4 | OCTOBER 2014
bangkok101.com
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
I
t would be no understatement to say that in recent years Bangkok has become the region’s capital in terms of the culinary arts and creative design. Hence the October visits of Michelin star chef Jean Sulpice to the Sukhothai Hotel and Matteo Metullio, Italy’s youngest Michelin star chef, to top Italian restaurant Enoteca. We also have a clutch of international culinary experts delighting taste buds at the Sofitel So’s third annual ‘So Amazing Chefs’ event. This month Bangkok 101 is also pleased to be partnering two inaugural design and innovation events. The first, Creative Bangkok, features 50 international speakers from well-known companies such as Disney, Cirque du Soleil, NASA, Google and Ubisoft sharing their secrets on how to nurture creativity. The second event, Hospitality Objects Thailand, or The H.O.T. Show, offers a venue for Thai designers and multinational businesses with an interest in the global hospitality industry to meet, exchange ideas, and view new evolutions and trends in Thai design. You’ll find more information on these seminal events in the following City Pulse pages. All this and our 101 archive and extras can be found online at bangkok101.com. If there’s something you feel we’re not covering but should, then please drop us a line at info@talisman-media.com.
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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
bangkok101.com
OCTOBER 2014 | 5
CONTRIBUTORS
publisher
Mason Florence editor-in-chief
Dr Jesda M. Tivayanond associate publisher
Parinya Krit-Hat managing editor
Matt Wilde 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.
editor-at-large
Joe Cummings associate editor
Pawika Jansamakao 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:
bangkok101.com
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 02-286-7821 | F 02-286-7829 info@talisman-media.com © 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.
S E POTCETM OB E R 2 0 1 4 | 7
CONTENTS 22
44
16
CITY PU LSE
A RT & C U LT U R E
SHOPPING
10 metro beat
56 exhibition highlights
100 new collection:
14 hot plates: maverick
58 interview:
milin
16 out and about:
illusions and meditations
104 unique boutique:
cycling in bkk
60 cheat notes
casa pagoda
22 best of bangkok:
62 photo feature:
105 spotlight tailor:
peninsula charity
lone temple pilot
perry’s
S N A P S H OT S
FOOD & DRIN K
26 tom’s two satang
70 food & drink news
28 very thai
72 meal deals
29 thailand at random
73 restaurant reviews:
30 joe’s bangkok
sofitel so, enoteca, 661
32 bizarre thailand
silom, xin tian di, sensi,
34 temples, historic
e.a.t.
buildings and museums
82 in the kitchen: 83 eat like nym
40 up country now
84 restaurant listings
42 hotel review
58
100 73
davide calo
T R AV E L
48
WELLN ESS 108 spa listings 109 devarana spa at
44 up country escape:
N IGHTLI FE
koh kood
90 nightlife news
48 over the border:
92 review:
REFERENCE
haiphong, vietnam
route 66, smalls
110 getting there
94 nightlife listings
dusit thani bangkok
112 maps 120 my bangkok: joe thawilvejjakul
ON THE COVER Thailand’s temples and Buddhist monuments captured from above via the drone photography of Richard Barrow p62. 8 | OCTOBER 2014
bangkok101.com
CITY PU LSE
metro beat of the same name, arranged by Kurt-Heinz Stolze. The show incorporates a variety of dance forms including folk, modern, ballroom and acrobatic. Performances are at 7.30pm on October 25 and 2.30pm on October 26. Tickets are available at Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com) priced B1500-B5500.
DANCE Onegin Stuttgart Ballet
NIGHTLIFE
Black Diamond The Danish Dance Theatre beings contemporary ballet to the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) in a show called Black Diamond on October 9. The choreographer and artistic director Tim Rushton has created a work they say is rooted in the ‘abstract universe’. The curtain rises at 7.30pm. Tickets are B800-B2000 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). Democrazy Theatre Studio partners with Noncitizen to present the contemporary dance production Hipster the King, directed by Thanapol Virulhakul at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (939 Rama I Rd, 0 2214 6632, bacc.or.th) on October 10-12. Are you a hipster? There’s a checklist to see whether you qualify: Vintage beard and moustache? Vegan food? Cigarettes (lots) ...? Performances are at 7pm on Friday and 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are B450. Salsa dance and music slithers into the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) on October 14 when four dance companies from Santiago de Cali, Colombia perform Delirium. It’s a 7.30 start, and tickets, from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com), are B800-B2000. The Stuttgart Ballet performs what is hailed as its “masterpiece”, the Onegin Stuttgart Ballet, at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) on October 25 and 26. Choreographer John Cranko created the three act production based on Alexander Pushkin’s verse novel Eugine Onegin, using music from Tchaikovsky’s opera 10 | OCTOBER 2014
Armada Night returns with DJs from Armin van Buuren’s Armada Music, A State of Trance Recordings, this time featuring MaRLo and Mark Sixma at Ku De Ta (Fl 39 & 40 Sathorn Square, Narathiwat Rd, 0 2108 2000, kudeta. com) on October 10. Dutch born MaRLo’s programme of trance, tech trance and progressive house has notched him several top ten hits, including ‘Boom’ and ‘The Island’, featuring Jano. Sixma’s trance music has seen him at several major festivals and at No 1 on the Beatport Trance Chart for ‘Requiem’. Tickets are B1500 and B2500, available at Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). Doors open at 8pm, which gives you time for dinner at one of the venue’s several outlets.
FOOD & DRINK
Enoteca Matteo Metullio of La Siriola restaurant, and Italy’s youngest Michelin star chef, will prepare a series of dinners from October 8-11 at Enoteca (39 Sukhumvit Soi 27, 0 2258 4386, enotecabangkok.com). The degustation menu is B3500++, plus B1700++ for a pairing with wines from Cantina Terlano. (See p.74 for more details) bangkok101.com
metro beat
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ROCK & POP
Mariah Carey Acrobatic dance and pop will tickle teen hearts when the Korean boy band 2pm arrive on their 2pm World Tour at Impact Arena (99 Popular Rd, Pakkred, 0 2504 5050, impact.co.th) on October 11. The track list of a band known originally for their ‘macho beast’ image should include choices like ‘Comeback When You Hear This Song’ from their third album Grown, released last year. The show starts at 6.30pm. Tickets run from B1500-B5500 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). With a five octave vocal range and a penchant for wetlook lingerie, the theatrics will be high when R&B popper Mariah Carey lands at Impact Arena (99 Popular Rd, Pakkred, 0 2504 5050, impact.co.th) on her Elusive Chanteuse tour on October 30. She’s also sold 200 million records worldwide, has five Grammy Awards and the longest-running number-one song in US chart history in ‘One Sweet Day’. The new album Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse will feature strongly. Tickets are B15008000 at Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com).
FOLK/TRADITIONAL
Teresa Sagueiro Portuguese singer and actor Teresa Sagueiro performs contemporary and traditional Portuguese song and music from her latest album O Mistério on October 9 at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028). She is backed by a four piece band featuring accordion, guitar, double bass and percussion. The show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are B800-B2000 from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). bangkok101.com
SHOPPING
The Bangkok International Gifts The Bangkok International Gifts and Bangkok International Houseware Fair, better known as BIG+BIH, will have shopping ideas from home decor, handicrafts and plants, to textiles and toys, games and electrical appliances. Also running within this year’s show is Idea for Tomorrow, in which 30 Thai and international designers will showcase their work. It’s at BITEC (km1, 88 Bangna-Trad Rd, 0 2749 3939, bitec.co.th) from Oct 19-23. Get more info at bigandbih.com. OCTOBER 2014 | 11
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metro beat
CLASSICAL Greek tenors Mario Frangoulis and George Perris sing classical and contemporary classical-crossover at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) on October 4. Frangoulis has previously played Marius in Les Miserables in London. The show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are B800-B3000 at Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com). The performance is part of the annual International Festival of Dance & Music, which continues with classical music, opera, pop, folk and ballet until October 26. Free shuttle buses are available on performance nights from Thailand Cultural Centre MRT station. Individual shows are listed below, and the full programme is at bangkokfestivals.com.
THEATRE Taj Express blends India pop, Bollywood and 2,000 costumes in The Bollywood Musical, directed by Shruti Merchant at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) on October 11 (7.30pm) and October 12 (2.30pm). The choreographers are Shruti Merchant and Rajitdev Easwardas, music is by Salim and Sulaiman Merchant. Tickets cost B800-B3000. For more details see tajexpressthemusical.com.
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra arrives from Switzerland with Sir Roger Norrington conducting at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) on October 6. H J Lim is the pianist in performances of Mozart’s Symphony No 1, Beethoven’s Piano concerto No 2 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’. The show begins at 7.30pm. Tickets, from Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com), are B800-B3000.
Barney’s Birthday Bash! Kids will be dancing in the aisles as the US TV show Barney & Friends comes to the stage in Barney’s Birthday Bash! at Fashion Island (589/7-9 Ramintra Rd, 0 2947 5000) from October 17-19. The interactive musical will feature songs such as ‘MrKnickerbocker’, ‘Dino Dance’, and ‘Baby Bop Hop’ in matinee and evening shows at various times. Thai Ticketmajor (0 2262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com) has tickets priced B800-B2200.
Zubin Mehta Dropping in from Israel, Zubin Mehta conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the Thailand Cultural Centre (Thiem Ruammitr Rd, 0 2247 0028) on October 20. The three works on the programme are Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra in B minor, Mozart’s Symphony No 36 (‘Linz’) and Mahler’s Symphony No 5. Thai Ticketmajor (02 262 3456, thaiticketmajor.com) has tickets at B2500-B10000. The performance starts at 7.30pm.
SPORT Fight fans, and visitors who want to get a look at an important aspect of traditional Thai culture, head for a night of Muay Thai boxing. The most famous stadium in the world is Lumpinee Boxing Stadium (6 Ramintra Rd, muaythailumpinee.net), which is now in a new 5000 venue with TV screens to see the action clearly wherever you sit, plus a muay Thai training school and shops selling souvenirs and equipment. Fights nights are Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, tickets are B1000-B2000. 12 | OCTOBER 2014
Asiatopia International Performance Art Festival Asiatopia International Performance Art Festival comes back with artists from Thailand, Ukraine, Israel, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Poland at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre (939 Rama I Rd, 0 2214 6632, bacc.or.th) from October 29-November 2. As well as performances, highlights include an Artists Talk on Performing Art in Israel and Poland (Oct 29) and a Female Artists Showcase from Thailand, China and Hong Kong (Oct 30). Admission is free. The event will move to Chiang Mai from Nov 5-10. bangkok101.com
CITY PU LSE
hot plates
Maverick By Howard Richardson
T
he name Maverick and the shop front office block setting might conjure an American diner, but both are misleading. This is a more sophisticated modern European menu than you might expect, and delivered at prices that should see a queue at the door. Once through the entrance, the long room starts with booth seating opposite a chunky bar jutting from the right hand wall. Bar stools are filled with the after work crowd relaxing over cocktails like the sour and satisfying Pendennis, with Peychaud’s bitters, apricot brandy, gin and lime juice. Further in, the restaurant proper is wide enough for three banks of seating, leading at the end to an open kitchen with seats in a horseshoe where you can watch the chefs at work. The decor is pleasing, with lots of natural elements in wooden tables and ceiling, leather banquets and fabric armchairs. The walls are covered with wine racks and bookshelves and there are fabric wall panels set in relief that add texture. The soulful electro soundtrack is helped in atmosphere by varied lighting from spots and lamps that throw pools of light amid warm shadow. The beautifully presented food has cheaper meat cuts, salads and root vegetables to the fore, which keep not only the taste high but the prices low. We started on pan fried duck liver, pink radish, broccoli and pistachio (B450++), in which two pieces of rich liver were balanced by earthy radish done three ways, including an arty pink foam. Pistachio and broccoli purée and the sweet crunch of pistachios add textural variation. It’s an unusual combination of flavours that delivers very well. To drink we chose a fairly sweet A Scherer Gewurztraminer, one of 25 wines by the glass including dessert, rosés and sparklers. They too are attractively priced, from B150++ to B330++ for Sauternes Mascaron Ginestet 2000. You can get a bottles from B1150, including good representations from France, Italy and Spain, plus a rake through the New World. For mains, we had braised short ribs with parsnip, coco and chips (B850++), and 12 hour suckling lamb shoulder (B590++), served with smoked eggplant purée and a Moroccan sauce that had less definition and none of the fruit or spice you might expect. Both had very tasty meats, but hadn’t been cooked long enough, so were a tough workout for the jaws. A cracking dessert choice is chocolate soup, pine nuts, crumble, marshmallow and chantilly (B210++). The warm chocolate soup is poured tableside over a chocolate sphere, which starts to melt revealing bits of marshmallow and crumble. Small bowls of ice cream and whipped cream are served on the side. The slightly salty crumble adds contrast to the sweet ice cream and marshmallow, while the soup is bitter-sweet. It’s delicious. The main concern at Maverick seems to be a steady stream of chefs that have come and gone since its opening barely a year ago, but there’s lots of appeal here. Definitely one to watch.
