepesnco.com Enjoy a variety of Moroccan dishes including traditional favourites such as deep-fried briouattes triangles with lamb and rice, spicy Merguez sausage, and Tchoutchouka with poached eggs in spicy sauce. Sharing platters at B395++ for two or B650++ for four. A wide selection of Moroccan slow-cooked tajine dishes including chicken with almonds (B400++), lamb with prunes (B475++) and fish chermoula (B450++) are also on the menu.
EGG-CITING TIMES BY THE RIVER ROYAL ORCHID SHERATON HOTEL AND TOWERS 2 Charoen Krung Road Soi 30 (Captain Bush Lane) | 0 2266 0123 | royalorchidsheraton.com Try an indulgent eggs benedict breakfast in the relaxing atmosphere of Sambal Bar and Grill on Saturdays from 9am-2pm. Highlights include eggs benedict with smoked salmon, spinach and béarnaise sauce on whole wheat toast, eggs benedict with English back bacon and hollandaise sauce on English muffin, eggs benedict and prosciutto with chives hollandaise sauce on croissant served with rocket salad, and eggs benedict with ham, spinach, mushroom, tomato and hollandaise sauce on waffle. From B190.
PASTA AND FAMILY FUN AT BRIO ANANTARA BANGKOK RIVERSIDE RESORT AND SPA 257/1-3 Charoennakorn Rd | 0 2476 0022 | bangkok-riverside.anantara.com Brio, Anantara Bangkok’s highly acclaimed Italian restaurant, proudly presents a great value Pasta and Family Fun lunch and dinner promotion. Savour fresh homemade pastas from a selection of four and choose from an assortment of wonderfully flavoured sauces served tableside in heated pots. Sit down to a homely family gathering in a Tuscan villa setting priced at only B999++ for a party of 4 persons. 66 | NOV EM BER 2014
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review
FOOD & DRIN K
CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH AT FIFTY FIVE - Raising the brunch bar to new heights The surf & turf champagne brunch at Fifty Five at Centara Grand is a hedonist’s dream come true. Available only on the first Sunday of each month, it features a free flow of Perrier-Jouët champagne and selected wines, an incredible selection of seafood on ice, plus a large assortment of other gourmet items and trolleys rolling about with prime rib, foie gras, smoked seafood and more. There is also an impressive selection of cooked-to-order items. At B3955++ it’s not cheap, but for what’s on offer, it is an incredible bargain. As I slid into my chair, a server immediately poured a glass of Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut Champagne, a superb tipple that is produced by a maison that has been in existence since 1811. After contemplating the floral and fruity wonders of my bubbly, I decided to check out the buffet and was (you choose the superlative) flabbergasted, astounded, speechless, gobsmacked. There were enormous iced mounds of some of the world’s finest seafood, including Maine lobster, Phuket rock lobster, slipper lobsters, crayfish, tiger prawns, Alaskan king crab, Dungeness crab and oysters from France and the USA. Other delights included Bellota Reserva Iberico Ham, foie gras terrine with figs accompanied by Sauternes wine, dishes crafted from Kagoshima Wagyu, plus a gourmet pork station with Cantonese style suckling pig, bangkok101.com
truffled pork cheeks and gourmet pork sausages from Michel Orgier. There is also, as you might expect, a bountiful supply of salads and superb desserts. On the date of our visit, cooked-to-order items included – among other things – pumpkin and Alba white truffle veloute with poached quail egg, Nova Scotia lobster ravioli cooked in a rich lobster sauce, charcoal grilled half Phuket lobster with fresh herbs & lemon butter, charcoal grilled Wagyu beef tenderloin with Bearnaise sauce, a superb Australian lamb rack with thyme and garlic jus, and a delicious pheasant, foie gras and truffle pithivier. Amazing as all of this might sound, it is just the tip of the iceberg. The champagne, for example, is wonderful, but the selection of wines is top notch and many dinners shift to them once they start eating. The champagne brunch at Fifty Five takes buffet dining to new levels. If you decide to avail yourself of this treat, make a reservation, arrive early and stay until closing time. It is an experience that should be slowly savoured with that special someone or a group of friends.
CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH AT FIFTY FIVE
[MAP 4/F4]
Centara Grand Hotel at CentralWorld | 11.30am-3pm | the first Sunday of each month Info and reservations at 0 2100 6255
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review
OPUS - Satisfyingly smooth and sophisticated Packing them in for traditional Italian food and an excellent wine list in smart surroundings, Opus has for several years blazed a trail for the chic venues that now thrive on the sois of lower Sathorn. The single room is loosely divided into two halves – at one end a cosy restaurant with large windows, chunky, dark wood tables and comfortable armchair seating, and at the other end more of a wine bar, dominated by a large bar, high tables and stools. Upstairs is a cigar lounge and terrace. We opt for the dining area and start with an elegant dish of Italian artichoke filled with quail’s egg yolk topped with slices of Norcia black truffle and edible flowers (B590++). The artichoke is marinated in oil, vinegar and herbs for seven hours before being briefly oven cooked. It’s a light and creamy opener, the added egg spilling over the dish to create a lovely colour combination of yellow against purple flowers, green artichoke and black truffle. The light, sharp acidity of the artichoke works well with the velvet richness. Burratina and Parma ham (B690++) come next, featuring high quality 24-month aged ham and burratina cheese imported fresh from the chef’s home region of Apulia. The ham is deep flavoured, the cheese elastic on the outside and creamy moist within. Accompaniments include delicious home-made semi-dried tomatoes and pearls of white balsamic that give little acidic pops in the mouth. 68 | NOV EM BER 2014
The wine comes from an enticing glass-fronted, walk-in cellar featuring over 400 labels, which makes it possibly the biggest Italian selection we’ve seen in Bangkok. The list has handy ratings from Robert Parker and Wine Spectator beside bottles (B1390-B21,000++) with as many regions and grapes as you can name. There are ten by the glass (B260-B620++) running from a light, acidic Mezzacorona chardonnay to beefy Amarone Corte Rugolin 2007 (B620++). For mains try ravioli with foie gras. Filled with goose liver and ricotta, it is a silky decadent dish enlivened by foie gras and black truffle sauce with drizzles of strawberry coulis. The charcoal grilled Alaskan snowfish (B840++) is also good, served with asparagus, sliced potatoes and lemon reduction, and garnished with pink edible flowers. The moist fish is perfectly grilled with a crispish char to the surface. Finish with creamy, not too cakey tiramisu (B190++) with crumbles of lady fingers for texture. It’s a satisfying end to a very good meal in warm, comfortable surroundings.
OPUS
[MAP 5/E6]
64 Pan Rd, Silom | 0 2637 9899 | wbopus.com Daily 6pm-midnight
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FOOD & DRIN K
review
SEAFOOD MARKET & RESTAURANT - A marine cornucopia There are a number of great seafood restaurants on the outskirts of Bangkok but comparatively few in the heart of town. Hence the popularity of Seafood Market and Restaurant at Sukhumvit Soi 24, which provides customers with the best of fresh quality seafood cooked by an experienced culinary team in a large bustling open kitchen. In fact, the interior of this vast restaurant is aquarium-like with schools of various kinds of model fish hanging above the dining area, where the long tables front of the shopping zone. Aside from the delectable cuisine you can enjoy onsite, what also makes Seafood Market and Restaurant distinctive is that you can purchase fresh premium seafood from a 50-meter long display counter heaving with local and imported items. A wide range of seafood items are offered, spanning from local sea bass, red snapper, oysters, tiger prawn, squid, rock lobster and scallops to imported Maine lobster, Alaskan king crab and Hokkaido scallops. You can choose your favorite seafood items as well as other ingredients in the market area, where staff are on hand to make helpful suggestions. When your choice is complete, your selection of items is whisked away to the kitchen while you take a seat and wait for your scrumptious dinner to be served. Steamed snow fish with soya sauce (B1950 per kg) and streamed jasmine rice is well worth trying. The 70 | NOV EM BER 2014
beautiful fish fillets are steamed with the soy sauce and topped with yellow chives and coriander. Also try stirfried crab with curry powder (B2550 per kg), scrambled egg, onion and scallion. It has a beautiful flavour. Stir-fried lobster with Thai curry paste (starting from B2100 per kg) and stir-fried baby clams with chilli paste (B375 per kg) are also recommended for those who love seafood cooked with typical Thai spices and condiments. All the dishes are amazingly fresh and zesty – indeed, the restaurant makes a point of saying that it uses no MSG in any of its cuisine. An outdoor dining area and private rooms are available in three different sizes, the biggest being a VIP room for 50 guests. The aquarium-like dÊcor and the tanks displaying live marine creatures are a plus for those having dinner with young children because they give the youngsters something to explore (rather than bugging mum and dad). The staff are also patient and unfailingly kind to children, which adds to the relaxed atmosphere. The Seafood Market and Restaurant is, hence, an ideal place for dinner with extended family and friends.
SEAFOOD MARKET & RESTAURANT
[MAP3/N10]
89, Sukhumvit Soi 24, Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2261 2071-5, 0 2661 1252-9, 0 2259 6580-1 | seafood.co.th
bangkok101.com
FOOD & DRIN K
review
LA BOTTEGA DI LUCA - Dining on ‘white gold’ Nestled in a small mall on Sukhumvit Soi 49, La Bottega di Luca is an immediately welcoming space, effortlessly combining indoor-outdoor seating and cultivating a relaxed vibe that makes it a neighbourhood favourite with real panache. This month owner Chef Luca Appino is hosting Bangkok’s very first white truffle dinner and auction. Leading up to this signature event, La Bottega has been presenting a special menu of dishes featuring the world famous Alba white truffle and we were lucky enough to be invited to sample some of the dishes prepared using the “white gold of Piedmont”. Alba white truffles are found only in the Langhe and Roero districts of Cuneo province in the Piedmont countryside. They grow deep underground where the soil is cool, moist and rich with nutrients and have earned a place with discerning chefs as the most prestigious and expensive fungus on the market thanks to their superb flavour. The French term for the truffle hunt is called ‘cavage’. There are only three types of dog able to sniff out the truffles and when they do it is the truffle-hunters job to unearth them up using a tool called a ‘cavadou’. We began with organic chicken egg, Parmesan cream and white truffle baked in foil (B640). It is a piquant dish, the sharpness of the cheese cutting through the richness of the egg and cream. This was followed by the much 72 | NOV EM BER 2014
lighter seared Hokkaido scallop and white truffle (B1190) and a simple but delicious dish of truffle shavings with Luca’s famous homemade Angel Hair pasta (B990). Next we tried a risotto with fresh porcini mushroom, pumpkin and truffle (B990). The rice was perfectly cooked, slightly al dente, the sauce not too wet. Our favourite dish was guinea fowl ravioli with Parmesan fondue and Alba white truffle sauce (B790), the gamey taste of the guinea fowl being nicely offset by the earthy flavor of the truffle and tanginess of the cheese. To finish we enjoyed a decadent pannacotta ice cream with Alba white truffle (B240). The exclusive four-course Alba white truffle dinner and auction (B5400++) will take place on November 11, 2014. The dishes will be accompanied by a wine pairing menu featuring innovating blends presented by Giulio Saverino, founder of ‘Wine n’ About’. The dinner is sure to be a unique experience for the taste buds, and all profits from the auction of the white truffles and several rare and unique wines will go to the Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health.