MAVERICK
[MAP 3/H7]
Sukhumvit 21 Soi 3 | 0 2665 2772 | maverickbkk.com | Mon-Sat, 5pm-midnight
14 | OCTOBER 2014
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J U N E 2014 | 15
out & about
CITY PU LSE
Viva the Velo Revolution! By NAN TOCHOODEE
T
his piece could just as easily have been titled ‘Bangkok goes bonkers for bicycles’, such has been the boom in all things pertaining to cycling here in recent times. Of course, locals have always ridden bicycles in and around the capital, even though Bangkok isn’t the first place that springs to mind when you think of a cyclefriendly city. Heavy traffic and irregular road surfaces, not to mention suffocating pollution and heat, make bicycling here an activity not for the faint hearted. And yet more and more residents and visitors are choosing to explore the city by bicycle. Ironically, cycling as a leisure activity within Bangkok received a huge boost at the beginning of this year thanks to the infamous ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ demonstration, which left many of the city’s otherwise traffic-choked streets completely empty. All of a sudden families had the perfect opportunity to get out on their bikes and enjoy a spin around downtown together.
bangkok101.com
And bicycling is a great way to see Bangkok as you can venture off track to areas you wouldn’t otherwise discover; down alleyways, along paths and absorbing the atmosphere of the city. It’s an activity the powers that be have been quick to recognize. Services such as the Pun Pun bike sharing program, an initiative supported by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA), gives locals, expats and tourist the opportunity to ride in the city center. Although the service isn’t free, the rates are very reasonable and charged to a stored-value card that you purchase when you hire the bike (this also includes a fee covering accident insurance). The scheme has 50 conveniently located bike stations in the heart of Bangkok, many close to BTS and MRT stops. The registration process is very simple with only your passport or national identification card required. For a more low-key ride around the historic island of Rattanakosin, look to the Green Bangkok Bike Project,
OCTOBER 2014 | 17
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out & about
another BMA initiative. It provides all-day bicycle loan to tourists free of charge, as long as the bicycle is returned by closing time. Again, to register you need either a passport or national identification card. The BMA also provides insurance for riders when they sign up. The service is available at eight parking spots near main attractions on the island from 10am-6pm on weekdays and 10am-8pm on weekends. In terms of guided bicycle tours in and around the capital, visitors are spoilt for choice. Among the best picks of a large bunch is Co Van Kessel’s tours. Ideal for beginners, Co Van Kessel offers a perfect introduction tour to Bangkok, the “Co Classical”. The 3-hour itinerary is ideal for first time cyclists who have an afternoon to kill and want to take in the downtown attractions of old Bangkok and the Chinatown district. Add another 2 hours and you can enjoy the “Co Combo” tour, which combines the Co Classical route with a long-tail boat ride to the fringes of Bangkok, where you can discover the charm of the city’s canal side communities. Another well-established bicycle tour operator is Grasshopper Adventures. Their “Where Bangkok Began” tour offers a great chance to discover the origins of the city. The tour has a maximum capacity of 6 riders to ensure exclusive service and a private experience. Chaperoned by a knowledgeable tour guide, you get to see how the Buddhist, Chinese, Christian and Muslim communities shape modern Bangkok. The unique mid-afternoon to evening program takes you through the backstreets of Thonburi, the former capital, to the colourful Flower Market. There is something magical about pedaling through secret small alleyways and the off-the-beaten-track nature of the tour. It also give you the opportunity to interact with real locals, something few tourists actually get to do, and part of the tour 18 | OCTOBER 2014
involves sitting down to a tasty locally cooked meal with a Sino-Thai family. Other tour highlights include Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn) and Wat Pho (the Temple of the Reclining Buddha). For adventurous cyclists with time on their hands, Spiceroads Cycle Tours offer great itineraries beyond the capital. Try the “Historic Ayuddhaya”, a 1-day tour that takes you from bustling Bangkok to tranquil Ayutthaya. Around 2 hours from Bangkok by car, Ayutthaya was Thailand’s capital before Thonburi and holds rich historical and cultural value. This family friendly, easy day tour takes you through the impressive ruins of temples and royal summer palaces. You also get a taste of local riverside living along the Chaopraya River. For a few days in the wild, try the “Kanchanaburi Explorer”. It takes you on a 3-day journey through breath-taking landscapes of mountains, waterfalls and rivers. History buffs will enjoy this tour because it also takes in the bridge over the River Kwai and stretches of the infamous Death Railway. For those who want to have a quick breather away from downtown Bangkok but don’t have the time to trek too far out of the city, Bang Kra Jao is the perfect solution. Located just a short hop across the Chaopraya River, this ‘green lung’ is a lush combination of coconut, banana and mango orchards, a maze of canals, and quaint villages. It is also home to rare species of birds and lizards. Spiceroads offer a half-day tour of Bang Kra Jao that really lets you breath, but if you want to take a longer break you can stop off at Bangkok Tree House, an eco-concept hotel cum lodge right in the heart of Bang Kra Jao. You could stay overnight in one of its ‘river nests’ and visit Bang Namphueng Floating Market to round off your green experience. Of course, if you are staying in Bangkok for a while, or are resident and want to take up cycling, there’s bangkok101.com
nothing like having your own bike. It is a lifestyle choice and it speaks of personal identity. If, for example, you are a fan of vintage bicycles, you might enjoy hunting for that perfect Sherwin cruiser at Talad Rodfai Market in Srinakarin, where good condition second hand and vintage bicycles and parts can be found at reasonable prices. Or you could visit Sombat Kanamuji. Tucked away in Chula Soi 28 near the National Stadium BTS station, the old shop-house store has perhaps the largest selection of second hand vintage bicycle in the city. If you search long and hard enough you will find a gem of a bicycle at a superb price, but bear in mind that vintage and second hand bicycles may require more upkeep in the long run. If you’re looking for a brand new bicycle then head to Pro Bike shop, which is conveniently located close to bike-friendly Lumpini Park. There you’ll find high quality imported bicycles of all types, plus myriad bike accessories and safety devices. For young urbanites looking to add some personality to their cycling choices, Sealee Urban Bike Shop on Phetchaburi Road is a good choice. It offers customable services for bikes imported from Europe and Japan. It also sells lifestyle products related to cycling such as leather bags and apparel. 20 | OCTOBER 2014
Whether it’s for better health, sightseeing, greener living or simply for a sense of belonging to a community, cycling is fun! It helps us to maintain a sense of youth, which ultimately is why we keep coming back to the bicycle. And as the city becomes more bicycle-friendly with car-free days and more open spaces, the number of people turning to pedal power will only increase.
Useful Links • punpunbikeshare.com • covankessel.com • grasshopperadventures.com • spiceroads.com • followmebiketour.com • probike.co.th • facebook.com/sealeeurban • talatrotfai.com • sombatkanamuji.com • bangkoktreehouse.com
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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
22 | OCTOBER 2014
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best of bangkok
CITY PU LSE
In the Pink Fancy a night of epicurean delights and raising funds for a worthy cause in the process? Read on for details of a charitable initiative that embraces good taste and good health
W
e bring you news of a special dinner to be hosted by The Peninsula Bangkok on Monday, 27 October 2014. The “Eat - Drink - Pink” gastronomic charity event will offer culinary highlights and at the same time raise funds to help in the fight against the scourge of breast cancer. Now in its fourth consecutive year, the annual campaign is one way in which the staff, guests and patrons of Peninsula Hotels throughout Asia and North America contribute towards this noble cause. Guests at the event will be able to enjoy signature delicacies prepared by chefs from some of Bangkok’s best restaurants, pastry shops and bars. This fine fare will be served along with free-flow wine, champagne and specialty cocktails. In addition, there will be live musical performances and a host of lavish prizes to be won on the night. Over 30 of Bangkok’s top restaurants are expected to participate at the event, including Eat Me, a veteran of the Bangkok dining scene; The Oyster Bar, which is the last word in sustainable seafood and shellfish; Gaggan, where progressive Indian cuisine is served with a traditional touch; Opposite Mess Hall, which serves ordinary pleasures with uncommon care, Opus, the top-notch wine bar renowned for fine Italian comfort food; Little Beast, popular for its French-inspired New American cuisine; Sensi, where creative Mediterranean delights abound; and Ruen Urai, famous for artistically presented authentic Thai dishes. Among the guests will be some of Bangkok’s bestknown gourmands and an A-list of the capital’s most respected food critics. This evening of delectable decadence takes place at The Peninsula Bangkok from 6pm-10pm and all for a very reasonable B2000 net per person. 100% of the proceeds raised on the night will be donated to The Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer.
For more information and reservations, please e-mail diningpbk@peninsula.com or call the Peninsula Bangkok’s Food & Beverage Department at 0 2861 2888
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The Stuff of Inspiration Albert Einstein once said that “creativity is intelligence having fun”. It’s a concept we like very much at Bangkok 101, which is why we have become involved in two inaugural events taking place in the city this month, seminal gatherings that promote creative thinking and creative design.
T
he first, Creative Bangkok, is a collaboration between the Institute for Knowledge and Innovation (IKI-SEA) at Bangkok University and its Canadian strategic partner Mosaic – HEC Montreal. Hosted for the first time in Asia-Pacific, this is a world-class creative management workshop that will take place at different sites across town during 12-17 October. It presents a fantastic opportunity for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, academics, graduate students, change makers, decision makers and anyone interested in finding new ways to overcome their challenges to learn more about how to think outside the box and how to manage creativity. 24 | OCTOBER 2014
The concept is to immerse and expose participants to different aspects of creativity that benefit from the various methods and techniques that stimulate the mind and generate collective innovation opportunities. From day one and throughout the week, participants attend seminars, workshops, site visits, presentations, experimentations, team challenges and so on to explore how they are related to various forms and aspect of creativity and innovation. These techniques are backed up by the wisdom and examples of 50 international speakers from well-known creative organisations such as Disney, Cirque du Soleil, NASA, Google and Ubisoft, who will share their approaches to nurturing creativity. bangkok101.com
best of bangkok
Dr. Vincent Ribière Speaking in advance of the event, one of the organisers, Dr. Vincent Ribière of IKI-SEA, explained that, “Each day will be an opportunity to take a closer look at one of the several domains where contemporary creativity applies; creativity in services, arts and design, science and technology, heritage and tourism, media and entertainment, and the mind and social innovation. This is a wonderful opportunity for businesses to learn. All organizations expect their employees to be creative, but do they really provide the right environment, culture, processes, trainings and time to do so? The answer, unfortunately, is “rarely”. We now have access to powerful tools, technologies, and information that can be the source of extensive creativity, and yet creative outputs are very limited. Most employees are so busy and so overloaded with their daily tasks that they don’t have the freedom to stop and reflect on what they do and how they could do it differently. At a macro level, in the complex world in which we live organizations need to be able to find ways to react rapidly to market changes, to new technologies, to globalization threats, etc. Creative Bangkok provides the keys to understanding how best to react to such challenges.” The second innovative event with which Bangkok 101 is pleased to be associated is the inaugural Hospitality Objects Thailand (H.O.T) Exhibition. Taking place at BITEC this month as part of the 38th Bangkok International Gift Fair 2014 & Bangkok International Housewares Fair 2014, the H.O.T expo showcases design creativity from leading Thai brands catering to the global hospitality industry. Organised by the Design & Objects Association (D&O) with the support of the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), the aim of the initiative is to set a new design direction for Thailand by providing a venue for Thai designers and multinational businesses with an interest in the global hospitality industry to meet, view new evolutions and trends in Thai design, exchange ideas, and identifying common interests that can be pursued in the private and government sectors in Thailand and across Asia and the wider world. The H.O.T FantAsia & Futuristic Hotel Space Design exhibition zone will incorporate the Innovation Plus bangkok101.com
CITY PU LSE
H.O.T Design Café, a chic hospitality area where the work of young ASEAN designers will be on display; the I-Saarn Objects exhibit where art and craft products inspired by the culture of north-eastern Thailand, but designed with a modern twist, will be showcased; a Thai Interior Designers’ Association (TIDA) Design Showcase highlighting unique solutions by Thai designers for hotel lounge, bathroom, bar, spa and pool areas; and the Bistro Fantasia where some of Bangkok’s leading chefs will demonstrate their culinary creativity using one-ofa-kind kitchenware and specially-designed cooking utensils. This is the first occasion on which there has been a serious focus on integration between the hospitality industry and innovative Thai design, prompting ML Kathathong Thongyai, Director of the Thailand Institute of Design and Innovation Promotion (under the Ministry of Commerce’s DITP) to say, “We have such a wonderful talent pool in terms of design in Thailand and it is our mission to help international businesses understand and recognise the DNA of Thai design. We no longer imitate, we innovate! Our traditions and culture have helped to forge unique products that are distinct from their Western counterparts. We have a long way to go but events like H.O.T are definitely putting the exciting world of Thai design at centre stage. The hotel industry has massive growth potential and this event is all about the form and function of design and how innovative objects will fit into the conceptualization of the hotels of the future.” Creative Bangkok takes place at multiple sites around town from October 12-17. To find out more or to register please visit creativebangkok.org or call 08 9652 5905. The Hospitality Objects Thailand (H.O.T) Exhibition takes place at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC), from October 19-23 (Trade: October 19-21, Public: October 2223). Call 08 1813 6883 for more information.
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COLOURS, NUMBERS, PLANTS AND ANIMALS, ARE ALL USED BY THAIS TO HELP FORECAST THE FUTURE 26 | OCTOBER 2014
bangkok101.com
insight
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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 SUPERSTITION
Artwork: ‘Jub Pae Chon Ghae’ (Bringing a Goat to Head-butt a Ram) by painter Wittawat Tongkeaw, oil on canvas, 2011
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s a Sino-Thai Buddhist, I subscribe to an amalgamation of beliefs including facets of animism, Hinduism, Brahmanism, Theravada Buddhism and a touch of Mahayana Buddhism. Beyond religions, Thais in all walks of life also accept the unseen – the realm of the supernatural – whether as blind faith or with a degree of caution. The mantra here is don’t knock it if you can’t prove it. If certain beliefs have been practiced for centuries, why would one try to contradict them? There is always the nagging feeling that to do so might bring bad luck. Here it seems that one encounters superstition at every turn, from the colours that one wears on specific days of the week to the propitious hour at which one should lay a building foundation, or launch a business, or hold an engagement or wedding ceremony... I could go on. The right shade or the right minute counts. Even members of the royal family wear jewellery made from nine auspicious gemstones for good fortune. In every dwelling, be it a semi-detached home or a condominium unit, you will find a spirit house or shrine. In Chinese shop houses, a small red shrine to the land spirits is strategically placed near the hearth. Thai spirit houses are often filled with offerings and trinkets such as garlands and animal statuettes for the spirits to use. We believe that living things such as large trees are the dwelling places of deities. Some folk wrap these trees with colourful sashes. They even offer full Thai costumes to the Dtanee spirits believed to occupy banana trees. Certain plants, flowers and herbs – collectively called waan – are revered too because not only do they possess medicinal properties, they also bring good omens to the household. If you consider that we are all connected to the ecological system, then it stands to reason that we receive energy from plants and the living things around us. Thais also like collect animal horns and tusks as motifs of power, while others believe that certain animals bring good or bad luck – a barn owl, for example, is the messenger of death. Moreover we are awestruck by unexplained natural phenomena, such as a twobangkok101.com
headed snake, goat, or cat. We worship these biological abnormalities because they offer some kind of special sign that has a relevance in our daily lives. In times past animists would sacrifice animals and read predictions for the future in their entrails. Another ancient tradition had it that a still-born human foetus – Kuman Thong or a Golden Child – could become a protective spirit for someone needing an invisible guardian. Nowadays many Thais still wear a Buddhist amulet, sometimes bunches of them, for protection. In the past soldiers would sport talismanic tattoos or wear waistcoats festooned with yantras or protective signs and symbols. Anyone who has these tattoos (à la Angelina Jolie) should conduct themselves within the Five Precepts of Buddhism, otherwise their magical properties fade and they no longer protect the wearer. A phallus belonging to an animal or a human is also revered as a symbol of fertility and strength. Even today, to ward off bad spirits, a phallic amulet made from wood or stone is sometimes placed on a string and hung around a child’s waist. In the West, when one faces problems and anxiety, one goes to a psychiatrist or a therapist. However in Thailand, a psychic is deemed more helpful. Fortune telling has never gone out of fashion. From ordinary people to the mightiest of corporations, we continue to consult astrologers and clairvoyants on all sorts of things ranging from business, academic success, scheduling, hiring, travel, health, and our love lives. One can also look for answers in numerology, palmistry, tarot cards, and geomancy, even by making a wish at the shrines of Hindu deities found in the Rajaprasong area. In fact, numbers matter much in Thai culture. This goes beyond having the right digits on one’s car license plate – we even consult numerologists to ensure we have a ‘lucky’ mobile phone number. Why do people believe in all of this? Well, simply because life is mercurial and it has always been so. Success, wealth and love – all can change in a heartbeat, so where’s the harm in investing in a little superstitious insurance? If it pays off, all fine and dandy. If not, well it’s all in the mind and no harm done! OCTOBER 2014 | 27
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very thai
Palad Khik THE ETERNAL POWER OF PHALLIC CHARMS
Photo: John Goss
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he Bangkok man’s coat bulged suspiciously. Shoppers in Ngamwongwan district feared he was concealing weapons and called the police. At gunpoint, he was forced to open his coat, only to reveal thousands of penis charms. Freud would have foundered in this country, where the male member isn’t suppressed into unconscious symbolism, but sculpted as folk art, worshipped for fertility or protection, and worn as an amulet. In all but the northern region, vendors keep a phallus in their money basket, men dangle a little lingam from a belt loop, drivers rummage in their pocket for penile key fob. At the
> Very Thai
River Books by Philip Cornwel-Smith with photos by John Goss and Philip Cornwel-Smith B 995
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‘rain-seeding’ rocket festival in Isaan, revelers – men, women, children – tease each other with saucy, springloaded penis contraptions. Phallic worship occurs in many ancient cultures and Thais blend two traditions: palad khik, an animistic talisman; and lingam, the phallic form of the Hindu god Shiva. Lowland, water-borne Thai originally carved or tattooed images of male and female genitals for protection. Parents hung palad khik as an amulets around a boy’s waist, so the erect shape and exposed head would fool bad spirits that the vulnerable child was an adult.
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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THE KING OF FRUITS ..... T
he durian is known as the “King of Fruits” in Southeast Asia because of its distinctive smell, shape, size and test. Loved by many – and considered revolting by others- the fruit is often banned in hotels, hospitals and public transportation vehicles because of its extremely pungent aroma. Among the nearly 200 types of durian of durian available in Thailand, the most popular are mon thong (golden pillow), cha ni (gibbon), kan yao (long stalk), and kradum (buttons). There are also many hybrid varieties with strange manes like kob (frog) or katoey (transvestite). A raw durian can weigh up to seven pounds (3.17 kilogrammes). Because durian is full of sugar, sulphur and fat, it is considered unhealthy for people with diabetes or high blood pressure to consume the fruit. Eating too much durian has even been known to be fatal. Some people believe that durian causes people’s body temperature to rise, so it is common for people to eat mangosteens, which are said to help cool the body, along with durian.
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.
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> Thailand at Random EDM Books | editors Grissarin Chungsiriwat and Nicholas Grossman | B650
still life in moving vehicles
AND MOUSE
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hysical comedy translates well into many cultures, including in Thailand. In fact, slapstick comedy is extremely popular here, so it makes sense that Thais would appreciate the antics of the classic Warner Brothers characters, Tom and Jerry. The other day, my cabbie had a figurine with this famous cat and mouse duo on his dashboard, and the way he drove through the streets of Bangkok, I could tell he was a big fan of that cartoon. It felt like we were playing a game of cat and mouse the whole time.
bangkok101.com
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.
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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.
NOT JUST FOR NEWS
THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS CLUB OF THAILAND ACKNOWLEDGES ITS 57-YEAR HISTORY WITH A DEDICATED PHOTO WALL
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outheast Asia’s largest and oldest press club, now in its 10th location and 57th year of operation, started out as a decidedly small affair riding the aftermath of World War II. When Japanese forces were forced out of occupied Bangkok, taking Imperial Japan’s dream of a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere with them, news correspondents flooded the city as Southeast Asia became a fresh target for international trade and diplomacy. At the time the Ratanakosin (Royal) Hotel was a favourite haunt for foreign journalists, who would drink and socialise at nearby Cathay Cabaret on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. Three of the regulars – 30 | OCTOBER 2014
Bangkok Post founder Alex MacDonald, Chinese editor at the United States Information Service (and later PANA bureau chief) Alex Wu and UP bureau chief Prasong Wittaya – opened their own bar called Silver Palm, on Surawong Road, in 1953. The club soon became a popular hangout for expat reporters as well as businessmen and diplomats. After three years of un-chronicled gatherings, the Silver Palm closed. One of the regulars, Jorge Orgibet, an American who had founded the first Associated Press bureau in Bangkok in 1953, decided to establish an official Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Orgibet chose Mizu’s Kitchen, a Japanese steakhouse on nearby Patpong Road, as the original meeting place. bangkok101.com
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Orgibet and his coterie of friends and colleagues envisioned the FCCT not only as a place for news hounds to meet, but also as an organisation to promote and protect the rights of the press in Thailand and across Asia. Mizu’s Kitchen accommodated the fledgling FCCT until the 1970s, when the venerable Oriental Hotel offered one of its original wood-panelled lounges, along with a riverside garden, for the club’s use. The fall of Saigon, Phnom Penh and Vientiane to communist movements in the mid 1970s found many veteran Indochina war correspondents transferred to Bangkok to continue coverage of insurgent activity in the region. This expanded foreign media presence, coupled with the increasing use of Bangkok as an outpost for international businesses, turned the FCCT into a hotspot many expats depended upon for an exchange of news, views and gossip. After The Oriental decided to build a new 350-room River Wing on the land where the FCCT’s lounge stood, the club bounced from one locale to the next, starting with the Montien Hotel, and proceeding to the President Hotel, Oriental Plaza and finally the Dusit Thani in 1985, where it remained for nearly 12 years. One Thai staffer who started working at the FCCT in 1977, bar supervisor Roong Pukrabpeth, is still with the club 37 years later. Roong told Bangkok 101 that he has seen 11 club managers come and go during that time. Another loyal crew member, Rienchai Kansamrong, has been tending bar since 1982 As the FCCT’s public profile expanded, the calibre and prestige of its guest speakers as well as the weight of its press conferences amplified steadily. Almost every Thai prime minister since the ‘70s has delivered a public address at the FCCT early in his or her first term. Ambassadors and foreign heads of state have also made appearances, along with United Nations experts, ex-political prisoners, religious leaders, human rights activists, Nobel Prize winners, Hollywood personalities and comedians (most notably the late Robin Williams). The FCCT’s next stop was the 12th floor of the Jewellery Trade Centre on Silom Road, a location that bangkok101.com
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was not well received due to the traffic snarls common to the neighbourhood. In 1997 the club moved to its current location on the penthouse floor of Maneeya Center on Ploenchit Road. With a pedestrian bridge linking the complex with the BTS line, the Maneeya clubhouse is sure to maintain a loyal fan base for many years to come. The centrepiece of the club is a large, open rectangular bar stocked with a variety of wines, draught beer and liquor. A menu of well-prepared Thai and Western meals, appetizers and snacks is served during lunch and dinner hours. In addition to press conferences and guest speakers, the club hosts photo and art exhibits, book launches, documentary and feature films, and occasional musical performances. Every Friday evening, a live jazz ensemble performs as journos from far and wide gather for end-ofthe-week drinks and story-swapping. On occasion FCCT press conferences inadvertently turn into news events themselves, as in 2003, when a sculpted hand of Saddam Hussein, mysteriously removed from a fallen statue in Baghdad, was anonymously placed on the FCCT bar. Five days after the May 22, 2014 military coup deposed the Pheu Thai government, former PT education minister Chaturon Chaisaeng arranged a surprise press briefing at the club. During the final question-and-answer period, with dozens of international journalists recording everything on camera and video, armed Thai soldiers marched into the FCCT, arrested Chaturon and carted him away (Chaturon was released from military custody a few days later). Photos from these historic occurrences as well as more than 100 photographs of other events and FCCT speakers were recently assembled and displayed along the long wall outside the entrance to the club.
THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS’ CLUB OF THAILAND [MAP 4/H5]
Penthouse, Maneeya Center, 518/5 Ploenchit Rd | 0 2652 0580 fccthai.com
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Bizarre
Thailand
A 20-year resident of Thailand, Jim Algie has contributed to many guidebooks and is also the author of Tuttle Travel Pack Thailand. He compiled tales of the unexpected into a book called ‘Bizarre Thailand: Tales of Crime, Sex and Black Magic’. For more bytes and pixels check out jimalgie.com.
GOING APE IN SIMIAN CITY
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he macaque scampered down a power pole and scurried past a convenience store, a gold shop and a tailor, before stealing into a Chinese pharmacy. Behind the counter, the monkey snatched several bottles of medicine off the shelf and ran back outside, where it drank a bottle of codeine-laced cough syrup. Several minutes later, the monkey fell asleep on the street. A car swerved around it, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with a motorcycle, but severing the thief’s tail. In Lopburi, 160 kilometres north of Bangkok, the city’s 1,000-plus population of monkeys are both miscreants and mascots. Some locals believe the animals are godsends from Kala, a Hindu divinity who holds sway over time and death, because many of them live around the 10th century Khmer-style shrine devoted to him. But for most of the city’s residents, the monkeys are nothing more than pests and petty thieves. 32 | OCTOBER 2014
The old section of Lopburi is a breeding ground for three different species of macaques – the pigtail, the rhesus, and the crab-eating variety. They have lived in the city since Lopburi was Siam’s second capital. Some people 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. The monkeys are divided into three different factions: those who live at the Phra Prang Samyod Temple and sleep on its roof; those who roam free around the nearby Phra Karn shrine; and their arch enemies, who loiter on the streets nearby and sleep on the tops of apartments and Chinese-style shop-houses. The two groups that live around the places of worship largely subsist on handouts from visitors and have it easy. As with other primates like humans, comfort does bangkok101.com
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not necessarily breed content. On the contrary, it often inspires discord and in-fighting. The macaques living on the streets and buildings have to forage for themselves, so they tend to be the worst troublemakers. Living in unhygienic conditions, they are also prone to a great many skin diseases and even leprosy. All three factions are as territorial as LA gangs. For instance, if a member of the street gang tries to gatecrash the shrine, it is immediately chased away or attacked, and vice-versa. In attracting foreign tourists and day-tripping Thais, the animals have been a boon for Lopburi’s economy. On any given day, you can watch visitors gawping at the macaque’s high-wire antics or having their photos taken with them at the shrine. The youngest macaques are the naughtiest. Outside the Angkor-era shrine, on a morning gilded with sunlight, Anchana had four or five of them leap on her back. She grabbed a bamboo stick, coaxed them to jump on it and then started swinging them around in circles while pulling monkey faces and cackling. Sensing they had met their mischievous match, the juvenile macaques leapt from the stick and scampered back into the shrine. The monkeys don’t usually bite, but they are notorious for picking pockets and stealing sunglasses and cameras. As a tribute to the town’s mascots, and a way of fattening local coffers, the authorities prepare a huge buffet of fruit and vegetables for them in late November every year. This wacky tribute often turns into a food fight between the macaques who sometimes pelt tourists with their foodstuffs. To prevent this from happening, local authorities have started putting the fruit and veggies in blocks of ice, so that the monkeys have to lick and bangkok101.com
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scrabble their way to the goodies and visitors have some great photo ops with the shrine in the background. The world’s first Monkey Hospital, located in the city’s zoo, provides first aid and re-training for rogue primates – like the thieving junkie whose tail had to be amputated. The hospital also helps to spin some positive public relations for these victims of bad press, by proving they can be put to more positive uses like helping the blind. The latter programme, the first of its kind in the world, came about by accident. A local soldier who volunteered at the hospital noticed that when he put a rope around the waist of a three-year-old female macaque named Cindy, she liked to stand upright and lead him around. Manad Vimuktipune, the president of the local branch of the Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (WAR), saw this and thought they might be able to use monkeys as a substitute for seeing-eye dogs. Sitting behind the hospital’s front desk, in front of a black- and-gold painting showing one monkey pushing another in a wheelchair, Manad conceded that the programme was still in its infancy, but he was encouraged by an organisation in Boston called Helping Hands. Since 1979, the group has trained more than 100 capuchins (a tiny, agile monkey found in South America) and placed them in the homes of quadriplegics. The monkeys, after two years of training, could fetch food from the refrigerator, change CDs, and even comb their owner’s hair. 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. OCTOBER 2014 | 33
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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
Jin Thompson House 34 | OCTOBER 2014
Vimanmek Mansion
M.R. KUKRIT’S HOUSE [MAP 5/H8] 19 Soi Phra Pinit, Sathorn Rd | 0 2286 8185 Sat-Sun 10am-5pm, Mon-Fri by appt | 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 | 9:30am-4pm | B100 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 | 9am-4pm 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.
ERAWAN SHRINE [MAP 4/G5] Ratchadamri Rd, near Grand Hyatt Erawan BTS Chit Lom
Suan Pakkad Palace
Erawan Shrine 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 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 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.
SHRINES THE GRAND PALACE & WAT PHRA KAEW [MAP 7/D10] Na Phra Lan Rd, near Sanam Luang | Tha Chang Pier | 0 2222 0094 8:30am-4:30pm B400 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 bangkok101.com
listings
The Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew 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.org | 8am-5pm | B20 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-noon, 1pm-9pm | B100 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
Wat Ratchanatda 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 | 9am-5pm | 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-5pm 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]
Wat Arun bangkok101.com
661 Mittaphap Thai-China Rd, Charoen Krung Rd | 0 2623 1226 | 8am-5pm | B20 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.
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Madame Tussauds
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.
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 OCTOBER 2014 | 35
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The National Museum 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 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-thekids 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 | WedSun 9am-4pm | B200 | no photo 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.
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THE WAX CASTLE FESTIVAL AT SAKON NAKHON
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WAX CASTLE FESTIVAL
SAKON NAKHON O
ne of the most popular events held to mark the end of Buddhist Lent, the 63rd annual Wax Castle Festival takes place from October 3-8 in Sakon Nakhon Province. Festival highlights include traditional long-boat races staged over the 3-5 October in which as many as 100 crews, including visiting boats from neighbouring Laos, compete for the HRH Princess Sirindhorn Cup. Then on the 7th October a huge parade of wax ‘castles’ – well, anything from ornate trees to elaborate carvings of Buddhist temples and shrines fashioned from beeswax by local artists – takes place through the town centre. The procession is also a backdrop for many cultural performances highlighting the province’s rural way of life. As well as marking the end of Buddhist Lent and the rainy season, the Wax Castle Festival is used by the people from all over north-eastern Thailand to pay homage to Phra That Choeng Chum, a major sacred monument in Sakon Nakhon.
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October 1 – 9 Illuminated Boat Festival Just before sunset each evening, lines of regal candleadorned barges glide down the Mekong River in Nakhon Phanom province, spewing fireworks and eliciting gasps of admiration from onlookers as they go. An end of Buddhist Lent religious rite, the Lai Reua Fai (literally, Flowing Fire Boats) festival also features colourful street processions and cultural performances. Other attractions include a host of tasty local snacks, a Red Cross prize raffle and many other forms of local entertainment.
October 5 – 13 Surat Thani Chak Phra Festival On October 9, locals decorate their boats and trucks with flowers and Buddha images and join a parade that is marked by the playing of traditional percussion instruments. The festivities also include long-boat races on the Tapi River. The boats are manned by up to 50 oarsmen. It’s a merry scene as vocal crowds line the river’s banks to cheer on their favourites. Other highlights include cultural and musical performances every evening during the 9-day festival.
October 7 Buffalo Race Festival Traditionally thought of as slow-plodding farm animals, water buffaloes get a chance to show just how fast they can run at one of Thailand’s quirkiest festivals. Held in Chonburi province, jockeys and their water buffaloes compete in a series of sprint races over 100 meters, raising clouds of dust – or torrents of mud, depending on the weather – as the hefty animals stampede down the track at a surprisingly high speed. They are cheered on by hundreds of enthusiastic spectators. Other festival activities include oxcart parades, Thai country music and dance performances and contests for the most beautiful female buffalo and best-decorated ox-carts.
October 8 End of Buddhist Lent October 8 heralds the end of Buddhist Lent, the three-month period when the ‘rains retreat’ and monks remain in their monasteries to avoid trampling rice plants on their daily walks, a practice that dates from the Buddha’s time. Marking the end of their confinement and the rainy season, Awk phansa sees people visiting their local temple to pray and offer monks new saffron-coloured robes. This is one of a number of notable nationwide festivals – some solemn, others fun-filled – held to mark the changing of the season.
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October 8 Naga Fireballs Between 6pm and 9pm on the final night of Buddhist Lent, fireballs begin to rise from the Lao side of the Mekong River before disappearing with a ‘pop’. Legend has it that this display in Nong Khai province is caused by the naga (mythical serpents) shooting fireballs into the night sky to welcome Buddha back from heaven. More prosaically, others believe the fireballs are the result of methane gas bubbling up from the river bed – although why they only seem to appear at this time of year is anyone’s guess. The best place to observe the Naga fireball phenomenon is in the riverside village of Phon Phisai.
October 8 Rap Bua Flower Ceremony During this photogenic ceremony, which is unique to Samut Prakan province, a large statue of Buddha is placed on a boat and floated along the town’s main Khlong Samrong waterway. Locals line the banks to toss freshly cut lotus flowers (rap bua means ‘receiving lotuses’) onto the passing vessel in an act of homage. This flower shower, staged to mark the end of Buddhist Lent, is rooted in a Mon legend that tells of a revered Buddha image that was once seen floating down the river.
October 24 – November 1 Phuket Vegetarian Festival After opening with pole-raising rituals at shrines around the island, the festival hosts eye-poppingly gruesome street processions. These feature participants committing bloody acts of ritual self-mutilation such as climbing on ladders made of razor blades, piercing cheeks with steel skewers, or walking on hot coals. One highlight definitely worth partaking in is the vegetarian food sold on the fringes of the processions – look for the stalls with yellow flags and Chinese or Thai script in red.