LA BOTTEGA DI LUCA
[MAP 3/P8]
The 49 Terrace, Sukhumvit 49 | 0 2204 1731 labottega.name | 10.30am-11.30pm
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Present this flyer to receive 20% off food & beverage
scalini presents the return of prestigious white truffles in 1920’s italian-american style created wine pairings by chef egidio latorraca by roberto visaggio performing during month of november information reservation
02-6206666
11 sukhumvit soi 24, khlong ton, khlong toei, bangkok 10110 thailand
hilton sukhumvit bangkok facebook.com/scalinibangkok
@hiltonbkk#scalinibkk bts skytrain: phrom phong
Terms & Conditions: *Valid untill 31 October 2014 *Discount not applicable for special events, any other promotional or discounted activity
FOOD & DRIN K
review
CRÊPES & CO. - Mediterranean Magic on Langsuan Crêpes & Co. has been a part of the Bangkok dining scene since 1996, making it ancient by local standards and worthy of being called an “institution”. It was initially located on Sukhumvit Soi 8 in a charmingly converted garden villa that had no parking and was a lengthy (and sweaty) walk from Sukhumvit Road. Nonetheless, it had a cadre of regular customers whose loyalty made it one of the most popular dining spots in the city. Sadly, the lease expired at the original location, but the restaurant has morphed into two new outlets: one on Soi Thonglor and a newer place on restaurant rich Soi Langsuan. Like the original restaurant, the Langsuan outlet is located in a charmingly converted villa with indoor/ outdoor seating and a relaxed and casual atmosphere. As the name implies Crêpes & Co. offers a large selection of main course and dessert crêpes, but it is much more than simply a crêperie. The owners of the restaurant were raised in the warm sunshine of the Mediterranean and the restaurant has always featured a large selection of Mediterranean dishes. In addition, brunch has always been an important part of the restaurant’s concept. The menu here is huge with 90 different crêpe dishes, over 100 Mediterranean inspired specialities, and many salads, appetizers and tasty desserts. Chef Jakkrit “Rom” Puengsumpan has recently been adding 74 | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4
to the collection and we tried some of his new items. Our favourite was definitely the braised lamb shank with garlic mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables and rosemary jus (B499), a dish squarely in the Mediterranean corner. Equally inspiring was the spiced pork tenderloin with orange and mint tabbouleh (B355); again very Mediterranean, but with enough spicy bite to appeal to Thais. Chef Rom has also been adding to the repertoire of crêpe items, including one stuffed with a Caesar salad. Although tasty, we weren’t convinced housing the salad in a crêpe added to the dish. Chef Rom has a sweet tooth and he has started adding to the selection of desserts. We loved his black and white cheesecake, a chocolate marbled affair topped with whipped cream (B185), but our favourite was his crêpes cream cheese with homemade cream cheese, strawberry ice cream and hot mixed berry sauce (B285). It was reason enough for a visit to the restaurant. Crêpes & Co. has been around for a long time and with two thriving locations, it appears set to remain part of the Bangkok dining scene for years to come.
CREPES & CO.
[MAP 8/L14]
59/4 Soi Langsuan | 0 2652 0208 Open daily 9am-11pm, Sundays from 8am
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review
FOOD & DRIN K
SIGNATURE RESTAURANT - Dining as a lifestyle statement Located on the 39th floor of the Sathorn Square Complex, Ku De Ta is a massive lifestyle complex that provides opportunities to drink, dine and have fun whilst surrounded by opulent elegance. It also affords some of the city’s finest views. Executive Chef Jonathan Maza, with experience throughout the world and most notably with Nobu Matsuhisa, explains what he does at Signature in the following way: “The concept for Signature is to trace our roots back to Japan, where much of our inspiration lies, and to also plant our feet throughout the Asian-Pacific region. By carefully blending the distinct, regional flavour profiles of various Asian cuisines, we create something entirely new, yet reassuringly familiar.” The relatively short menu is divided into cold, tempura, small plates/sides and hot dishes. These are meant to be shared and are brought to the table progressively so that each can be enjoyed without distraction. From the cold section we tried several items, but were most enamoured of the madai ceviche (B400), cubes of red sea bream blended with young coconut and a tad of pomegranate flavoured amazu sauce. The tropical fruits provide an appealing accent rather than masking the flavour of the fish. Another inspiring dish was the hamachi nahm prik (B500), Japanese yellowtail energised with cilantro vinaigrette and Thai spices. bangkok101.com
Tempura is often a dud in Bangkok because too much time elapses between cooking and when it arrives at the table. Not so at Signature. It is cooked and almost instantly appears table-side. For a real treat try the aori ika tempura (B450), Japanese cuttlefish with chili de arbol and tarragon ponzu. Of the hot dishes, perhaps our favourite was tiger prawns served with shitake corn succotash and creamy dashi broth (B650). Succotash is a native American dish, but it melds extremely well with the tiger prawns. Equally enjoyable was the organic free range chicken with pickled heirloom carrots and a jus made with fermented red Korean miso. As you might expect, the drinks list is impressive. There is as comprehensive a selection of Champagne available as can be found in Bangkok and the well-chosen wine list highlights new world selections. There is also a choice of rare sakes and a fascinating selection of cocktails, many taking their inspiration from Japan and Thailand. If you are looking for a special night on the town, Signature has definitely got to be high on your list.
SIGNATURE RESTAURANT (KU DE TA) [MAP 5/G6] 39/F Sathorn Square, Sathorn Rd | 0 2108 2000 | kudeta.com/ bangkok/signature.php | Mon-Sat, 6pm-10pm
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in the kitchen
DUANGPORN ‘BO’ SONGVISAVA talks to Howard Richardson
Duangporn ‘Bo’ Songvisava recently relocated Bo.lan, the restaurant she runs with partner Dylan Jones, to an old wooden house amid tropical trees 150 metres into Soi 53. The pair met while working in London at David Thompson’s Nahm, which was then the world’s only Michelin starred Thai restaurant, and Bo subsequently went on to win the Best Female Chef title at the 50 Best Restaurants in Asia Awards 2013. Since its original opening in 2009, Bo.lan has become a beacon, equally for traditional Thai food and for promoting sustainable practices. They work as closely as possible with local farmers and are committed to recycling everything, including water, organic waste and packaging. “We want to achieve a zero carbon footprint by 2018,” Bo says, as she leads me to the ample kitchen – “It’s much bigger than the old one,” she grins. The chef is going to show me how to make grilled chicken salad. The ingredients are laid out in bowls, and the chicken, which has been marinated briefly in coconut cream and fish sauce, is on the grill. Into a hefty stone mortar Bo drops sea salt and tiny cloves of Thai garlic, and beats with a pestle. She adds big red chillis. “These are jin da daeng,” she says, “the preferred chillis of Isaan.” Then coconut palm sugar goes in, followed by fish sauce and lime juice, which turns the paste into liquid. Bo dips in a chefly finger and tastes. “That’s the dressing,” she says. “It’s really simple.” Moving on to the salad she adds small handfuls of sliced lemongrass, shallots, mint and coriander to a 76 | NOV EM BER 2014
bowl, along with green papaya, a little kaffir lime leaf and segments of star fruit. Next goes som saa – “A cross between mandarin and lime”. The chef lifts the wok lid that covers the chicken on the grill, releasing a large cloud of smoke. “We add grated coconut to the charcoal to do two things – to reduce the flames and to give a little smokiness,” she reveals. Bo separates the chicken into two pieces and leaves it to rest for a few minutes. Then she takes out the bones, cuts it into small cubes and drops them into the salad. “Now we add a lot of dressing,” she says, pouring over two large spoonfuls. Then she tosses on pieces of longan and garnishes with dried fried shallots. Sitting in the restaurant, in keeping with the overall Bo.lan philosophy, aluminium workings of ritual objects in found and recycled materials hang from the ceiling, and the rooms have artworks of old wooden houses and domestic settings that Bo describes as “suburban living”. The salad tastes fresh, spicy and slightly sweet, and the pronounced smokiness from the tender, juicy chicken gives the dish a darker edge, conjuring images of eating in a garden, the meat just picked from an open fire. Bo.lan is traditional even to the attendant visions.
BO.LAN
[MAP 3/R8]
Sukhumvit Soi 53 | 0 2260 2961 | bolan.co.th | Thu-Sun noon2:30pm; Tue-Sun 6pm-10.30pm
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eat like
Nym
Our roving eater Nym knows her local grub inside-out and thrives on the stories behind the dishes. Each month, she takes an offbeat tour in search of the city’s next delectable morsel
PLADUK NAM PLA WAN
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hais measure out the year by the ever changing selection of fruits and vegetables available in the markets. And with new produce comes a new line up of culinary delights to tantalise our palates. Take ‘Nam Pla Wan’, a sweet and salty fish sauce in which the sweetness is derived from fresh tamarind. It is particular delicious when partnered with a dish called Sadao Pladuk – creating a holy trinity of young neem leaves (Sadao), catfish (Pladuk) and Nam Pla Wan. This is a classic seasonal dish because fresh tamarind is typically abundant in the cool season. You’ll find a perfect example of this dish at an unassuming family restaurant called Kim Leng. It’s been run by the same family for three generations and you can tell they’re serious about cooking because they’ve devoted more space to their kitchen than to tables for their guests. Nam Pla Wan is an exotic sauce whose main ingredients include freshly squeezed tamarind juice, palm sugar, fried onion and a dusting of chilli. It shouldn’t be too sweet or too sour; a balance Kim Leng achieves beautifully. Sadao (fresh neem leaves) can be a little more challenging. We eat the young flowers, which resemble unopened jasmine buds. Treated right they deliver a uniquely tangy blend of fresh-creamy–crunchiness. But beware, if your Sadao is too
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bitter it isn’t being handled right. Savvy cooks like those at Kim Leng douse their Sadao with hot water to even out the bitterness, leaving only a tender natural flavour. The Pladuk component of this dish offsets its partners with a smoky scent and flavour. The flesh is soft and tastes a bit like butter cake to me. Combined with the neem leaves and teh piquant tamarind sauce, it goes perfectly with a mouthful of steaming, freshly-cooked, rice.
Kim Leng is on Tanao Rd. off Rachadamnoen Boulevard. If you come from town, go past Democracy Monument and at the next intersection turn left. You’ll find Kim Leng 30 metres in. Mon-Sat from 10am-8pm.
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Eat
THAI EAT [MAP 4/F4] 2nd Floor, Groove@CentralWorld | 0 2251 1230 | facebook.com/eatallthai | 10am-10pm The approach to Thai food at EAT, an acronym of Eat All Thai, is the use of ingredients from the region from which a dish emanates. The Goong Mae Nam Pao, grilled river prawns (prices vary according to size), is a good example. The massive prawns come from Ayutthaya and the dish is a local specialty. One of the most popular dishes is the Khai Yok Song (B350), EAT’s special omelette made with chunks of seafood, including massive pieces of crab from Surat Thani. If you are tired of greasy omelettes with a meagre selection of ingredients dished up at many Thai restaurants, you will love this offering. Another popular dish is the Hoi Joh Jew (B230), homemade crispy crab rolls. The service and prices at EAT also deserve special mention. The servers are friendly, knowledgeable and obviously enjoy working at the restaurant, a remarkable achievement considering the short time EAT has been in existence. And the prices? They are probably the least expensive of any of the outlets at Groove.
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Ruen Urai
RUEN URAI [MAP 5/F1] The Rose Hotel, 118 Surawong Rd | 0 2266 8268 | ruen-urai.com | Noon-11pm The former residence of the herbal medical doctor to King Rama V is filled with Asian antiques and Thai crafts to create an intimate residential feel. Out of respect to the original owner, the food uses herbs and spices with medicinal qualities, while delivering refined Thai gastronomy created using the finest fresh ingredients. Dishes are more contemporary in their presentation with many served on black slate. The mieng bussabong (B300) is a variation on the more familiar mieng kham, which originated in India. The betelnut leaf wrapping has been replaced by an open lotus petal filled with non-traditional salmon with the usual mieng condiments of diced shallot, fresh ginger, garlic and lime still in its skin. There’s a refreshing, tangy taste to the tom yum ghai bai makham ohn (B280), a spicy and sour soup of chicken and young tamarind leaves. The historic Lanna Kingdom of Northern Thailand extended into Burma and that culinary influence can be tasted in the ghaeng hunglae (B320), a Burmese-style pork curry with ginger and garlic. The traditional end to a Thai meal
diVino is fresh fruit and desserts – as evidenced by the Ruen Urai dessert plate (B150). It comes with mango and sticky rice, miniature fruits made from yellow beans and Portuguese egg desserts.
ITALIAN DIVINO [MAP 3/R6] Penny’s Balcony, Thong Lor Soi 16 | 0 2714 8723 | divinobkk.com | 5pm-midnight, MonFri 11.30am-2pm It’s a curious little set-up, the restaurant split between three rooms that share one corner of Penny’s Corner up in Thong Lor. One section is for private dining, another is filled with stools and high tables, while the newish wine room is a sit-down affair, the walls lined with bottles of gorgeous Italian vino. To get the balling rolling, DiVino offers a selection of cheese (B790 for six different pieces) or imported cold cuts (B700 for the most generous serving). As appetisers, they do precisely what they’re meant to, getting the stomach gurgling away in anticipation for what’s to follow. There’s enough variety to keep customers happy if they just fancy a bottle of wine over a few shared platters but the main courses raise the stakes in a way that fancier,
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Sole Mio more concept-heavy places don’t always manage. It’s hard to recall pasta being so exciting. The linguine with Alaskan crab meat (B420) is a lighter affair, while the linguine all’astice (B580) is a signature dish containing half a Boston lobster. Among the prime cuts of meat, the Australian beef tenderloin with a porcini mushroom sauce (B850) is impressive but DiVino’s lamb (B640 for a loin, B850 for a whole rack) is a real winner, due mostly to a remarkable herb crust that sets off the milder meat spectacularly.
SOLE MIO [MAP 3/Q5] Thong Lor Soi 21 | 0 2185 2199 | solemiobkk. com | 11.30am-11.30pm Bangkok is packed with Italian restaurants, but most of the authentic places with comprehensive menus tend to be a bit formal and stiff. Sole Mio is a refreshing exception. Laid back and casual, it has a large selection of excellent pizzas and some of the best pastas in town. Although fettuccine bolognese (B240) can be an ordinary dish, Chef Luca Giorgi, who is from Bologna, turns it into a masterpiece. The dishes here are made with both imported pasta from Italy and pastas made at the restaurant. Definitely not traditional, goat cheese and salmon
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661 Silom pizza (B450) is superb, the salmon and goat cheese having a remarkable affinity for one another. Scaloppine made with pork meat slices braised with Marsala wine (B280) is beautifully tender but also rich and moreish thanks to the wine reduction. Sole Mio also does an especially good job with seafood, a stand out being branzino al forno – baked sea bass with baked potatoes (B450). For dessert Chef Luca’s panna cotta (B140) topped with an orange balsamic glaze has a wow factor; the citrus of the glaze cutting through the panna cotta. The drinks menu includes cocktails; aperitifs; a typical selection of local beers plus some imports from Italy and a reasonably priced selection of wines dominated by Italian labels
INTERNATIONAL 661 SILOM [MAP 3/O11] Baan Silom 661 Silom Rd | 0 2266 8661 661silom.com | 11am-midnight 661 Silom combines two unique concepts; B.A.R, a first-level Dom Pérignon Champagne branded gastro lounge where patrons can enjoy lovely bubbly, signature cocktails and a selection of delicious
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Blue Sky offerings from a bites menu; and C.U.T, a New York-style premium steakhouse on the floor above showcasing the very best beef from many prime beef-producing areas such as Argentina, Spain, Japan and France. Try a couple of selections from the bites menu. Tomato, Mozzarella and Thai Basil on open faced ciabatta (B220) is exquisite, while the unique Truffle Oil and Parmesan Fries (B190) is very moreish. The Burrata (B620), made with heirloom tomatoes, panzanella and jamon iberico, is also superb. For mains try Porchetta (B850), Spanish suckling pig belly and tenderloin seasoned with sage and garlic and served with glazed shallots and braised red cabbage. In terms of steak, beyond the usual stalwarts of Australian and American cuts, the prime KU striploin (B740) is something of a revelation. Beautifully grilled to tender, juicy perfection, it is hard to believe it is the product of a beef-producing cooperative run by local Kasetsart University.
BLUE SKY 24F Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao, 1695 Phaholyothin Rd | 0 2541 1234 centarahotelsresorts.com | 6pm-2am Rooftop bars and restaurants in central Bangkok have surged in popularity in
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recent years, popping up everywhere from Sukhumvit to Sathorn to Silom. Now Ladprao has a name in the mix, with the ultra-hip Blue Sky located at Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao. It offers a whole new perspective of the city’s glittering skyline, with a standout menu featuring high-quality Asian and Western dishes. Menu favourites include starters such as stir-fried Burgundy snails (B350) and Cromesquis scallops (B450), while steamed snow fish (B980) is one of the standout mains dishes. For dessert, try the Mille-feuille (B180 or B320, depending on size). It is faithful to its French providence, served with light bourbon vanilla cream and raspberry sauce. The fare is overseen by Chef Eric Berrigaud, who hails from France but has been in Thailand for 12 years now. The atmosphere at Blue Sky allows for relaxed and informal dining and the views over Chatuchak Park are fantastic. Watching the busy roadways below with their long traffic jams gives visitors a sense of being away from the stress of work. The restaurant succeeds at giving patrons a feeling of freedom and untroubled indulgence.
INDIAN RANG MAHAL [MAP 3/K11] 26F Rembrandt Hotel, 19 Sukhumvit Soi 18 0 2261 7100 | rembrandtbkk.com | 11.30am2.30pm, 6.30pm-11pm Among the appetisers at popular Rang Mahal, the papri chaat (B175) and Punjabi samosa (B190) are relatively straightforward but the well-judged lightness and the fact the doughiness is not overdone mean these bite-sized dishes whet the appetite. Proceedings go up a notch when the kebabs come out. The tandoori prawn (B295 per piece, main) is smoked to perfection in Indian spices, while the murgh malai (B425) combines chicken and cream cheese for an extra kick. The house specialty, though, is the raan-e-khyber (B950 for half, B1595 for whole) – a leg of lamb marinated in rum, herbs and spices before being barbecued. It’s an impressive dish, rustic in appearance but perfectly executed, the chunks of lamb peeling effortlessly from the bone, sweet and smokey at the same time. The curries are equally successful in delivering a heightened version of familiar dishes. The Goan fish curry (B495) combines a lightly 80 | NOV EM BER 2014
sautéed fish seasoned with a fragrant mix of onions, garlic and spices, cooked in a sauce of tomatoes and coconut gravy, the flavours deftly balanced against each other.
THE GREAT KABAB FACTORY [MAP 3/E10]
Majestic Grande Hotel, 12 Sukhumvit Soi 2 0 2262 2999 | thegreatkakabfactory.com/ Bangkok | 6pm-11pm Built around memorable service and menu offerings that are entirely different in look and taste from the ubiquitous Middle-Eastern kebabs. TGKF boasts an extensive inventory of more than 450 kinds of kebab. These are rotated through six different vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings in an extended three-course set menu that changes daily (non-vegetarian B1,100 per person, vegetarian B1,000). Unlimited portions of each item make it possible to over-indulge from the outset. The journey begins with one of TGKF’s signature offerings, Galouti kebab. Light and piquant, as its sub-continental name suggests, it is melt-in-the-mouth good. The other two stand-out starters are Macchi Hydrabadi, a zesty garam masala flavoured deep-fried fish kebab, and Murgh Malai Tikka, a cream and cheese flavoured chicken kebab. The main course highlight at TGKF is a wonderfully tender serving of Butter Chicken prepared with a rich Indian cashu paste. It is beautifully off-set by a light yellow lentil Dal Lahsooni, which is tempered with red chilli and garlic. Also served is Gosht Biriyani, long-grain rice cooked with lamb and assorted spices, and Palak Paneer, a vibrant dish of cottage cheese cooked with spinach. The Desserts of the Day revolve around traditional Gulab Jamun, deep-fired condensed milk dumplings soaked in sugar syrup, and Jafrani Firni, crushed rice cooked with saffron-flavoured milk.
FRENCH CHEZ PAPE [MAP 3/F9] 1/28-29 Soi Sukhumvit 11 | 0 2255 2492 chezpape.com | 5pm-11.30pm, Sat-Sun also 11.30am-2.30pm The menu brims with traditional French fare, an indulgent roll call of sauces and great bread, seafood and meat. Those in the mood for a proper French feast won’t be disappointed but that’s not to say Chez Pape feels routine. Rather, there are enough surprises, both in terms of bangkok101.com
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L’Appart the combinations and the presentation to elevate Chez Pape’s food to something more impressive. Starting with the appetisers, there is a ceviche of barracuda in chilli and citrus (B160) or the tartare of avocado, crab and green apple (B200), both hitting the right notes: light, fresh, seafood flavours offset with the right amount of seasonings. But perhaps it’s in the more provincial dishes that Chez Pape declares its hand, offering a portmarinated foie gras terrine, served with toast and mango marmalade (B285). The early courses are certainly impressive enough to build expectation for the mains without being so concept-heavy that they create confusion. The pan-seared beef flank, an exquisite cut of meat, comes with goat-cheese ravioli and garnished with virgin sauce (B450) – it’s a deeply satisfying combination.
L’APPART [MAP 3/G9] 32F, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit, 189 Sukhumvit Soi 13-15 | 08 5924 1565 | sofitel. com | 7pm-midnight L’Appart, on the top floor of the Sofitel on Sukhumvit embraces the aesthetic of a Parisian apartment with such conviction that you could ride a bicycle, balancing a baguette on the handlebars, between some tables. Chef Jeremy Tourret may be every inch the French master cook but that hasn’t prevented him taking some intriguing chances, adapting a traditional cuisine to create an adventurous menu. The absolute staples are still represented – frog legs with leek and truffle (B480) and a spectacular bouillabaisse (onion soup) with rock fish, puff Japanese pearl and rouille sauce (B550). Tourret has dialled down the salt for the Asian palate, with the added benefit of making room for the more complex flavours he has included. He takes it to the next step in the mains. His pan-fried snow fish comes with cauliflower mousseline and Madras curry (B1300) – that’s right, curry. In a French restaurant. It seems risky and may outrage traditionalists but it is testament to Tourret’s technique and imagination bangkok101.com
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Taihei that it works and the snow fish is never overwhelmed.
JAPANESE TAIHEI [MAP 5/L8] 53F Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathorn Rd | 0 2679 1200 | banyantree.com 11.30am-2pm, 6pm-11pm From the moment the platter of sashimi moriawase (B520) comes out, prime seafood cuts delicately arranged, it’s clear that there is a real commitment to quality. The presentation is also immaculate, offering a swathe of bright colours – bright pinks and flashes of silver-grey. It’s beautiful food. And it tastes pretty damn fine as well, the tuna, in particular, soft and slightly salty on its own, mild enough to work in the mouth alongside a dab of soy and wasabi. Another highlight is the beef teriyaki (B580), sourced from Australia and broiled, before being served with seasonal greens, again bursting with colour. If you’re not super-keen to fill up on red meat, try the gindara miso (B600). It’s a cod fish cooked to perfection, kissed on each side just long enough to turn the skin crispy, and then served with tangy miso seasoning. There’s also a selection of tempura to choose from, whether you fancy prawns (B450), pork skewers (B380) or chicken karage (B350).
GENJI [MAP 4/K3] GF Swissotel Nai Lert Park, 2 Wireless Rd 0 2655 4265 | genji-restaurant.com | 11.30am2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm Genji has been around for more than 30 years and its dark wood furnishings are offset nicely by the flow of natural light from the Swissotel’s garden. And presentation is crucial to Genji’s overall effect. The Inaniwa onsen tamago (B300) is a light broth with chilled Inaniwa Udon noddles, hard-boiled egg yolk and simmered mushrooms, served on ice in a handmade wooden box. This starter can also be served with a small plate of duck and foie gras, adding an extra dimension to the offset. Another NOV EM BER 2014 | 81
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Saigon Recipe starter, the nasu ankake (B350) combines assorted seafood with a homemade sticky sauce on a bed of fried eggplant. The prawns are of top quality, evident from their vibrant colours and firm texture, and the soy-based sauce is well-executed. The eggplant, however, doesn’t quite hit the mark. In such instances, Genji could perhaps improve by choosing boldness over refinement. Among the mains, the kodai nitsuke (B2000) is a braised baby bass in a sweet sauce mixed with vegetables and tofu. The price tag may raise some eyebrows but the presentation is impressive and the natural seafood flavour of the fish is expertly preserved. Among the desserts, the homemade custard (B150) is a little plain, served without adornment or anything to deliver balance, epitomizing Genji’s preference for authenticity over real deliciousness.