Throughout October Kek River Rafting Festival Get your adrenalin pumping with an 8-kilometer paddle down 18 rapids on the Kek River. The trip takes around 2-3 hours (depending on water levels) and if you do decide to take on the challenge you’ll be given a thorough briefing on raft control and other safety aspects before taking to the water. Some sections of the ride are rated as tough, so provided life vests and helmets are mandatory. Pay close attention to the safety officer’s instructions and signals and enjoy the ride!
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hotel review
Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside Bangkok Situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, the Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside is something of an icon in its neighbourhood. When it was first built over 30 years ago, it was by far and away the tallest building in its locale. Today the hotel is still a magnet for visitors looking for a relaxed city stay by the river and for locals wanting to enjoy its many dining options. Easily reached by car and via a dedicated ferry service that plies the stretch of river between the hotel and Taksin bridge throughout the day, the Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside is also conveniently situated for local attractions and sightseeing. Just next door is the vibrant Asiatique shopping arcade, while the River City Shopping Complex, Yanawa Temple and Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn are a short boat ride away. The hotel is also only 40 minutes from the airport via the nearby expressway. 42 | OCTOBER 2014
Having recently undergone a non-intrusive upgrade to many of its floors – we stayed on the refurbished Executive Club Floor, a delightfully private area decorated in contemporary Thai style with its own dining, afternoon tea and cocktail facilities – the Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside provides an impressive welcome. This is provided General Manager Klaus Sennik, a veteran of Bangkok’s hospitality scene, and his accommodating staff, many of whom have been with the hotel for decades. Their professionalism and affability make for a pleasantly relaxed family atmosphere. All 525 guest rooms are equipped with the modern amenities that you’d expected at a hotel of this stature. Indeed, the comfort of the surroundings make this a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. The majority of the Grand Deluxe Rooms overlook the bangkok101.com
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pool and river. For our visit we were accommodated in a vast Plaza Suite, which has a wonderful balcony offering sweeping views up and down the river below. The suite comprises a large bedroom with king sized bed, a separate lounge with sofas and coffee table, a study area with a work desk and a kitchenette with a well-stocked mini-bar and tea and coffee making facilities – a rarity at many hotels these days. In addition to the plush rooms, this riverside icon boasts other services for both the business and leisure traveler. Complimentary WiFi is available throughout the hotel and the business center includes audio-visual equipment in function rooms designed to hold between 10-650 people. There are also computer stations and a secretarial service if needed. Spa lovers will enjoy the tranquility of the Massira Wellness and Spa center, while fitness fanatics will appreciate the state-of-the-art ‘Life Fitness’ exercise machines at the fitness centre. When you’ve worked up a sweat, you can cool off in the large outdoor pool at the heart of the hotel. One of the biggest attractions of the Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside is its variety of dining options. There are 5 restaurants and 3 bars in total. The Terrace@72 offers scrumptious local and international buffets as bangkok101.com
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well as a big choice main dishes cooked to order in an open kitchen. If you visit on a Friday night, you’ll be able to indulge in a fantastic seafood buffet. The Eurasian Grill serves up premium imported steaks and fine fish dishes, while the famous Ah Yat Abalone Forum Restaurant offers some of the best seafood to be found anywhere in the city cooked in the Hong Kong style. Those with a sweet tooth will love the range of freshly baked pastries, cakes and other goodies available at the Dessert Dream Bakery. The dining outlets at the hotel will be doing brisk business in early November, particularly on the 6th of the month. The Terrace@72 and Wave restaurant both look out onto the hotel’s wide river frontage, making the Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside a popular place at which to celebrate the Loy Krathong Festival. After a fine meal, many local families and hotel guests gather on the terrace to float their Kratongs on the river, making a beautiful spot even more magical in the process.
RAMADA PLAZA MENAM RIVERSIDE BANGKOK 2074 Charoenkrung Rd, Bangkorlaem | 0 2688 1000 ramadaplazamenamriverside.com
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Natural Selection Koh Kood is one of Thailand’s most unspoiled destinations, a paradise perfect for nature lovers looking for low-key getaways. BY TOM STURROCK
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ith the mainland already lost on the horizon, the ferry passes Koh Chang and forges further south toward Koh Kood. Even from sea, it’s clear that these shores have not been spoiled by the overdevelopment that has cluttered other islands. Here, there are no gargantuan resorts lining the beach, no package tours arriving by the busload. When it comes to island life, this may be as natural as Thailand gets. It sounds like paradise but it also takes some getting used to. Upon landing on Koh Kood, there are no airconditioned taxis to transport visitors to their hotels. Instead, disembarking passengers pile into the back of flatbed trucks. As it starts to rain, our Thai driver guns the engine – it sputters hopefully, then cuts out. There, overlooking the modest Koh Kood pier, waiting for a mobile mechanic to arrive as the rain hammers onto the tarpaulin above, it becomes abundantly clear to me: we are a long way from the likes of Koh Samui. The first inhabitants of Koh Kood were Thais and Cambodians who fled Padjantakiri in 1904 when the French arrived. Today, local economies via rubber tree and coconut plantations and a low-key fishing industry built around Ao Yai village, where the harbour shelters boats during the seasonally rough weather. The island’s interior is a network of bumpy dirt roads, fine lines weaving through the dense jungle.
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It’s at the end of one of these roads that the flatbed truck – now repaired and humming noisily – deposits us at Away Koh Kood, a resort of tidy hut-like bungalows lining a rocky beach, which fans into a creek that stretches inland, toward Klong Chao, Koh Kood’s famed waterfall. From our beach, the most direct way to the waterfall is to take a two-seater kayak with a guide and paddle upstream for 30 minutes or so past stilted shacks that may be other resorts or private homes – frankly, it’s hard to tell. My Thai guide speaks almost no English but none is necessary to see his mild amusement when, after starting out paddling like a man in a hurry, I quickly tire and, at one point, stop paddling altogether, content to let our momentum carry us on. After landing, it is a brisk march through the undergrowth along a muddy path to the waterfall. This trail could be the busiest part of the island. Depending on what time of year you visit, Koh Kood is sleepy enough that you might end your stay without seeing more than a dozen other tourists. But on the way to Klong Chao, it’s a different story. It’s worth the walk – Klong Chao is a spectacular formation, water cascading down three tiers into a natural swimming pool below. It is a scene for a million tourist selfies, capturing the unblemished natural beauty of this island.
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Another way to explore Koh Kood is by motorbike – my kayak partner again doing the honours by showing me the way. Even for those not particularly experienced riding around on two wheels, the near complete absence of traffic on Koh Kood makes it an ideal place to figure it out, like tropical island training wheels. Seeing the island from the back of a bike accentuates its rugged, untamed terrain as well as its stillness. After crisscrossing a couple of bridges spanning two sides of the creek, we venture further inland where we discover the island’s ‘shopping centre’, a smattering of open-air Thai cafes and souvenirs shops. After dark in Koh Kood, the stillness of the island deepens. Those seeking after-hours entertainment need to be quite intrepid but there’s reward if you venture out on the unlit paths. Acting on a recommendation from one of the locals, I head out to sample some Thai cuisine and have a nightcap. For those who live in cities, it is easy to forget what real pitch darkness feels like and, unless the moon’s out, that’s what descends on Koh Kood. But then, around a bend, a light appears and the path curls into a cul-de-sac alongside the Tawan Eco Bar, a ramshackle two-story hut and a beacon of light in the otherwise inky dark. There’s a long line of motorbikes out front and, sure enough, inside it is busy. Low tables full of Thai food are surrounded by diners on cushions, while another group spills out onto the balcony. As the friendly, barefoot staff clear plates, a live band strikes up a tune on the makeshift stage. Just as the moon slips through the cloud cover, throwing a pale light on the ocean below, the strains of Bob Marley ring out across this pocket of the island. It’s easy to believe that, apart from this little bubble of activity, Koh Kood is entirely deserted. So sure, Koh Samui’s fun but this place is one of a kind. 46 | OCTOBER 2014
WHERE TO STAY Away Koh Kood Perhaps the island’s best-known accommodation, occupying a thin strip of land that overlooks the beach. If you’re in Koh Kood during rainy season, you’ll be afforded a front row seat to the wild storms and rough seas. The accommodation is a series of raised bungalows – compact but comfortable. There’s also a delightful on-site restaurant that does some lip-smacking Thai food and a very generous seafood platter. It is a perfect location for your low-key island getaway and the friendly staff are ready to help set you up with daytime activities. 43/8 Moo 2, Baan Klong Chao, Koh Kood | 08 7136 4036 awayresorts.com Peter Pan & Captain Hook Resort Even more low-key but still completely charming, Peter Pan is sandwiched between the sea and the creek that leads to the Klong Chao waterfall. On this sandy peninsula you’ll find a variety of accommodation, all build using a selection of natural materials. Go for one of the poolside villas if you want to stay in style. 29 Moo 3, Klong Yai Kee, Koh Kood | 0 2966 1800 captainhookresort.com Koh Kood Neverland Beach Resort Offering panoramic views of the sun rising over the water, this is an inviting spot to lounge in a hammock and knock back a few cocktails. Neverland also has its own pier, setting you up perfectly for a kayak trip upstream. Ao Jark, Koh Kood | 0 3952 3430 | neverlandresort.com
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PORT OF
RECALL
The old French quarter of Haiphong is a little-known gem embellishing North Vietnam’s biggest port city. KEITH MUNDY takes a laid-back tour on a cyclo rickshaw.
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onical straw hat pushed back, a man peers skyward. But he’s not scanning for bombers, he’s looking at a roof restoration in progress on an old French villa. Haiphong only seems to have figured in the global consciousness as the target of devastating Vietnam War – American War to the Vietnamese – bombing raids by brutish B-52s of the US Air Force. But you’d never know about all that, visiting this thriving port city today and touring its old French quarter. At the heart of northern Vietnam’s biggest port, the bougainvillea still clings to elegant villas washed in pastel shades with louvred shutters covering the windows, and large ceiling fans turning lazily inside. The calm streets are shaded with the delicate beauty of flame trees, and are virtually devoid of cars. Haiphong may have two million inhabitants and be Vietnam’s third largest city, but in its centre it retains the languor and much of the look of French colonial Tonkin. Also surviving are some hardy cyclo men, who will pedal you round in their rickety mobile armchairs.
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Lying back at ease, a gentle breeze caressing your face and wafting through your hair, scarlet petals falling on your clothes, you are in the perfect position to observe the architectural and botanical legacy of the “City of Flame Flowers”, a little known treasure amongst Vietnam’s tourist attractions. Many visitors come to Haiphong, but few stop to look at it. They go straight to the ferry docks and take a hydrofoil or a slowboat out over the sea to Cat Ba Island, the largest isle amongst the thousands that dot Ha Long Bay, Vietnam’s top tourist destination. Meanwhile, Haiphong bustles in obscurity, its monstrous sprawl of industrial districts providing most of the employment in what is Vietnam’s premier manufacturing city. There the populace labours at making a gamut of goods that include fish sauce, beer, cigarettes, textiles, paper, plastic pipes, cement, steel, pharmaceuticals and electric fans, with shipbuilding beside the river. But that humdrum – perhaps harsh – reality is hard to believe when you’re in the old French quarter.
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In the 1880s, after wresting control of Vietnam from the Nguyen dynasty, the French established their chief commercial port and naval base in Indochina at Haiphong and made the city of Hanoi, just 102 kilometres inland, the capital of their Indochinese empire. The French were building on an ancient legacy of waterborne trading at this point in the Red River Delta, where northern Vietnam’s biggest river empties into the Gulf of Tonkin, an inlet of the South China Sea. Here they built docks, wharves, shipyards, customs houses, godowns, administrative buildings, clocktowers and municipal halls. The governor had a palace and the lesser beings of the colonial administration their villas. In addition to working and residential premises, leisure hours were well catered for: hotels, cabarets, brasseries and cafes sprang up, and even a modest opera house. By 1919, a touring American missionary called the Reverend James Walsh could report in his Observations in the Orient on “a neat, prosperous French city with wide streets, attractive public buildings, comfortable-looking houses, well-equipped hotels, a large theatre, and about every conceivable convenience for its French residents, of whom in normal times there are 5000.” The French were there, in the main, to manage the exports to France of the results of their imperial exploitation: coal, rubber, rice, textiles and minerals, for the most part. Colonial Haiphong was the beautiful bloom upon the tree of rough trade. A whole tropical version of France arose, so much more suited to the steamy climate and sensual atmosphere than what the British or Dutch built in the Far East, such that today Haiphong’s French quarter looks totally right – not a freak of Western interference but absolutely comme il faut. 50 | OCTOBER 2014
This is not just a trick of nature, or the astuteness of French design, but most of all an aura bestowed by the Vietnamese people. Despite the bitterness of their colonial experience, they have embraced French Indochinese architecture as their own. This is seen above all in the capital city, Hanoi.