VIETNAMESE SAIGON RECIPE [MAP 3/P7] 46/5 Piman 49, Sukhumvit Soi 49 | 0 2662 6311 saigon-recipe.com | 11am-3pm, 5am-10pm As much as any cuisine on offer in Bangkok, Vietnamese restaurants reward closer inspection. Begin here with the
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steamed rice crepes filled with seasoned ground pork, minced shrimp and wood ear mushroom (B220). This is a staple of most Vietnamese menus and it’s a challenge to eat without the contents spilling out of either side of the crepe. Other highlights include the BBQ pork meatballs served with rice papers and herbs (B240) and the lettuce rolls with shrimp, pork and rice noodles served with peanuts sauce (B120). The meatballs may not be as obviously Vietnamese as some of the dishes but they’ve got a delicious punch, while the lettuce rolls add a fantastic crunch to the rich pork flavours and tangy peanut offset. The salads are possibly the most exciting part of Saigon Recipe’s menu. Try the steamed chicken salad with banana flower (B240). In a well-designed dish, flavours reveal themselves in a prescribed order, and here the late arrival of the banana flower is exquisite. Heavier fare includes the rice noodles topped with BBQ pork and fried spring rolls with fresh herbs and vegetables (B200). Along with the stir-fried beef on fresh rice vermicelli with peanuts and homemade special sauce (B220), these are serious portions, perfect for sharing.
CHINESE XIN TIAN DI [MAP 5/G5] Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park | 952 Rama IV Rd | 0 2632 9000 | crowneplazabkk. com | 11.30am-10.30pm The restaurant is renowned not only for its stylish atmosphere and views, but for its dim sum, set lunches and a
Xin Tian Di la carte evening dining, including what many regard as the best Peking Duck in Bangkok. During the week at lunch time, shoppers and members of the business community come to Xin Tian Di for the set lunches and the ‘all you can eat’ dim sum (B900++), but in the evening couples, families and small groups arrive for the excellent a la carte dining and elegant atmosphere. Dishes at the restaurant are served in three sizes (small, medium, large) so that they can be enjoyed by different-sized groups. Deep-fried pork spare ribs in superior sauce (B280++ small portion are bathed in a divine sauce that is flavoured with honey. Equally impressive is deep-fried prawns with wasabi salad dressing (B420++ small portion). The prawns are briefly cooked, leaving them fresh and crunchy, while the wasabi adds both a Japanese flair and a little zing. The Peking Duck (B800++ half duck) lives up to its reputation, but care must be taken to eat it immediately as it loses its crunch once it cools. Be sure to try the chef’s pan-fried home-made bean curd with spinach in XO sauce (B160++). The bean curd is light and fresh and the sauce, with its heady combination of ingredients (but no alcohol), is sublime.
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Introducing Grilled Chicken in Turmeric One of the appertisers in Ruen Urai’s new Rustic Explorations menu inspired by country-style cooking, grilled chicken marinated in turmeric pleases the palate with its succulent texture and spicy aroma. Experience fine Thai culinary arts in the elegant ambience of the secret oasis that is Ruen Urai, “the House of Gold.” Casual dining and bar from noon to 11 p.m. Ruen Urai at the Rose Hotel 118 Soi Na Wat Hualumphong, Surawongse Road Tel. (66) 2 266 8268-72 Fax. (66) 2 266 8096 www.rosehotelbkk.com www.ruen-urai.com bangkok101.com
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THREESIXTY AT MILLENIUM HILTON BANGKOK
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NIGHTLIFE SWEETS SOUNDS
Bringing fresh energy to the city’s vibrant nightlife scene, recently opened Sugar Club (37 Sukhumvit Soi 11, 08 2308 3246), a brand new venue on Sukhumvit Soi 11, is dedicated to live music and the latest chart-topping hip hop tracks. Since its Grand Opening on October 1, the club has played host to pop star Chin Chinawut, Thai rock goddess Da Endorphine and celebrated combo Thaitanium. And we can expect Sugar Club to be laying on many more famous live acts and DJs in the months ahead, so watch this space. Sugar Club is open daily from 10pm to 2am, seven days a week.
DEEJAY DARLING
King of Clubs, in association with Grey Goose, presents the Bangkok debut of Spain’s #1 DJ and producer Albert Neve, on November 13 at ONYX (RCA, Rama 9 Rd, 08 1645 1166) from 9pm til late. Neve, who was named “Best Remixer 2010”, “3rd Best DJ of the Year 2010” and “Best Spanish Producer of the Year 2011” by Deejaymag will lay on a night of high-energy Electro and Progressive House. Tickets are B500 and include a free drink.
SO SWANKY
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Sofitel and to celebrate this golden anniversary, Sofitel So Bangkok (2 North Sathorn Rd, 0 2624 0000) is teaming up with party organizer extraordinaire LUSH, for what is set to be the biggest party of the year, LUSH AT SO. For one night only, 28 international and Thai DJs, musicians and visual arts performers will descend on the hotel to provide high octane fuel for revelers. Partygoers will have a choice of six areas spread throughout the hotel, each pulsating with a different musical vibe against stunning backdrops. The event kicks off at 8.30pm on November 21.
BITEC BANDTASTIC
Event organizer ZAAP takes over BITEC Hall 106 (8 Bangna-Trad Rd (Km.1), 0 2749 3939) on November 15 to stage the Single Festival, a music fest featuring performances by Thailand’s finest live bands including Barbies, Big Ass, Cocktail, Desktop Error, Greasy Cafe, Hugo, Lomosonic, Plastic Plastic, Scrubb, Slot Machine, Squeeze Animal, Stamp, Tattoo Coulour, Thaitanium, Southside, The Mousses, Yellow Fang, and 25 Hours. Performances get underway at 4pm and tickets priced at B1200 are available from Thai Ticketmajor.
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review
BEERVAULT - A home for the amber nectar -
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hile its name might conjure up images of a low-lit, low-ceiling beer cellar, BeerVault at the ground floor of Four Points by Sheraton, a short way into Sukhumvit Soi 15, is anything but dark and moody. The décor here is colourful and the bar has a bright and cheerful ambience thanks to huge floor-toceiling windows and clever lighting. This is a beer drinker’s paradise with 97 different imported bottled beers from around the world and six on tap. The venue even serves four different beer flavoured ice creams. Although we arrived early in the evening, the bar was already doing brisk business, the happy clientele, a surprising number of whom were ladies, unwinding over a pint in the comfortable surroundings. For our visit BeerVault kindly laid on a selection of beers for us to sample. We started with Weihenstephan (B330) a light and fruity German wheat (or ‘blond’) beer, followed by an intriguing and slightly sweet Hitachino Nest Red Rice beer (B350) from Japan. The drinks menu, as one would expect, has a number of very good Belgium beers on it and we sampled Kwak (B340) and Orval (B380), two satisfyingly thick and heavy brews. We also tried a bottle of Fuller’s London Pride (B320) because we couldn’t resist a taste of the old country.
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For those not necessarily into beer, a selection of aperitifs and spirits is available. Naturally, if you’re going to sample a few of these choice beers, it is wise to have some food to soak up the suds and BeerVault has a good selection of toothsome bar snacks at friendly prices. We tried Chimichangas (B260) with sour cream, salsa and guacamole dips plus jalapenos, a trio of mini pies (B240) including chicken in Thai green curry, shepherds, and spinach and cheese, and a very good beef and bacon burger (B350) as part of the mix and match beer burger combo set. It is made with Australian Black Angus beef and comes with a choice of Cheddar, Emmental or Brie toppings and crisp strips of smoked bacon. To round things off we enjoyed a beer cocktail called a ‘Dirty Hoe’ (B300/pint), a mix of Hoegaarden and Guinness, and another BeerVault special, the Beer Affogato, vanilla ice cream topped with hazelnut beer (B300). It was a suitable end to a pleasant evening sampling some very fine beers.
BEERVAULT
[MAP 3/G9]
Four Points by Sheraton, Sukhumvit Soi 15 | 0 2309 3201 beervaultbangkok.com | 3pm-midnight
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Every Friday!
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listings haunt. At Levels, though, it’s much harder to categorise – there’s a welcome mix of resident expats, stylish Thai party animals and wide-eyed holiday-makers that can’t get enough of Levels’ buzzy atmosphere.
MIXX DISCOTHEQUE [MAP 4/H4]
Ku De Ta
NIGHTCLUBS KU DE TA [MAP 5/G6] 39-40F Sathorn Square Complex, 98 North Sathorn Rd | 0 2108 2000 | kudeta.net 6pm-late Since its opening amid much fanfare at the end of last year, Ku De Ta has quickly built a reputation as one of the places in Bangkok to keep an eye on. The hype and the investment have been massive and there’s an ambition to match. Ku De Ta sets out to add a new dimension to a night out in Bangkok by providing an upscale club experience for the city’s movers and shakers but it has also carved out its own unique aesthetic that is sure to make it one of Bangkok’s top nightlife destination venues. Undoubtedly, the space is the first part of Ku De Ta’s glittering fit-out that catches the eyes. The main club is a vast rectangular area with skyscraper ceilings and a long window running down an entire side, affording an exceptional view of Bangkok. Another feature is the very snazzy, very modern LED ‘chandelier’ hangs over the dance floor, twinkling a variety of different colours.
LEVELS [MAP 3/F8] 6F 35 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 08 2308 3246 facebook.com/levelsclub | 9pm-3am Of all the venues of Sukhumvit Soi 11, Levels has benefited the most from the closure earlier this year of Bed Supperclub. Great swathes of that clientele now overflow to the other side of the soi, making Levels one of the most reliably busy nightclubs in Bangkok, on any night of the week. At many popular clubs in Bangkok, the crowd quickly finds a familiar groove, attracting one particular kind of revellers that old hands can identify fairly quickly – whether that’s the tourists passing through on the way to the beach or the slightly more clued-up locals returning to a favourite 88 | NOV EM BER 2014
President Tower Arcade 973 Ploenchit Rd mixxdiscotheque.com | B350 | 10pm-late Located in basement annex of the Intercontinental Hotel, Mixx is classier than most of Bangkok’s after-hour clubs, but only slightly. It’s a two-room affair decked out with chandeliers and paintings and billowing sheets on the ceiling lending a desert tent feel. The main room plays commercial R&B and hip hop, the other banging techno and house. Expect a flirty, up-for-it crowd made up of colourful characters from across the late-night party spectrum. The entry price: B350 for guys, B300 for girls.
Q BAR [MAP 3/C4] 34 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2252 3274 qbarbangkok.com | 8pm-1am Long-standing, New York-style night spot Q Bar is well-known for pouring stiff drinks (there are over 70 varieties of top-shelf vodka!) and its strong music policy, with big name international DJs appearing regularly. Q Bar raised the ‘bar’ for Bangkok nightlife twelve years ago and is still going strong, with a flirty crowd every night and a recent top-tobottom renovation giving the venue a maximalist style injection. Now, there’s more room to dance and more lounge space, especially at QUP, the more downtempo upstairs area. Also, out the back of the venue, you can find your way into Le Derriere, Q Bar’s very own Parisian-style absinthe bar.
ROUTE 66
[MAP 3/F8]
Block A, RCA | 0 2203 0936 | route66club. com | 8.30pm-2am Perhaps the best-known of the nightspots at RCA, Route 66 is a labyrinthine hybrid of club, lounge and live music venue. On a Saturday night, the outdoor area attracts the biggest crowds on the strip. There is also a band room where some accomplished acts, generally Thai three- or four-pieces outfits, rotate through in rapid sets. The middle section offers a dance floor, while the far right section comprises the DJ lounge furnished with plush sofas. As
Route 66 venues come and go along RCA, Route 66’s pitch remains the same: different nightlife combined under one roof, all delivered with flair.
HOTEL BARS & CLUBS SPASSO [MAP 8/L13] Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, 494 Ratchadamri Rd | 0 2254 1234 | bangkok. grand.hyatt.com | 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm2.30am There’s no shortage of hotel bars in Bangkok but Spasso, on the ground floor of the Grand Hyatt Erawan has been around for 21 years and remains a favourite among visitors and expats looking to let their hair down. By day, it presents as a sedate Italian restaurant but after hours, after it transforms into a club and cocktail bar, it really hits its stride, revelling in its energetic, uninhibited atmosphere. The lay-out is unconventional – an open-plan foyer and dining area narrows into a dancefloor, flanked by two horseshoe-shaped bars. It has the effect of funnelling all the action between the bars and on to the dancefloor. Spasso is not so much for Bangkok scenesters – its biggests selling point is that it’s slightly wild and the live band does its best to whip partygoers into even higher spirits.
BARS WITH VIEWS HEAVEN [MAP 8/K13] 20F Zen@Central World, 4/5 Ratchadamri Rd 0 2100 9000 | heaven-on-zen.com | MonSun 5.30pm-1am It’s heavily dependent on the weather as the design offers precious little protection but on a warm Bangkok night, when the golden backdrop of its feature bar lights up like a metal sun, it feels like one of the most glamorous places in the capital. bangkok101.com
listings and huge poolside patio, complete with bar, begins. Out here, 25 floors up, you can glug signature ‘long-tail’ cocktails or new latitude wines with the best of high-flying Bangkok: a glitzy hotchpotch of celebrities, models and power players; hair-tousling breezes; and – best of all – wide-screen city vistas.
MOON BAR [MAP 5/K8] Moon Bar Crucially, they’ve got the cocktails (all B280-B320) right, using a well-chosen blend of spirits without going overboard and trying to cram every drink with one too many flavours. The Surreal Seduction – slightly cheesey name but we’ll forgive it because it tastes good – combines vodka, apple liqueur, elderflower syrup and pear puree. It’s super fruity but apple liqueur is one of the more versatile, underused ingredients in cocktails and it sets off the others in a way that’s refreshing but still carries a kick.
LONG TABLE [MAP 3/H8] 25F 48 Column Bldg, Sukhumvit Soi 16 | 0 2302 2557 | longtablebangkok.com | 11am-2am Top-end Thai food isn’t the only thing that draws Bangkok’s nouveau riche to this impossibly swish restaurant-cumbar. There’s also the trend-setting twist: a sleek communal dining table so long it makes the medieval banquet bench look positively petite. However, it’s what happens at the end of the room that propels this place deep into the nightlife stratosphere. Where the long table ends, a tall plate glass window
61F Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathorn Rd | 0 2679 1200 | banyantree.com 5pm-1am This is one place that will get you closer to the moon. The open-air bar lets you take in the urban Moloch from up-above in smart surroundings. With stunning 360° views, the hotel’s rooftop has been turned into a slick grill restaurant; one end is occupied by the bar. Nothing obstructs your view here, almost 200 metres high up. It’s the perfect spot for honeymooners – take a seat on the smart sofa stations, sip on a classy Martini or a yummy signature cocktail and feel romance welling up. For voyeurs, the telescope and binoculars come in handy. Glamour girls and unwinding business guys feel right at home here, too.
OCTAVE [MAP 3/S10] 45F Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit, 2 Sukhumvit Soi 57 | 0 2797 0000 | facebook. com/OctaveMarriott | 6pm-1am Rows of plush seating along the edge of the open-air balcony offer a perfect spot to plot Bangkok’s geography from above while knocking back some of Octave’s punchy, refreshing cocktails. The Thai Mojito (B320) starts things off in a way that’s familiar enough but well-executed,
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combining the standards of white rum, basil and lime with spicy mango, adding a zingy twist to the established mojito formula. More innovative still is the Bloom Over The Roof (B320), which fuses Red Berry Tea-flavoured vodka with fresh mint leaves and elderflower syrup. It might seem a little flowery but the overall effect is a seriously drinkable concoction that cuts right through the humidity. A welcome addition to the after-work scene in this neck of the woods.
RED SKY [MAP 4/F 3] 56F Centara Grand at CentralWorld Rama 1 Rd | 0 2100 1234 | centarahotelresorts.com 5pm-1am Encircling the 56th floor turret of CentralWorld’s adjoining Centara Grand Hotel, the al fresco Red Sky offers panoramas in every direction. Just before sunset is the time to come – plonk yourself down on a rattan chair or oversized daybed and wait for the lightshow to begin. When daylight fades and the city lights up like a circuit-board, a live jazz band kicks in and Bangkok takes on a glam cosmopolitan aura. Upscale bar snacks like slow-cooked baby back pork ribs and martinis, cocktails and wines are on hand to keep you company while your eyes explore the scenery. It’s not exactly cheap, but the daily happy hours (buy one get one drink on selected wine, beer and cocktails from 5pm-7pm).
THE SPEAKEASY [MAP 3/B13] 24-25/F, Hotel Muse Bangkok Langsuan, 55/555 Lang Suan | 0 2630 4000 | hotelmusebangkok.com | 6pm-1am
SEAFOOD MARKET & RESTAURANT 89, Sukhumvit soi 24 (Kasame), Sukhumvit Rd., Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 THAILAND Tel. 02 661 1252-9, 02 259 6580-1 Fax. 02 261 2073 Email. globalmarketing@seafood.co.th
www.seafood.co.th
RESERVATION Tel. 02 261 2071-5 bangkok101.com
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Threesixty Bangkok is renowned for its rooftop bars but the truth is that while many of them have spectacular views, they can be slightly ‘cookie-cutter’ when it comes to their aesthetics. The Speakeasy, Hotel Muse’s in-house watering hole, at least does a good job of distinguishing itself through its old-school touches and Prohibition Era style. As befits a place that takes its name from an under-theradar drinking den, The Speakeasy has a richly stocked bar. There’s a serious selection of wines, particularly the sparkling variety, as well as boutique spirits. There’s a cracking Negroni and a properly made White Lady – when you can deliver that, do you really need to serve up a ubiquitous B52?
THREESIXTY [MAP 5/B2] Millennium Hilton, 123 Charoennakorn Rd 0 2442 2000 | hilton.com | 5pm-1am High above the glittering lights of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, ThreeSixty is the only Bangkok venue to enjoy unhindered views over the entire, dazzling metropolis. It also hosts live jazz musicians every day, all year round. A private glass lift takes guests all the way up to the 32nd floor which boasts panoramic vistas from its 130m tall, circular lounge. Guests can feast on a range of miniature culinary experiences, from foie gras to caviar or risotto, or sip on fine wines and cocktails as the sun sets in a blaze of colour behind Wat Arun. Just as gently, the soft lounge lights come on to create an atmosphere of casual intimacy. As the first stars appear, the city’s coolest jazz sounds will set the mood which true aficionados will not be able to resist.
WOO BAR [MAP 5/G7] W Bangkok, 106 North Sathorn Rd | 0 2344 4131 | whotels.com/Bangkok | Sun-Wed 9am-1am, Thurs-Sat 9am-2am Located on the ground floor of the W Hotel, Woo Bar has all of the flair and 90 | NOV EM BER 2014
emphasis on design that has come to characterise the hotel franchise. It’s chic and low-lit without being cold or inaccessible, spacious enough to find a seat without being echoey and without atmosphere. And, most importantly, the cocktails pass with flying colours, some inventive signature drinks rubbing shoulders with well-executed standard tipples. The Bliss (B325), which comes from the bartenders at W Hotel in New York, combines Ciroc vodka, elderflower liqueur, lime, mint and fresh ginger. You might struggle to stop at just one.
BARS APOTEKA [MAP 3/E8] 33/28 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 09 0626 7655 apotekabkk.com | Mon-Thurs 5pm-1am, Fri 5pm-2am, Sat-Sun 3pm-midnight As you may have guessed, the name is based on an outdated word for pharmacist and the place is meant to emulate a 19th century apothecary. Unsurprisingly, it has an old-school feel. There are high ceilings, red brick walls and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde being projected onto the wall. Indoor seating is a mix of tall tables with studded chairs, and long tables for larger groups along the main wall. Large cases filled with vintage-coloured bottles of medicine flank the bar. A wooden patio with some cozy furniture that could be a nice place to curl up on a date or meet some friends for a smoke and a beer.
BREW [MAP 3/Q6] Seen Space, Thong Lor 13 | 0 2185 2366 brewbkk.com | Mon-Sun 4pm-2am It wasn’t so long ago that the beer selection here was comprised entirely of the ubiquitous local lagers and the Heinekens and Carlsbergs of this world. The fact that it doesn’t anymore is largely thanks to Chris Foo, the owner of this beer bar tucked away on the ground floor of Thonglor Soi 13’s happening mini-mall Seenspace. Depending on what time of year it is, Brew stocks between 140 and 170 bottles of ales, lagers, ciders, you name it. Currently, the setting in which you sip them is hip in Thonglor circles. That’s not so much down to Brew’s tiny interior, with its exposed piping and bar flanked by kegs of beer and brick walls, as the buzzing outdoor area it shares with futuristic cocktail bar Clouds and the nautically themed Fat’r Gutz.
Apoteka
CHEAP CHARLIE’S [MAP 3/D6] Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2253 4648 | Mon-Sat 5pm-midnight This joint is a Bangkok institution, bringing the charm of a rickety holein-the-wall bar to one of Sukhumvit’s swankiest Sois. A no-brainer meet-up spot, Cheap Charlie’s draws crowds of expats, NGOers and tourists in-the-know to fill up on B 70 beers and pocketchange G&Ts before heading off to eat and party – though don’t be surprised if you end up here all night. Its location is a winner, situated as it is on a cool little sub-soi (first on the left as you walk down from Sukhumvit) packed with restaurants and a short walk from hallowed nightspots Q Bar and the other newer spots that have cropped up recently.
CLOUDS [MAP 3/Q2] 1F SeenSpace, 251/1 Thong Lor Soi 13 | 0 2185 2365 | cloudslounge.com The third bar by Australian Ashley Sutton – the mad scientist of Bangkok’s bar scene – is, as we’ve come to expect, something entirely unexpected. Evoking a future where ‘there are no more natural resources’, this slim concrete shell at the rear of hip lifestyle mall SeenSpace has a living tree encased in glass in one corner, and concrete blocks, topped with lumps of translucent leaf-encasing acrylic, for tables. Vodka-based cocktails (B 280) by New York mixultant Joseph Boroski are prepped by ‘NASA technicians’ in white overalls; and the food offerings tasty misshapen pizzas, cooked in a gas-oven behind the bar.
FACE BANGKOK (MAP3/S7) 29 Sukhumvit Soi 38 | 0 2713 6048 facebars.com | 11.30am-1am Jim Thompson, move over. Face’s visually stunning complex is reminiscent of Jim’s former mansion, with Ayutthayastyle buildings and thriving flora, it’s bangkok101.com
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Namsaah Bottling Trust just bigger and bolder. The Face Bar is a dimly-lit place that summons deluxe drinkers with its cosy settees, ambient soundscape, and giant cocktails. Though often empty, the big drink list will stop your body clock pretty fast. The two restaurants – Hazara serving Northern Indian and Lan Na Thai serving traditional Thai – are full of fab all-Asian decor; they’re romantic and inviting, but you might be let down by the tiny portions, and the flamboyant prices.
HYDE & SEEK [MAP 4/L5] 65/1 Athenée Residence, Soi Ruamrudee 0 2168 5152 | 11am-1am | hydeandseek.com This stylish downtown gastro bar is a deadringer for those chic London haunts that draw the after-work crowd for pick-meup cocktails and good food that doesn’t break the bank. Heading the kitchen is Ian Kittichai, the brains behind the successful Kittichai restaurant in New York, while the bar is helmed by the boys behind Flow, the cocktail consultancy that inspires much drunken fun around the region. The sleek, Georgianinfluenced décor has panelled walls, clubby chairs and a large central bar, where snacks like beer battered popcorn shrimps and baby back ribs go well with custom-made cocktails or Belgian ales. Outside, there’s a spacious terrace with swing seats and a mini-maze of tea plants.