HAIPHONG MAY HAVE TWO MILLION INHABITANTS AND BE VIETNAM’S THIRD LARGEST CITY, BUT IN ITS CENTRE IT RETAINS THE LANGUOR AND MUCH OF THE LOOK OF FRENCH COLONIAL TONKIN. There the renovation and reuse of the French architecture in the governmental and diplomatic district has reached impressive levels of loving attention – a vast pattern of tree-lined avenues full of beautifully renovated, yellow ochre-washed villas with emerald green shutters. In Haiphong, it’s more a case of affectionate upkeep – due to lack of money rather than lack of concern – with some startling exceptions. On Hoang Dieu Street, an avenue that makes a dividing line between the old French residential and commercial district and the administrative and port district beside the Cam River, things begin to spruce up considerably. bangkok101.com
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The renovated three-storey mansion occupied by Vietcombank exudes the expensive sheen of prestige conservation, the Art Nouveau ironwork fan projecting over the front door recalling many a posh Parisian address. Presiding over the meeting point of five roads, the Municipal People’s Committee occupies the former palace of the French governor, standing in immaculate splendour within an ornamental garden. This area is replete with renovated structures washed in that warm yellow ochre characteristic of the French period and beautifully counterpointed by the lush greenery of flame trees and palm trees. Only one building projects a brash modern mood. Sacré bleu, the Post Office has been neonised! Three storeys high with a clocktower on top, its bold frontage signs are doubled up in neon writing. On Dien Bien Phu Street, the main commercial avenue, matters are mixed, as Vietnam strikes out with its own brand of consumerism, but many a monument remains. Voila! The Hotel du Commerce is in fine fettle. A flamboyant neo-Romanesque structure that was once the centre of French social life, the hotel has been dazzlingly resurrected as Khach San Thuong Mai, which means exactly the same thing. Further along, the grand old law courts, a neoclassical 1919-built edifice, has become a museum of city history – Haiphong Museum – the exterior bathed in salmon pink, with tall palms alongside, and, bizarrely, a Mig-17 jet fighter in the yard. On the southern edge of this square kilometre district where the French once held sway, facing the central park, stands the neoclassical opera house, previously the focus of French cultural life.
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Now a big avuncular picture of Ho Chi Minh dominates its gleaming four-columned façade and it functions as Haiphong’s municipal theatre. All this laid-back charm and confident re-invention, however, belies some pretty heavy times not so long ago, as Vietnam tried to rid itself of imperialist control and intervention. In the mid-20th century, Haiphong was well and truly battered three times, firstly with a fierce naval bombardment by the French in 1946, then by heavy American aerial bombing in 1967 and 1972. The harbour was also mined by the Americans in 1972, because this is where most of North Vietnam’s weaponry came into the beleaguered country on Soviet ships. In the peace and progress of 21st century Haiphong, these events seem like a bad dream rather than real history. It’s not just the lack of physical evidence that makes it that way but the friendliness of people to foreigners, the spirit of “let’s get on with our lives and look to the future”. If determined nostalgists want to stroll their streets, to trundle their avenues, admiring the legacy of the imperial past, that’s fine – it’s all good for business and Haiphong people are pleased that foreigners are interested in their city, which for most Vietnamese is just a grim industrial centre. One last word for the nostalgic explorer. For those who prefer four wheels and luxury leather padding to the threewheeler with its weathered leatherette, your concierge can arrange a tour in a classic 1940s Citroen Traction Avant limousine with white-gloved chauffeur at the wheel. Comme çi or comme ça, whichever way you discover it, old Haiphong is worth the ride.
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A NATURAL STATE OF BEING The second annual “Nature & Society” exhibition hosted by Sofitel So Bangkok is currently taking place and runs until the end of October. The popular multi-disciplinary fashion and art exhibition features artistic design work by noted Thai designers whose expertise and styles are encapsulated in four fashion brands – Saprang by Supot Suwannasing, Sarran by Sarran Youkongdee, Tawn C. by Tawn Chatchavalvong and Kamuilim Fine Art & Décor by Preecha Lim. The exhibition is open to the public until 31 October 2014, from 8am to 9pm throughout the hotel and a specially curated ‘art tour’ and corresponding booklet provides visitors and hotel guests with information on the various art installations; Kamuilim Fine Art & Décor will be displayed on the 7th floor, and Sarran, Tawn. C and Saprang at the Park Lobby (9th floor).
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FRENCH RESONANCE
TOOT YUNG ART YUNG [MAP 3/U9] 2/6 Soi 2, Soi 63 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2714 3766 | Tue-Sun 11am8pm | tootyunggallery.com | BTS Ekamai
October 4 – November 4 “French Resonance” is a showcase of oil paintings, sketches and watercolors produced in France, during the summer 2014 by Chiang Mai based painter Pakitsilp Varamissara. Mostly landscapes, a tribute to modern French artists admired by Varamissara, these recent works were made in the footsteps of Cezanne, Van Gogh, Bonnard just to name a few of the legendary artists who painted the warmth and beauty of the South of France.
TO THE LAND OF HAPPINESS
ARDEL GALLERY OF MODERN ART 99/45 Belle Ville, Boromrachonanee Rd | 0 2422 2092 | Tue-Sat 10.30am-7pm, Sun 10.30am-5.30pm | ardelgallery.com
October 7 – November 9 Sculptor Manop Suwanpinta has been steadily molding his three-dimensional oeuvre for the past two decades. A dedicated artisan, he divides his creativity between commissioned, commemorative statues for local dignitaries, and personal art that highlights the egotism and avariciousness apparent in us all. His latest exhibition of impressive sculptural installation is a direct continuation of his foreboding Buddhist associated themes to humanity’s demise.
FADING DREAMS – DISINTEGRATING REALITIES
THAVIBU GALLERY [MAP 5/D5] F4, Jewelry Trade Center, Suite 433, 919/1 Silom Rd | 0 2266 5454 | Mon-Sat 11am-7pm | thavibu.com l BTS Surasak
Until October 18 Thavibu Gallery is pleased to present the art exhibition Fading Dreams – Disintegrating Realities with new oil and mixed media paintings by the Vietnamese artist Ha Manh Thang. Built on his previous series, the artist continues to be inspired by themes of memories, history, and cultural heritage, from ancient towers at Angkor Wat and sporadic village communal houses in Vietnam’s rural north, to old costumes used by emperors and royal families during Vietnam’s Le and Trinh dynasties in the 17th century.
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exhibitions
A RT & C U LT U R E
SCULPERE
CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY 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
October 22 – December 4 Bangkok-based Japanese artist Soichiro Shimizu is making his mark on the local scene this year having participated in the recent duo exhibition Developing the B at Brownstone Studios, and the still running group show Threshold at Bridge. Exploring notions of time and existence in relation to humanity and nature, this solo display features more large-scale multi-layered abstract paintings, alongside the artist’s first experimentation with sculpture.
FAULT LINES
H PROJECT SPACE [MAP 5/G6] 201 Sathorn Soi 12 | 08 5021 5508 | Daily (except Tue) 10am – 6pm | hgallerybkk.com
Until October 26 An installation by Noraset Vaisayakul, Fault Lines continues to explore the artist’s interest in human behavior, perception and control. Employing video, interactivity and deceptively painted surfaces, Fault Lines functions as a laboratory to test the limits of visitors’ capacity to determine a relationship to the space and claim a definitive understanding. Fault Lines includes iconography related to the human body and metaphors of aberration and anomaly.
FOREST-TREAD-BREATH
DOB HUALAMPHONG GALLERY [MAP 5/F1] 2F DOB Building, 318 Rama IV Rd | 08 5482 3566 | Tue-Sun 10am-7pm | ardelgallery.com | MRT Hualamphong
Until November 2 “Forest - Tread - Breath” art exhibition presents meticulous woodblock under the concept of the great and powerful nature as the origin of life. The wooden plate is craved in the shapes of nature, trees, vines and grasses to represent the nature and Buddhist philosophy on constant changes.
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exhibitions
Illusions and Meditations Award-winning Thai artist, Wittawat Tongkeaw, who is currently pursuing a doctorate at Silpakorn University, built his early reputation on works featuring poignant land, sea, and skyscapes. But, he says, paintings of natural scenery caught in time and space are now behind him and he has moved on to the solemnity and symbolism of still life. In his latest series, titled Mythical Reality, he has matured with greater focus on the meanings and gravitas of each work. Still possessing incredible photorealism skills, he now questions surface beauty to get at the depth of human thoughts and beliefs, as he explains to TOM VITAYAKUL 58 | OCTOBER 2014
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exhibitions
What is the concept behind this new series of paintings? My creative concept for this series centres on what we perceive as truth. It is a philosophical question based on how we search for understanding in our surroundings. We constantly seek answers from observation. We consider the world around us through many methods – hence I look for meaning in my paintings. Social contexts have becomes more and more complicated through time and so getting at the truth of something is not as easy as it used to be. Understanding or interpreting something becomes a matter of the individual’s frame of mind, experience and perspective, which is why the truth can be transformable and misconstrued. So how do you yourself see ‘the truth’? I have found that there are many myths circling in our society, created through the relationships between the individual’s beliefs and prejudices. These illusory entities support, encourage, and push us to certain behaviours and actions that we conduct both conscientiously and unconscientiously. These myths build up, attach themselves and take control of our minds, becoming beliefs. So trends have taken form in our ego and cover “the truth” in our minds. How then do these paintings instruct the viewer? I use my paintings to narrate and question the many myths and illusions that increasingly populate discourses in our society. These deceptions have been transformed into action. Take religious beliefs as an example; these are interpreted by each person based on their values and principles, but they are also repeated to the point where they become “core beliefs” in social discourse, never to be questioned. But one should be able to question the differences between form and content; between superficiality and core values; between true faith and superstition. The lines between these things have become blurred by post-modern ideas. However, the concept of individuality has become clearer and taken strong root. bangkok101.com
A RT & C U LT U R E
What are the meanings of the key paintings? In “Mythology (Surface No. 2),” the painting shows seamless combinations of fruits and vegetables. I ask what the truth is. Can you believe what appears in front of your eyes? Is it just an image or is it a myth that we have given meanings to according to our individual perspective? With “The Monument of Crisis,” I try to show that we are slaves to knowledge. Knowledge brings on reasoning but this reasoning is perverted by a modern society that hangs on to preconceived, ;unshakable; truths. However, knowledge also comes with power in itself. It is ready to establish itself as the only truth. “Mythology of Truth,” displays Rodin’s the Thinker among other statues. I try to pose the question that if all knowledge conforms to predisposed rules, should we then believe in it or not? In “Mythology or Narrative,” I want to expose the dangers that religions have engendered – that core values get blurred by superficiality. Do the social myths surrounding religion lead people toward enlightenment or toward darkness? Truth, mythology, discourse, contentment, blind faith, knowledge and ignorance surround us and are deeply rooted within us, so that it has become difficult to distinguish between them. “Social 0°C,” peels an onion without losing its layers. It shows an onion frozen in ice and it allowed me to play with light and shades. I think that it is difficult to peel an onion to its core without shedding some tears. This is comparable to having doubts about something. The deeper one digs, the more dangerous our doubts become.