MAGGIE CHOO’S [MAP 5/C5] Hotel Novotel Fenix, 320 Silom Rd | 0 2635 6055 | facebook.com/maggiechoos | Tue-Sun 6pm-2am From the Victorian steam-punk of Iron Fairies to the eco-futurism of Clouds, Aussie entrepreneur Ashley Sutton has already proved himself as the Terry Gilliam of Bangkok’s bar world, conjuring up drinking hole after drinking hole shot through with a magical realist quality. Maggie Choo’s, with its decadent 92 | NOV EM BER 2014
Smalls atmosphere redolent of dandyish early 20th-century gambling dens, is no different. Clomp down the staircase and you find yourself in a noodle bar. One that could pass for an old Shaw Brothers movie set. The main decoration – and they are just decoration – are the leggy cabaret girls. Every evening at about 9pm about half a dozen walk out from behind a velvet curtain and proceed to fan themselves on swings.
NAMSAAH BOTTLING TRUST [MAP 5/H5]
Silom Soi 7 | 0 2636 6622 | namsaah.com 5pm-2am Namsaah Bottling Trust occupies a century-old mansion in Silom Soi 7 that was once a soda bottling company’s office – Namsaah means ‘effervescent water’. Here high ceilings, rich teak floors and a wealth of antique furniture achieves a warm, classy informality that makes the venue the perfect place to unwind and enjoy intimate conversation with friends. A long wooden bar segues into a small dining encourages guests to begin the evening with drinks from an extensive cocktail menu. Favourites include the Roasted Tangerine Negroni (B290), poured over a hand-chipped ice ball, and the Sathorn Dirty Vodka Martini (B290), which achieves the perfect balance of brine and bluster. A gin and tonic (B390) infused with rosemary, lavender and juniper berries, served in a brandy snifter, is also a big hit. An extensive wine list offers red, white and sparkling varietals by the bottle or the glass.
SMALLS [MAP 5/K8] 186/3 Suan Phlu Soi 1 | 09 5585 1398 | WedMon 8.30pm-2am Decorated with vintage furniture and quirky art to give it a light Bohemian feel, Smalls offers a wide selection of beers, wines by the glass and hard-to-find liquors such as Basil Hayden’s Bourbon
Viva Aviv Whiskey. Spirits come in stout New York-style 45-cl servings rather than the anaemic European 30-cl pour commonly seen elsewhere in Bangkok. The playlist at Smalls tends to be non-commercial, with an emphasis on jazz and world music rather than hip-hop, house and techno. Occasionally it hosts visits by eclectic DJs like club veteran Justin Mills. The kitchen stays open until midnight (except on Tuesdays when the bar is closed), serving a well-conceived roster of entrees and bar snacks.
VIVA AVIV [MAP 5/C2] River City-Unit 118, 23 Trok Rongnamkhaeng, Charoen Krung Soi 30 0 2639 6305 | vivaaviv.com | 11am-midnight, later on weekends Viva Aviv reminds us of one of the hipper bars along Singapore’s Clarke Quay. Not only does it have the bar tables and stools jutting across a riverside promenade, inside there’s also a hip designer interior in full effect. Think tropical maritime chic meets dashes of outright whimsy. While the owner, Khun Ae, is responsible for this rustic look, the bar was initially looked after by the cocktail designers behind popular gastrobar Hyde and Seek.
WATER LIBRARY@GRASS [MAP 3/R6] Grass Thong Lor, 264/1 Thong Lor Soi 12 0 2714 9292 | Mon-Sat 6.30pm-1am Aside from its upmarket, inventive set menu dining on the first floor restaurant, The Water Library also has three lounge and wine bar areas downstairs with funky food, cocktails and live music at not audacious prices. A set menu of three cocktails paired with tapas bites at B790 is a pleasant surprise, and their wine list starts at B900 a bottle. Water Library is one to watch on the regional drinking and dining scene. The very talented mixologist Mirko Gardelliano was Germany’s Cocktail Champion in 2003. bangkok101.com
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DISAYA By By Molly Lanscombe Gaby Doman
Ix
f fashionxxxxx was food, xxxxxx Disaya xxxxxwould be a pink cake with a hefty helping of xxx icing on top; the brand is unashamedly one of the most reliably saccharine xxx available and with the Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, xxxLuxatlas, its direction shows no sign of changing. While it may look more like a Spring/Summer collection, with its pastel colours, gentle wave-cut hemlines and hot air balloon prints, AVAILABLE ATappropriate it’s actually much more : to Bangkok ‘winters’ than any of the heavy fabrics and dark cuts that are so popular among other local brands xxx this season. In fact, most of the adjectives fashion writers love to xxx use for collections can’t be applied to Disaya’s clothes which, pretty though xxx they most certainly are, aren’t progressive in style. But while there’s nothing wildly innovative in the collection, Disaya has the xxxweb fun-factor going for it. The brand may never win the hearts of the die-hard fashionistas but it will win over the feminine masses who want to dress up in cutesy outfits peppered with whimsical drawings or evening dresses spangled with silver sequins. The collection is wearable and safe, which may send a shudder up the spines of the hardcore Siam Centre aficionados but, let’s face it, they were never going to be the target for this collection anyway. With Disaya, you know what you’re getting; it’s dependable, its peachy, its cutesy and its feminine and, for the vast majority of us, we like to have a few such garments in our wardrobe for those times we want to feel fun and flirty. There’s a childlike essence to the collection – with the sequins, the soft colour palette, the cartoonish prints and the frills – the dresses appealing to the nostalgic side of us that misses the days we could turn up to parties in a tiara and a pink tutu! Disaya is available at: Central World (2nd floor, Beacon zone, 0 2646 1828) Siam Paragon (1st Floor, 0 2610 7899) The Emporium (1st Floor, 0 2259 8647) Central Chidlom (2nd Floor, 0 2655 7867)
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unique boutique
BALLET SHOES I
f you’re a fan of shopping in and around the Siam Square area, you may well have noticed a small shoe boutique called Ballet Shoes located at the 1st Floor of the Lido Plaza shopping complex. Ballet Shoes started life as a small family business back in 1959 and has been manufacturing hand-made quality women’s leather footwear – particularly bespoke dance shoes – for more than half a century. The first pair of shoes made by the company rolled of the production line at its original store in the Rachaprasong area, roughly where luxury shopping mall Gaysorn Plaza sits today. Five decades on and the business has 4 other outlets in Bangkok and one in Chiang Mai. Don’t let the boutique’s name fool you. Yes, Ballet Shoes still specializes in custom-made dance shoes for proponents of Latin, ballroom and jazz dance among others, but it also offers styles for everyday wear. Particularly popular is its range of distinctive flat shoes (‘ballet’ flats), which come in many colourful shades. Practical, versatile and very comfortable, these ballet flats are suitable for ladies of all ages. Also available are a range of heeled shoes in various heights, a pair costing in the B2000 range. Whatever the style, each pair of shoes is intricately made from genuine leather by an experienced shoemaker who will tailor the footwear to your specific fit using your preferred materials and colours. Indeed, the 96 | NOV EM BER 2014
business prides itself on producing new shoes that are ‘as comfortable as a favourite pair of old slippers’. Ballet Shoes’ after-sales service is also impressive – you can return with shoes if there is a problem with fit or if they need any damage fixing.
BALLET SHOES has five branches; Siam Square One, CentralWorld, Terminal 21, and Silom Complex in Bangkok; and a branch in Cholaprataan Rd, Chiang Mai.
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spotlight tailor
SHOPPING
MOON RIVER BY VJ C
onveniently located at Exit 2 of the BTS Asok station, near the Sheraton Grand hotel on Sukhumvit Road, Moon River by VJ caters to both men and women and has been providing locals, expats and visitors with bespoke attire since 1981. At Moon River by VJ the staff take pride in offering not only made-to-fit attire but a complete bespoke service. Bespoke means there is a very high level of hand craftsmanship involved in the production of the suits and each is individually hand cut and crafted according to the individual client’s requirements. This is one of the few tailors in the city able to hand-finish the shoulders, sleeves and button holes on garments. Suits ordered at the majority of Bangkok tailors are crafted away from the retail shop, frequently at backstreet workshops handling jobs from several different tailors. What distinguishes Moon River by VJ from its competitors is that it has its own in-house workshop, plus two satellite workshops, employing some 30 tailors and seamstresses. This enables the business to maintain quality control and allows tailors to be present during fittings, so they really understand the changes that need to be made. As principle VJ explains, “We don’t just sell suits. We provide consultation and feedback to determine a client’s needs and we walk him or her through the full process, no matter if it is their first or fifth suit. We carry a large bangkok101.com
inventory of fabrics and styles suitable for a large budget range – from students looking for prom suits to CEO’s of multinational companies and politicians.” All the fabrics used are sourced from reliable companies in Asia and Europe and at Moon River they also take care to make garments so that they can be adjusted, to a reasonable degree. This ensures that clients can have their garments altered as their weight fluctuates over the years. Most of these clients – split between 70% men and 30% women – are locals and and expats living in Bangkok. The shop also keeps in touch with its expat clients, even when they return to their home countries, via bi-annual roadshows to America, Europe and Australia. “Our roadshows are an important extension of our service and give our clients the opportunity to have bespoke tailoring in the comfort of their own homes and offices. We carry the latest fabric swatches on our tours, keeping our clients up to date with ever-changing fashion trends. Since we keep all our client measurements for a minimum of 5 years, it makes it very convenient for them to order remotely too,” VJ says.
MOON RIVER BY VJ
[MAP 3/H10]
288 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2229 4457 | moonriverbyvj.com | Mon-Sun 10am-9pm
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July Tailor
TAILOR DULY [MAP 3/Q10] 55/2 Sukhumvit Soi 49 | 0 2672 2891 | 10am7pm daily | laladuly.co.th Duly recently opened a new boutique at the 2nd floor, Royal Wing of the Siam Kempinski Hotel behind Siam Square. The original stand-alone shop on Sukhumvit Road was also renovated in 2011 to reflect Duly’s pre-eminent position as Bangkok’s leading shirt maker. The real draw here is the made-to-measure service that allows customers to create their own perfect shirt with no limits. Shirt patterns can be contoured to fit, collars picked from 22 different style and cuffs from 10. The store stocks over 30 types of button and also offers a monogramming service.
JULY TAILOR [MAP 5/K6] 30/6 Saladang Rd | 0 2233 0171 | Mon-Sat 9.30pm-6pm | julytailor.com/en Established by Nui Sae Lui in 1939, today July Tailor is run by his third son, Sompop Louilarpprasert. July Tailor is famous for the tailoring of suits and royal patterns with fine and delicate workmanship. It also prides itself on punctual delivery. This is perhaps why it was selected as a tailor to the Thai royal family. The store also enjoys a fine reputation among highlevel local and international government officials, politicians and businessmen. Use of fine cloths, lining materials and accessories imported from Italy ensures comfort while hand stitching ensures excellent workmanship and fit and the unique bespoke look.
LUCKY ANGEL [MAP 4/M5] 26-26/4 Soi Ruamrudee | 0 2650 7577 | MonSat 10am-10pm, Sun 10am-8pm Boyce, the principal at Lucky Angel, does a fine job of explaining fabrics, cuts, timetable and prices to customers. He and his wife go out of their way to help clients select the best materials 98 | NOV EM BER 2014
Lucky Angel for their needs. An 18-year veteran of the business, he takes around 30 measurements when sizing you up for a suit and will constantly ask questions regarding your preferences as he goes about his work. Only opened 3 years ago, the shop already has a loyal clientele and prides itself on its repeat business and comprehensive after-sales service.
Moonriver by VJ
God made men, we make gentlemen
NARIN COUTURE [MAP 3/G10] 180 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2251 9237 | Mon-Sat 10.30am-9pm (last fitting at 8pm) | narincouture.com B. Narin of Narin Couture graduated from Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and spent five years working in Paris before returning home to open his own boutique tailoring service. His background is undoubtedly one of the reasons his suits receive high marks for style. He and his master cutters, many of whom have over 30 years of experience, turn out elegant evening gowns and immaculate suits in top quality fabrics. Some of Narin’s creations have even made it onto the silver screen, being worn by movie stars in Hollywood blockbusters.
Complete bespoke experiencenot just made to measure
PERRY’S [MAP 5/K5] 2/1 Silom Rd | 0 2233 9236, 0 2267 0622 | MonSat 9.30am-8pm | perry.tailor@gmail.com Legendary tailor Perry’s has been going strong for four decades. It is run by genial septuagenarian twin brothers Narong and Phonchai, both of whom are known for their ability to measure and cut ‘by the eye’. They maintain superb quality through their own workshop, where 30 plus artisans use only imported fabrics – the likes of Ermenegildo Zenga, Loro Piana, Dormeuil and Lanificio from Switzerland, Italy and England. Among their more illustrious clients they count the Duke of Edinburgh, former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and late Hollywood star Robin Williams. It takes from one to two weeks for Perry’s to make a two-
Moonriver by VJ Sukhumvit Road under Asoke Skytrain station - Exit 2 Bring this ad for 20% off on your first bespoke experience. bangkok101.com
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Perry’s
Rajawongse
piece suit, which will run to B20000 or more depending on the material selected.
PINKY [MAP 4/L5] Mahatun Plaza Arcade | 888/40 Ploenchit Rd 0 2253 6328 | Mon-Sat 10am-7.30pm (Sunday’s by appointment) | pinkytailor.com Established since 1980, at Pinky you will find 3 floors of high-quality fabrics. The shop caters to ladies and gents and offers exceptional tailoring for quality trousers, suits, tuxedos, uniforms, overcoats, skirts and dresses. A specialty here though is shirts, and as the business points out on its website, shirts are a staple part of any person’s wardrobe. From formal dress shirts and business wear through to high fashion and casual, the shirt is the ideal way to express personality, no matter what the occasion. Popular with visiting dignitaries and local diplomats, Pinky also has a loyal repeat clientele.
RAJAWONGSE [MAP 3/E10] 130 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2255 3714 | Mon-Sat 10.30am-8pm | dress-for-success.com At Rajawongse, a favourite of visiting
statesman and ambassadors, it is possible to create your own design from a wide array of fabrics and accessories. Traditional to contemporary, dramatic to exotic, classic to original, you pick your preferred style of garment and fabrics and tailors Jesse and Victor will create it. Says Jesse, “It is our belief that every single customer should be treated like a V.I.P. From formal wear to business suits and sport coats, our motto always holds true: dress like a winner and you’ll be treated like one.”
SODHI [MAP 5/F5] 294/3 Silom Rd | 0 2635 9670 | Mon-Sat 10.30am-8.30pm, (Sunday’s by appointment) sodhi.com Sodhi has been making hand-tailored suits and made-to-measure shirts for discerning gents since 1968. According to principle Peter, it is the inside of a suit that distinguishes its quality – the choice of materials in a hand-made garment determines its wear and appearance, while the construction techniques guarantee fit and style. Sodhi places great
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Sodhi emphasis on the use of natural fibres; horse hair, camel hair, and pure cottons and wools. These are used to create modern and timeless styles that make the customer “feel elegant and relaxed and that makes him feel good and look good”.
UNIVERSAL TAILORS [MAP 5/F5] 252/2 Silom Rd | 08 1611 2313 | MonSat 10am to 9pm, Sun 12pm-6pm | universaltailor.com Run by the father-and-son team of Ronnie and Raj Singh, for over 30 years Universal Tailors have produced beautifully made garments hand-crafted to a perfect fit. They have their own in-house tailors, allowing them to offer a truly bespoke experience. Fabrics range from 100% wool to luxury weaves from Italian mills. Suits are constructed using high-end horse hair interlining and canvassing, pure cotton German shoulder pads, Bemberg linings and horn buttons. Shirt fabrics range from 100% cotton of 60/1 ply to 120/2 ply in twill, oxford and poplin weaves. These are double stitched and come with real mother of pearl buttons.
Bespoke Brilliance
WWW.DRESS-FOR-SUCCESS.COM
‘ Dress like a winner and you’ll be treated like one’
Jesse & Victor
130 Sukhumvit Road, near Sukhumvit soi 4 next to Landmark hotel, Bangkok 10110 Tel: 02 255 3714, 02 255 3715 Fax: 02 253 8390 E-mail: jesse@loxinfo.co.th As featured in:
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NOV EM BER 2014 | 99
WELLN ESS
treatment
Devarana
DEVARANA SPA [MAP 5/L5] Dusit Thani Bangkok 946 Rama IV Rd 0 2636 3596 | devaranaspa.com | $$$
Devarana offers a variety of pampering treatments using a combination of East meets West aromatherapy and massage. Delicate massage oils are organically developed and blended using high quality natural ingredients to enhance relaxation and feelings of wellbeing. The Devarana Signature Massage (B3200++/1 hr 30 mins; B3900++/2 hrs) is a unique therapy that focuses on muscle relief and balancing the body’s energy pathways through a combination of Ayurvedic, Shiatsu and Swedish massage. The Heavenly Nantha Garden Experience (B5000++/2 hrs 30 mins) is also highly recommended. It features a Devarana body scrub and massage and ends with a restorative soak in a bath infused with fresh pink lotus and champaca petals. Alternatively, if you’re pushed for time, try the Halo-Halo body wrap and facial scrub (B2100++/1 hr).
LAVANA [MAP 3 / F 7] 4 Sukhumvit Soi 12 | 0 2229 4510 9am-11.30pm | $$$
Lavana does its treatments right. Spa options are refreshingly clear-cut, and
Lavana
Yunomori primarily focused on massage. Scrubs and facials are also available, along with the unusual and intriguing Shirodhara oil treatment, in which warm oil is drizzled along the “third eye” in the forehead and massaged into the head and neck. Those seeking a tidier signature option should choose the herbal ball oil massage – Lavana’s dedicated therapists manage to pack a restful eternity into a well-priced 90 minutes. Masseuses combine long Swedish and sports-massage strokes with very detailed work on problem areas – they take computer-knotted shoulders and other ailments as a matter of personal concern, and banish those tweaks and twinges with wonderfully intense kneading and muscle release work.
YUNOMORI [MAP 3/O9] A Square, Sukhumvit 26 | 0 2259 5778 facebook.com/yunomorionsen | 10.30am12am | $$$
Yunomori isn’t an onsen (a Japanesestyle hot springs) in the strictest, most traditional sense of the word but rather the souped up inner-city version, with other facilities such as spas, restaurants and bars as well as pools to bath in. In the changing rooms, you strip off, lock away your belongings, take a deep
Cenvaree breath and emerge, as naked as a newborn, into the baths (guys bare all, girls can wear disposable underwear). Once happy in your birthday suit, the bath hopping begins. We counted five, from the warm soda bath featuring water infused with CO2 to the near scalding jet bath and main onsen, both of which use spring water sourced from Ranong. Once you’ve soaked until you can soak no more, head out in your slippers and explore Yunomori’s extras.
CENVAREE SPA AT CENTARA GRAND AT CENTRALWORLD [MAP 4/F7] 25F Centara Grand at CentralWorld, 999/99 Rama 1 Rd | 0 2769 1234 | spacenvaree.com $$$$
For anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting a high-end spa in Thailand, Cenvaree’s interior will be familiar enough, furnished in dark teak wood and perfumed with hints of jasmine and sandalwood. The selection here is vast. Try the evocatively named Salt Pot Muscles Melter (B2800 for 90 mins), designed to flush all traces of tension from a tired frame. The Thai Harmony Four Hands Massage (B3000 for 90 mins) involves two expert Thai therapists working in unison to deliver a feeling of intense relaxation. Another alternative is the Shirobhyanga, or Indian Head Massage (B1200 for 60 mins). Often during treatments, after the back and legs and have been kneaded into putty, it’s the light finish on the neck and scalp that is most effective. Here, you have the opportunity to extend that for an entire hour. SPA COSTS $ :: under B600 $$ :: B600-B1000 $$$ :: B1000-B2000 $$$$ :: B2000+
100 | NOV EM BER 2014
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treatment
WELLN ESS
Massira Wellness and Spa - Riverside relaxation at its finest -
M
assira Wellness and Spa occupies 1600 square meters of the 3rd Floor of the Ramada Plaza Bangkok Menam Riverside. The facility offers guests a range of massages and other pampering health and wellness treatments using quality imported Dermalogica products. The spa’s treatment menu is extensive with numerous packages designed to cosset and beautify. Of particular note is the three-hour Massira Rejuvenate package (B4800) which exfoliates the skin before relieving muscles with Swedish body massage techniques. Another treatment worth mentioning is the Purify package (B4300), two-and-a-half hours of pampering that begins with a 30 minute Jacuzzi bath. We treat ourselves to the two-and-a-half-hour Signature package (B4000), which comprises a 60 minute body exfoliation treatment followed by 90 minutes of oil massage featuring a combination of Thai and Swedish massage techniques. Before the treatment begins, we fill in a detailed form requesting
MASSIRA WELLNESS & SPA Ramada Plaza Bangkok Menam Riverside Hotel 2074 Charoenkrung Rd | 02 289 9099 massiraspa.com | 10am-10pm
bangkok101.com
information about any medical issues we might have and any physical areas we might want particular attention paid too. Then it’s off to the double treatment room where our therapists revive our tired limbs with firm but soothing hands to induce a deep sense of relaxation. For those with limited time, the spa also offers a number of relaxing one- and two-hour massage and beauty treatments. The Massira aromatherapy massage (B1800/B2500; 60/90 mins) uses the calming scent of local herbs and specially blended oils to make both your mind and body relax. The Massira Sports massage (B1800/B2500; 60/90 mins) on the other hand is designed to help exercise and fitness fanatics overcome tight muscles and pains caused by extensive exercise. Also popular with local customers and visitors alike are the Massira Royal Thai massage (B1500/B2100/ B2600; 60/90/120 mins) and the Massira Thai herbal massage (B1500/B2100/B2600; 60/90/120 mins), which make full use of vigorous Thai traditional massage techniques. But if you’ve been out pounding the pavement while seeing the sites or indulging in a bit of shopping, you might want to treat your sore feet to a onehour Foot massage (B1500), which also utilizes distinctive Thai techniques. NOV EM BER 2014 | 101
GETTING THERE 102 | NOV EM BER 2014
THA TIEN PIER AT WAT ARUN Photo: Supawin Thanasubharerk
bangkok101.com
RAIL
Chatuchak Park / BTS Mo Chit stations. Subway fares range from about B15 to B 39. www.bangkokmetro.co.th
SKYTRAIN (BTS)
AIRPORT RAIL LINK
The Bangkok Transit System, or BTS, is a two-line elevated train network covering the major commercial areas. Trains run every few minutes from 6 am to midnight, making the BTS a quick and reliable transport option, especially during heavy traffic jams. Fares range from B15 to B55; special tourist passes allowing unlimited travel for one day (B120) are available. BTS also provides free shuttle buses which transit passengers to and from stations and nearby areas. www.bts.co.th
SUBWAY (MRT) Bangkok’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is another fast and reliable way to get across town. The 18-station line stretches 20 kms from Hualamphong (near the central
railway station) up to Bang Sue in the north. Subways run from 6 am to midnight daily, with trains arriving every 5 – 7 minutes. The underground connects with the BTS at MRT Silom / BTS Sala Daeng, MRT Sukhumvit / BTS Asok and MRT
RIVER
EXPRESS RIVER BOAT Bangkok’s vast network of inter-city waterways offer a quick and colourful alternative for getting around the city. Express boats ply the Chao Phraya River from the Saphan Taksin Bridge up to Nonthaburi, stopping at some 30 main piers altogether. Fares range from B9 to B32 depending on the distance, while tickets can either be bought on the boat or at the pier, depending on how much time you have. Boats depart every 20 minutes or so between 5.30am and 6pm. Crossriver services operate throughout the day from each pier for just B3.
CANAL BOAT Khlong Saen Saep canal boats operate from Phan Fa Leelard bridge, on the edge of the Old City, and zip east to Ramkhamhaeng University. However, you have to be quick to board them as they don’t usually wait around. Canal (khlong) boats tend to be frequent and cost around B9 to B19. Tickets are bought onboard. Note that the piers are a little hidden away, which makes them sometimes difficult to find.