MYTHICAL REALITY FROM NOVEMBER 15 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
ISSAYA SIAMESE CLUB COOKBOOK CHEF IAN KITTICHAI | B1500 Master the basics of Thai cuisine while learning 81 recipes straight from the kitchens of Issaya Siamese Club, the flagship restaurant of internationally renowned Thai Chef Ian Kittichai. All of the techniques and ingredients included in these signature Issaya recipes are authentic, representing centuries of Thai food culture. Background information on the history of Thai cooking, along with the story of how Chef Kittichai established Issaya Siamese Club in a historic residence in Bangkok, is also included. The recipes cover the length and breadth of the Issaya repertoire, from dipping sauces and curry pastes to spicy salads, main dishes and Thai sweets. Tips on set-up and preparation unique to Thai cuisine are addressed as well.
TEACHER’S DIARY Nithiwat Tharathorn | 2014 It’s 2012 and Song (Sukrit Wisetkaew) has just been given a 1-year teaching contract at a tiny rural school situated on a houseboat moored by the banks of a quiet lake. Six hours away from ‘civilization’, with no access to the Internet or mobile phone networks, he looks set for a dull 12 months. But then he finds a diary belonging to his predecessor, Ann (Chermarn Boonyasak), and becomes fascinated by her dedication to her pupils and her personal outpourings on life. Returning to the school a year later, Ann sees the notes that Song has added to the diary (he having moved on already) – and in her turn reads his innermost feelings about his life at the school. Smitten, she realizes she is falling for someone she has never even met before. Will the pair ever find a way to connect in person? Find out by purchasing the newly released DVD of Teachers Diary, available at all major stores.
Phra NOPPADOL MahathatWEERAKITTI Chedi Phakdi Prakat, PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN
art & culture
photofeature
Lone Temple Pilot
Monumental Thailand From Above
Wat Phra Sri Sanphet, AYUTTHAYA
M
ention drones to someone and the chances are good that remotely operated, sometimes lethal, military aircraft will first come to mind. But the use of these innovative model flying machines for benign purposes has soared in recent years as prices and sizes have decreased. Capable of carrying small video and still photo cameras, these days drones – also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs – have become a valuable photographic tool in many industries, particularly in the fields of news gathering and the coverage of sport and leisure activities. One person embracing this pioneering technology in Thailand to capture unique bird’seye views of the country’s historic monuments, temples and tourist attractions is former BBC film editor Richard Barrow. When he first arrived in the Kingdom 20 years ago, Barrow taught at a private Thai school heading its computer department. Today he spends most of his time as a travel blogger and photographer promoting Thailand as a tourist destination and says drone technology has lent a new dimension to his work. “For some years now I have wanted to buy an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in order to take pictures from high up, but until recently the
machinery has been expensive and difficult to maintain. However, the new generation of quadcopters is more affordable and easier to use and since I started posting my drone pictures on social media and on my dedicated website, Thailand From Above, it has opened up a whole new area of interest. Learning the basics of flying a drone – I use a DJI Phantom 2 Vision quadcopter – doesn’t take long, but becoming adept at taking good aerial images with it is an on-going process. Unlike conventional photography on terra firma, there are a number of extra things to think about, not least wind speeds, altitude, battery power, the range of the drone, and landing it safely.” Get it right and the results can be spectacular, as this series of Barrow’s aerial images featuring some of Thailand’s most beautiful temple sites and epic Buddhist statuary shows.
---------------------------------------------------------You can see more of Richard Barrow’s photography at thailandfromabove.com
Standing Buddha at Khao Takiab Beach, HUA HIN
Dragon Descendants Museum, SUPHANBURI
Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple, CHIANG RAI
Phra Samut Chedi, SAMUT PRAKAN
Statue of Luang Pu Thuat, HUA HIN
Wat Ban Rai, NAKHON RATCHASIMA
Queen Suriyothai Monument, AYUTTHAYA
Wat Chaiwatthanaram, AYUTTHAYA
Wat Phai Rong Wua, SUPHANBURI
HOKKAIDO SCALLOP ON TRUFFLE SAND AT SENSI, P80 70 | OCTOBER 2014
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AROY AMONG THE STARS
The Sukhothai Hotel welcomes Chef Jean Sulpice, owner of the loftiest Michelin starred restaurant in Europe – his eponymously named 2 star outlet is located at an altitude of 2300 meters at Val Thorens in the French Alps. Chef Jean, who specializes in Savoyard cuisine, will be working his magic at La Scala from October 7-11. His set lunch and dinners on October 7-8 are already sold out but bookings can still be made for October 9-11. Prices per head vary for both lunch and dinner depending on selection of food only or food paired with wine. Call 0 2344 8888 for more information.
COUNTRY CUISINE
Ruen Urai at Rose Hotel off Surawongse Road has introduced seven new menu offerings inspired by beautiful rural Thailand. Described as “Rustic Explorations”, they feature an array of herbs and spices including turmeric, galangal, wild ginger, green peppercorns, kaffir lime leaves, and tree basil leaves. These are used in a variety of combinations to flavour delicious grilled chicken fillets marinated in turmeric; grilled river prawns in spicy galangal dressing; sea bass stir-fried with dried curry paste; wild boar sautéed in spicy curry sauce; beef striploin stir-fried with tree basil leaves; a curry of roasted pork spare ribs in the Southern Thai style; and Thai tea-flavoured panna cotta.
CENTARA GRAND AT CENTRALWORLD
Authentic tastes of France are on the new menu at Fifty Five restaurant at Centara Grand at CentralWorld. Chef de Cuisine Hugo Coudurier presents fresh offerings including a hearty Salade Lyonnaise with poached egg, smoked bacon and warm Dijon mustard vinaigrette; a dish of warm asparagus with Scottish smoked salmon and crème fraiche vinaigrette; Cuisses de grenouilles à la Provençale, or butterroasted French frog legs with garlic and tomato; and Dorade en croûte de sel, or salt-crusted Mediterranean sea bream with garlic and thyme roasted vegetables. A selection of French-style cuts of beef steak cooked on a wood-fired grill to retain their distinctive and natural flavours are also available.
LET’S DO LUNCH
Working hard? Then you deserve to treat yourself to the Novotel Ploenchit’s great value international lunch buffet. Available at the hotel’s The Square restaurant for just 599 Baht net per person, it includes a DIY salad bar plus a selection of soups, Western and Asian hot dishes, delicious hand-rolled pizza, authentic Indian curries and Maki rolls. In addition, there’s a selection of mouth-watering desserts and ice cream to round out the perfect lunch break. Better yet, take advantage of the current “come-3pay-2” promotion! bangkok101.com
OCTOBER 2014 | 7 1
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meal deals NEVER ENDING PASTA PROMOTION AT RIVER BARGE RESTAURANT CHATRIUM HOTEL RIVERSIDE BANGKOK 28 Charoen Krung Rd | 0 2307 8888 | chatrium.com The latest tempting pasta promotion from River Barge Restaurant at the lobby level is available throughout the month of October. Try a delicious range of pasta dishes from both the buffet and a la carte menu. Highlights include rich beef lasagna, gorgonzola filled gnocchi, and artichoke and ricotta ravioli. Before you leave, drop in at Treats Gourmet to sample a selection of tea and coffee inspired desserts prepared using the finest coffee and a selection of teas from around the world.
OYSTER SEASON AT XIN TIAN DI CROWNE PLAZA BANGKOK 952 Rama IV Rd | 0 2632 9000 | crowneplaza.com In addition to fresh local oysters, Chef Lam Kok Weng has imported delicious Saddle Rock oysters from the USA. He use various cooking styles to create superb dishes that make the most of each variety’s special characteristics. Highlights include two versions of steamed Saddle Rock oysters, one with black bean sauce, the other with a spicy chili and lemon dressing. Thai oyster dishes include portions with spiced salt and spring onion and garlic sauce. Menu items start at B200.
HOKKAIDO SEAFOOD SENSATION AT YAMAZATO THE OKURA PRESTIGUE BANGKOK Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Rd | 0 2687 9000 | okurabangkok.com Yamazato Master Chef Shigeru Hagiwara has created new lunch and dinner à la carte menus that embrace the very best catches from Hokkaido. The dishes include seasonal favourites such as kani suki (crab hotpot) and kaki dotenabe (oyster miso hotpot), demi-glace gratin (oyster, scallop, crab) and kaki zosui (oyster and rice porridge with pickles). All items are available for lunch and dinner from B350.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY MENU AT BLUE ELEPHANT BLUE ELEPHANT BANGKOK Blue Elephant Building 233 South Sathorn Rd | 0 2673 9353 | blueelephant.com/bangkok Chef Nooror Somany Steppe uses fresh and organic ingredients to conjure up a delicious series of innovative dishes including Southern sea bass salad, egg custard with salmon, grilled wagyu beef with long-bean salad, and spicy prawns topped with almonds and homemade chili paste. The menu is available at B1980++ throughout October. Part of the proceeds will be donated to the Queen Sirikit Center for Breast Cancer.
CELEBRATE FRENCH WINES WITH SOFITEL BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT SOFITEL BANGKOK SUKHUMVIT 189 Sukhumvit Road Soi 13-15 | 0 2126 9999 | sofitel-bangkok-sukhumvit.com Enjoy the unique culture and winemaking heritage of France with vintages by great producers such as Pascal Jaboulet, Dourthe, Bouchard Père & Fils, Perrin, Miraval, Gerard Bertrand and William Fevre. At Voila every Wednesday from 7pm-9.30pm enjoy ‘Voyage du Vin’, an evening of entertainment and networking at only B800++ per person. In addition, the chef at L’Appart pairs his weekly dinner menu with quality French wines for a true gastronomic experience.