ROAD BUS Bangkok has an extensive and inexpensive public bus service. Both open-air and air-conditioned vehicles are available, respectively for B5 and B7.50 – B23. As most destinations are noted only in Thai, it is advisable to get a bus route map (available at hotels, TAT offices and bookshops).
MOTORCYCLE TAXI In Bangkok’s heavy traffic, motorcycle taxis are the fastest, albeit most dangerous, form of road transport. Easily recognisable by their colourful vests, bangkok101.com
A 28 km long monorail links the city’s main international airport, Suvarnabhumi, with three stops in downtown Bangktok and four stops in the eastern suburbs. Trains run from 6am to midnight every day and follow two lines along the same route. The City Line stops at all stations (journey time: 30 minutes) and costs B15-45 per journey. The Express Line stops at downtown stations Makkasan (journey time: 13-14 minutes, trains leave every 40 minutes) or Phayathai (journey time: 17 minutes, trains leave every 30 minutes), the only one that intersects with the Skytrain. One-way Express Line tickets cost B90 while roundtrip tickets are available at the promotional fare of B150.
motorbike taxi drivers gather in groups. Fares should be negotiated beforehand.
TAXI Bangkok has thousands of metered,
air-con taxis available 24 hours. Flag fall is B 35 (for the first 2 kms) and the fare climbs in B 2 increments. Be sure the driver switches the meter on. No tipping, but rounding the fare up to the nearest B 5 or B10 is common. Additional passengers are not charged, nor is baggage. For trips to and from the airport, passengers should pay the expressway toll fees. When boarding from the queue outside the terminal, an additional B50 surcharge is added.
TUK-TUK Those three-wheeled taxis (or samlor) are best known as tuk-tuks, named for the steady whirr of their engines. A 10-minute ride should cost around B40. NOV EM BER 2014 | 103
MAP 1 Greater Bangkok A
B
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Greater Bangkok & the Chao Phraya MAP 2 >
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20 KM 20 miles
Country Border Boarder Crossing Province Border
104 | NOV EM BER 2014
SIGHTSEEING a Bang Pa-In Summer Palace b The Khao Khiao Open Zoo c The Si Racha Tiger Farm d Pattaya Shooting Park e Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden f Mimosa Pattaya g Kanchanaburi War Cemetery h Bridge over the river Kwai i Erawan National Park j Sai Yok National Park k Ancient Siam l Bueng Chawak Aquarium
TEMPLES 1 Wat Yai Chai Mong Khon 2 Wat Phra Sri Sanphet 3 Wat Mahathat 4 Wat Phuttai Sawan HISTORICAL RUINS 1 Ayutthaya Historical Park 2 Phra Narai Ratchaniwet MARKETS 1 Amphrawa Floating Market 2 Walking Street Pattaya 3 Sam Chuk 100 Years Market
MUSEUMS 1 Teddy Bear Museum 2 The Ripley's believe It or Not Odditorium 3 Art in Paradise 4 Thai Human Imagery Museum 5 Museum of Chong Khaokad ENTERTAINMENT 1 Scuba Dawgs Pattaya 2 Alcazar Cabaret 3 Pattaya Water Park
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A
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The Legacy
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Royal Thai Army Sport Center
F5
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MUENG NONTHABURI
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Chom Thong Bang Bon
8
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60th Anniversary Queen Sirikit Park
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Krungthep Unico Kreetha Grande
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Mini Buri
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Mo Chit
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6
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Bueng Kum
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Bang Sue
Bang Phlat
Panya Indra
Lat Phrao
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9
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Rat Burana
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Suvarnabhumi Int. Airport
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NOV EM BER 2014 | 105
MAP 3 Sukhumvit Road A
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106 | NOV EM BER 2014
Benjasiri Park
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10 Westin Grande Sukhumvit 11 Marriott Executive Sukhumvit Park 12 Grande Centre Point Terminal 21 13 Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit 14 Le Fenix 15 Radisson Sukhumvit 16 Marriott Bangkok Sukhumvit
ARTS & CULTURE 1 Japan Foundation 2 Koi Art Gallery 3 Attic Studios 4 La Lanta 5 TCDC (Thailand Creative & Design Centre 6 Nang Kwak 7 WTF 8 The Pikture Gallery
9 10
We*Do Gallery RMA
MALLS 1 Robinsons 2 Terminal 21 3 Emporium MARKETS 4 Sukhumvit
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CLUBS 1 Q Bar 3 Insomnia 10 Glow 24 Demo 26 Levels 27 Funky Villa pubs PUBS 11 The Hanrahans 12 The Pickled Liver 13 The Robin Hood bangkok101.com
13
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The Royal Oak
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The Iron Fairies Clouds 22 Fat Gut'z 23 Shades of Retro 25 diVino 28 Le Bar de L'Hotel 29 W XYZ 30 Face Bar 31 Marshmallow 32 Oskar Bistro 33 Tuba 34 Sonic 21
NIGHTLIFE 4 Long Table 5 Beervault 6 Diplomat Bar 7 The Living Room 8 Cheap Charlie's 9 Octave 19 WTF 17 Alchemist 18 The ChindAsia
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Apoteka Water Library 37 Gossip Bar 38 Nest 39 Above Eleven
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EMBASSIES IN India IR Iran LK Sri Lanka PH Philippines QA Qatar UA Ukraine NO Norway NZ New Zealand BG Bulgaria
NOV EM BER 2014 | 107
MAP 4 Siam / Chit Lom F
5 Soi 3
Soi 31 Soi 33
Soi 25
Soi 29
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Canal Boat BTS Silom Line BTS Sukhumvit Line Railway Airwalk Market
108 | NOV EM BER 2014
HOTELS 1 Pathumwan Princess 2 Novotel Siam 3 Siam Kempinski 4 Baiyoke Sky Hotel 5 Amari Watergate 6 Novotel Platinum 7 Grand Hyatt Erawan 8 The Four Seasons 9 The St. Regis 10 InterContinental 11 Holiday Inn 12 Swissôtel Nai Lert Park 13 Conrad Bangkok 14 Centara Grand at CentralWorld 15 Hotel Muse 16 Okura Prestige 17 Centara Watergate Pavillion
KH
Sarasin
Soi 6
9
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Soi 7
Soi Ruam Rudi
Sarasin Lumphini Park
ARTS & CULTURE 1 BACC – Bangkok Art and Culture Centre 2 Tonson Gallery SIGHTSEEING a Jim Thomson House b Museum of Imagery Technology c Madame Tussauds d Queen Savang Vadhana Museum e Siam Ocean World f Ganesha and Trimurti Shrine g Erawan Shrine h Goddess Tubtim Shrine NIGHTLIFE a Hard Rock Cafe b Red Sky Bar
Balcony Humidor & Cigar Bar d P&L Club e Café Trio f Hyde & Seek c
MALLS 1 MBK 2 Siam Discovery 3 Siam Center 4 Siam Paragon 5 Panthip Plaza 6 Platinum Fashion Mall 7 CentralWorld 8 Zen @ CentralWorld 9 Pratunam Center 10 Gaysorn 11 Erawan Plaza 12 The Peninsula Plaza 13 Amarin Plaza 14 Central Chidlom 15 All Seasons Place 16 Central Embassy
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SHOPPING 17 Siam Square 18 Pratunam Market 19 Siam Square One EMBASSIES CH Switzerland FI Finland ID Indonesia KH Cambodia NL Netherlands NZ New Zealand QA Qatar UA Ukraine UK United Kingdom US USA VN Vietnam IT Italy
bangkok101.com
Silom / Sathorn MAP 5 E
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HOTELS 1 The Peninsula 2 Millenium Hilton 3 Shangri-La 4 Center Point Silom 5 Mandarin Oriental 6 Royal Orchid Sheraton 7 Lebua at State Tower 8 Holiday Inn 9 Chaydon Sathorn Bangkok 10 Pullman Bangkok Hotel G 11 Le Meridien 12 Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini 13 Banyan Tree 14 Dusit Thani 15 The Sukothai 16 W Bangkok
bangkok101.com
BARS WITH VIEWS a Threesixty d Sky Bar o Panorama p Moon Bar NIGHTLIFE b La Casa Del Habano c Bamboo Bar f Barley Bistro & Bar g Eat Me j Tapas PUBS e Jameson's h The Pintsman l Molly Malone's m The Barbican n O'Reilly's
ARTS & CULTURE 1 Serindia Gallery 2 Silom Galleria: Number 1 Gallery, Tang Contemporary Art, Taivibu Gallery, Gossip Gallery 3 H Gallery 4 Bangkokian Museum Shopping 1 Robinsons 2 River City Shopping 3 Silom Village 4 Silom / Patpong Night-Market 5 Jim Thompson Store
EMBASSIES AT Austria AU Australia BE Belgium CA Canada CE Germany GR Greece FR France MY Malaysia MX Mexico MM Myanmar PT Portugal SG Singapore
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NOV EM BER 2014 | 109
MAP 6 Yaowarat / Pahurat (Chinatown & Little India ) A
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110 | NOV EM BER 2014
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M Y B A N G KO K
Shane
Suvikapakornkul Book publisher and distributor, art-book store and galler y owner and passionate patron of the arts in Thailand, Bangkok native Shane Suvikapakornkul has made it one of his missions to put Thai artists and photographers on the map alongside their international counterparts through ground-braking artistic showcases. The man whose personal artistic sensibilities and tastes contribute so much to Serindia Galler y's unique reputation opens up to Bangkok 101.
You spent many years as a book publisher-distributor in Chicago. Why did you decide to leave the Windy City and come home? My parents still live in Bangkok and I’d been away for 15 years, so it was time to come back. Also, by the time I returned in 2005, the efficiency of the Internet allowed me to work from anywhere. Public transportation and highway infrastructure here was also more developed, so it was a good time to return home. Serindia Publications “is inspired to pioneer new digital silk roads…” and yet you are obviously in love with the printed word. Are you ‘old school’ at heart? Definitely, and I have come to realise that e-books don’t work in terms of art books. It’s not simply about converting content into static PDFs. We need a complete rethink of the process and more importantly we need to ask what these books are and who are they for? To develop existing content for digital media doubles the effort and cost. Current editorial and economic models are not working and remember, the distribution of digital products is controlled only by handful of companies. It really has to be a project with a specific aim for the use of digital content. The “new digital silk road” is more of an institutional effort in the same vein as the British 112 | NOV EM BER 2014
Library’s International Dunhuang Project, which has the support of international collaborators. On your return to Thailand, you opened Serindia Gallery. How has the Arts scene developed in Bangkok in recent years? Oh, it has become much more dynamic and exciting. Artists have more tools at their disposal, they are more worldly and not afraid to experiment. Social media give them more exposure. There are also more artists working today, so to maintain quality galleries have to be selective and determined about their direction. How can Thai contemporary Art gain a stronger foothold on the global stage? It has certainly gained attention as Western academics and museums in particular turn their regional focus on Asia. Only a handful of Thai artists have made their names internationally. And those are the ones who have the whole gallerycollectors-auction-media-publishingacademic system working for them. One has to understand the dynamics of the system. Artists are also stars in their own right on social media and have certain control over their exposure. Is your latest venture, the HARDCOVER art-book stores at BACC and Central Embassy, a return to your ‘book roots’? I liken it to the recent history of the
cinema industry. Hollywood was scared that the advent of the digital download would kill movie theatres, so they built fantastic new theatres to enhance the viewer experience. And they survived because digital downloads cannot replicate the theatre experience. Art publishers have much less real estate in which to show books, but what’s the point of publishing beautiful art books if people don’t get to see and touch them? In a tough environment, I have tried to create an outlet for my own books and for my colleagues in the art publishing field. HARDCOVER is a different kind of bookshop, very specific, modest in scale, and full of the spirit of what is on show. The experience of visiting art-book stores to find inspiration cannot be replicated digitally. Where do you take visitors for a quintessential Bangkok experience? For me the riverside remains a quintessential Bangkok experience. You can pick and choose from a wide variety of great riverfront properties and outlets in which to treat your visitors. There are fantastic shopping opportunities and dining venues, and of course it is cooler down by the river. If you could change one thing about life in Bangkok, what would it be? Less sugar in everything! bangkok101.com