ALL YOU CAN EAT AT NO.88 THONGLOR MOULIN 88 Thonglor 5 | 0 2712 9348 | facebook.com/moulinsquare New York fashion designer and owner of Moulin, Chompol Serimont, invites you to enjoy a scrumptious all you can eat promotion at his boutique dining room. At just B488 the promotion includes soups, salads, appetizers and pasta dishes of your choice. Add B100 to enjoy a burger and main course with your dinner (limited to 1 burger and 1 main course per person). A happy hour with free flow wine runs from 6pm to 8.30pm, priced at B499. 72 | OCTOBER 2014
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preview review
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AMAZING CHEFS COME TO TOWN - Epicurean delights from the masters The hotly-anticipated third edition of Sofitel So Bangkok’s annual ‘So Amazing Chefs’ event takes place from October 16-19. It brings together nine top chefs from around the world for four days of culinary exchange and gastronomic showcases. This year the participating chefs are Alain Caron, famed for his role as one of the Master Chef judges in the Netherlands. The Paris-born, Amsterdam-based chef has worked for various three-Michelin-starred restaurants; Christophe Paucod, who pays tribute to his hometown as chef-owner of a Michelin-starred traditional bouchon offering authentic Lyonnais style cuisine in the heart of Tokyo; Chef Daniel Hebet, a specialist in truffles and chef-owner of Le Jardin du Quai, a one Michelin-starred restaurant in Provence; Frenchman Didier Corlou, who has cooked for presidents in Africa, showbiz stars in Bora Bora and royalty in Malaysia. He is chef-owner of La Verticale and Madame Hien in Hanoi; Laurent Peugeot, a chef-restaurateur who boasts no less than five culinary establishments that carry his name, including Le Charlemagne, a one Michelin-starred restaurant in his native France; Chef Patrick Jeffroy, who creates gourmet Breton cuisine that is simple and natural. His culinary flair has seen him maintain two Michelin stars at his namesake restaurant since 2002; Sofitel So Bangkok executive chef Paul Smart, who in his illustrious career has cooked for Her bangkok101.com
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Australian native was also the Winning Challenger Chef in the Iron Chef Thailand™ TV programme in both 2012 and 2013; Stephane Bonnat, hailed by critics as an ‘encyclopedia of chocolate’. He is the maitre-chocolatier of Bonnat, the longest established chocolaterie in the world; and finally Chef Stephane Vieux, who has been studying pastry and cuisine since the age of 15. Having worked at several Michelin-starred restaurants in his native France, he now runs pastry consultancy Sweets Secrets from his base in Japan. Aspiring chefs can learn directly from these gourmet virtuosos through culinary and pastry cooking classes, while foodies can indulge in the series of chefs’ dinners, where for three nights, these renowned artists will be preparing their signature dishes in 4-, 5-, or 8-course culinary journeys complemented by exquisite wine pairing options. The event includes the So Amazing Chefs Culinary Showdown, which takes place on the evening of October 17 and gives guests the opportunity to watch all nine chefs in action at individual cooking stations as they go head-to-head in a friendly cook-off with Thai celebrity guest judges on hand to rate their
SOFITEL SO BANGKOK 2 North Sathorn Rd | 0 2624 0000 | sofitel.com
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preview
ENOTECA - A flagship for authentic Italian cuisine Runner-up in the Asia & Australasia category at the 2011 Birra Moretti Best Authentic Italian Restaurant awards and one of the top restaurants in Bangkok period, Enoteca on Sukhumvit Soi 27 is a great favourite among Italian ex-pats and discerning local foodies of all stripes. These gourmands will be beating a path to the restaurant’s door this month because Enoteca has pulled off something of a ‘culinary coup’ by attracting, albeit briefly, the services of Matteo Metullio, the internationally renowned chef from the Michelin-star La Siriola Restaurant at San Cassiano, Bolzano, Italy. Over four nights running from 8-11 October, Chef Matteo will be putting together a 6-course degustation menu specially paired with S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna mineral waters and a brilliant selection of highly rated wines from Cantina Terlano. The young native of Trieste – he is still only in his mid-twenties and the youngest Michelin-starred chef in Italy – began his career in the kitchen at St. Hubertus Restaurant at the tender age of 19 as part of the team working for world famous chef Norbert Niederkofler. Matteo moved to La Siriola Restaurant as sous chef under Fabio Cucchelli. In 2013, after the departure of Fabio, Matteo ‘graduated’ to the prestigious position of Executive Chef at the restaurant. 74 | O C T O B E R 2 0 1 4
Under his leadership La Siriola has maintained its star rating and his reputation has gone from strength to strength, which is why it is so encouraging that he has chosen to demonstrate his skills at a stand-alone restaurant here, rather than at a 5-star hotel. The young chef took time to talk to Bangkok 101 before his visit to Thailand, saying, “This is my first visit to Asia and I’m excited! Italian cuisine has developed massively in the past decade in Thailand, and also in the rest of Asia, because the Far East is emerging as a business centre of the world. For this reason the number of luxury hotels and restaurants has increased, requiring many Italian chefs. I met Nicola, the owner of Enoteca, via the internet and we immediately started talking about a collaboration between his restaurant and my cuisine. But I’m not going to tell you what I will be cooking in Bangkok – I don’t want to spoil the surprise – although I hope visitors to Enoteca will enjoy my creations.” Seats for Chef Matteo’s dinners on October 8-11 are priced at B3500++ per head (wine paring B1700++).
ENOTECA
[MAP 3/K8]
Soi Sukhumvit 27 | 0 2258 4386 | enotecabangkok.com 6pm-midnight
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scalini presents the totowine paieringsla pasta chef egidio latorraca by roberto visaggio in 1920’s italian-american style all you can eat fresh homemade pasta price thb 499++ performing every wednesday information created by
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
THB 450++
TUESDAY BOTTOMLESS BEER & BBQ NIGHT Treat yourself every Tuesday with unlimited selected draught beer and an array of BBQ favorites at MoMo CafĂŠ Terrace from 6:00 pm. Snack on with mini burgers and hotdogs while absorbing the rhythm of Ratchaprasong. Courtyard by Marriott Bangkok 155/1 Soi Mahadlekluang 1, Rajdamri Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand t. +66 2690 1888 f. +66 2690 1899 courtyardbangkok.com facebook.com/courtyardmarriottbkk
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review
661 SILOM - A steakhouse that is a cut above 661 Silom has introduced a bold new concept to the palate of Bangkok’s wine-and-dine offerings. What this fashionable new establishment has mastered, is the infusion of character, comfort and class to serve up a unique two-level experience with relaxed ambiance and plenty of exceptional options for a discerning crowd. The outlet marries two unique concepts; B.A.R, a first-level Dom Pérignon Champagne branded gastro lounge where patrons can enjoy signature cocktails and a selection of delicious 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. What results is “a true democratization of fine dining; a tearing apart of the myth that fine dining is sterile, impersonal, and overly expensive”, to quote from 661 Silom’s press collaterals. Our process of democratization got underway with a couple of selections from the bites menu. Tomato, Mozzarella and Thai Basil on open faced ciabatta (B220) is exquisite, a fresh taste of the Mediterranean, while the unique Truffle Oil and Parmesan Fries is so moreish the dish vanishes in mere seconds (B190). We also sample a superb Burrata (B620) made with heirloom tomatoes, panzanella and jamon iberico and a starter of Smoked 76 | OCTOBER 2014
Salmon (B320), which is smoked in-house and served with seaweed, chili and lemon. For our main course we pick Porchetta (B850), Spanish suckling pig belly and tenderloin, seasoned with sage and garlic and served with glazed shallots and braised red cabbage. It is hearty and full of flavour. But the steak is what we really came for and at 661 Silom beef is aged on the bone in a dedicated age-drying room, which maintains the moisture and flavour of the meat. It attests to the restaurant’s commitment to serving up a great dining experience, as does the information detailing origin, breed and cuts highlighted on the menu. Head Chef Chatin Dienel says his goal is to introduce a variety of quality beef, beyond the usual Australian and American cuts, and this is evident in the prime KU striploin (B740). It 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 Kasetsart University at its out-of-town Kamphaeng Sean campus. Chef Chatin says he can’t keep up with demand for this locally grown wonder, and it’s easy to see why.
661 SILOM [MAP3/O11] Baan Silom, Building 3, Room A3, B3, 661 Silom Rd | 0 2266 8661 661silom.com | 11am-midnight
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October Promotion New wines from all around the world for the most extensive and esclusive wine list in Bangkok Private room free of charge Lunch Set Menu Take away food and Catering are available
diVino Food and Wine
Thong Lo 16, Sukhumvit 55 Rd., 10110 Bangkok T: 02 714 8723 I www.divinobkk.com I marketing@divinobkk.com
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review
XIN TIAN DI - Contemporary Cantonese Delights Perched on the 22nd floor of the Crowne Plaza Bangkok, Xin Tian Di overlooks the greenery of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and Lumpini Park. The restaurant is renowned not only for its stylish atmosphere and views, but for its dim sum, set lunches and a la carte evening dining, including what many regard as the best Peking Duck in Bangkok. Much of the restaurant’s success is attributable to Chef Lam Kok Weng, a nine-year veteran of the outlet and a winner in Thailand’s Iron Chef competition. His menu is noted for its excellent Cantonese faire and an imaginative selection of modern Chinese dishes with intriguing influences from a variety of cuisines. 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. For many Bangkok families, a Saturday or Sunday dim sum lunch at the restaurant has become a family ritual. The seven private rooms for 8-12 diners are especially popular with groups and those seeking a little privacy. Dishes at the restaurant are served in three sizes (small, medium, large) so that they can be enjoyed by different-sized groups. During our feast, several dishes 78 | OCTOBER 2014
tickled our fancy. Perhaps our favourite was the deepfried pork spare ribs in superior sauce (B280++ small portion). The ribs, which are cut into 3-4 cm pieces are bathed in a divine sauce that is flavoured with honey. Equally impressive was the 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 zip. The Peking Duck (B800++ half duck) lived up to its reputation, but care must be taken to eat it immediately upon serving as it loses its crunch and appeal once it cools off. If you have never tried XO sauce, be sure to taste the chef’s pan-fried homemade 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. Bangkok has many hotel-based Cantonese-style Chinese restaurants, but Xin Tian Di stands out from the crowd because of the beautiful setting, the talents of its chef and the imaginative menu he has created.
XIN TIAN DI [MAP 5/G5] Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park, 952 Rama IV Rd | 0 2632 9000 | crowneplazabkk.com | 11.30am-2.30pm; 6pm-10.30pm
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SanPellegrino recommends
SENSI - Sunshine on a plate The cuisine prepared by Italian Chef Christian Martena at Sensi is all about intense flavours based on imported fresh produce complimented by sophisticated reductions and emulsions. Seated at the long wooden chef’s table where he can keep an eye on his team in the open kitchen, the much-travelled native of Pulia says “I like to have a main protagonist in a dish with other ingredients providing a flavour twist.” This ethos is perfectly illustrated in his degustation menu (B1790++ - B2690++ depending on the number of courses). While it changes frequently (based on the chef’s mood and the availability of seasonal produce) it is always characterised by a cavalcade of flavours from the heart of Italy and the sun-kissed shores of the Mediterranean. The repast begins with intriguing Carabineros, large red shrimp smoked with cherry wood and served with rocket, fennel and orange in a sealed glass storage jar that releases a puff of smoke when opened. This is followed by beautifully creamy Stracciatela cheese served with
heirloom tomato mousse, basil emulsion and reduced balsamic spheres that look just like black caviar. The sharpness of the tomato mousse provides a wonderfully tart off-set to the cheese. Hokkaido scallop on truffle sand (made by drying out and grinding truffle to a fine powder, thereby intensifying the flavour) is also served with shavings of fresh black truffle, which provide an earthy note to the succulent sweetness of the scallop. Truffle is also the keynote of a very moreish risotto. It is served with Parmesan, truffle foam and an egg yolk injected with truffle mousse. Perhaps the dish that best captures Chef Christian’s culinary heritage is Sicilian seabass served with zucchini mash, ratatouille, red martini emulsion, and orange and lime reductions. It is rich in flavour and yet light thanks to the citrus zest of the reductions. It seems hard to surpass but baby New Zealand Lamb chop served with red grapes, a tangy red wine sauce and sautéed spinach comes very close. Beautifully grilled to a tender mediumrare, it is deeply satisfying and a great prelude to the final dish, a decadent Zabaione of strawberry mousse and fresh strawberries served in a crystal sugar sphere.
SENSI [MAP 8/H18] Narathiwat Soi 17 (Yeak 5) | 0 2117 1618 Facebook.com/sensibangkok | Mon-Sat 6pm-midnight
TO ENHANCE GREAT FOODS CHOOSE THE FINE DINING WATERS ACQUA PANNA AND S. PELLEGRINO. THE FINE DINING WATERS. Sanpellegrino Asia| sanpellegrino@sanpellegrino.com.sg Distributed by Vanichwathana (Bangkok) Co Ltd. Thailand | Tel. +66 22215354
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EAT - fabulous Thai food at a shopping mall EAT, an acronym of Eat All Thai, is the latest venture of the creators of the popular Suppaniga Eating Room on Soi Thonglor, widely regarded as one of the best Thai restaurants in town. Like its sister restaurant, the menu at EAT is based on ‘homestyle’ dishes, but unlike Suppaniga, they aren’t all based on recipes from the owner’s grandmother. Groove, as most people now know, is an area adjacent to the CentralWorld shopping complex that is set aside for high quality food outlets even though it is connected to a mall. Unlike some of its neighbours, EAT has a casual feel with seating in the restaurant and ‘outdoors’ in the area fronting Groove’s walkway. In spite of soaring floor to ceiling windows and an impressive view, the rustic wood furniture, traditional Thai crockery and an open kitchen give it a homey feel. “We’ve tried to create elements from the three most important institutions in Thai culture: home, temple and market,” says Tatchai Nakapan, the managing partner. Grandmother was from Trat, but lived in Khon Kaen so recipes from these areas make up about half the menu, but the other half, as Tatchai points out, consist of selected dishes from all over the country. An important element in both the Supanniga and EAT approach to Thai food is the use of ingredients from the region from which a dish emanates. The Goong Mae Nam Pao, grilled bangkok101.com
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 our favourite dishes was 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 dish. Another dish that caught our fancy was the Hoi Joh Jew (B230), homemade crispy crab rolls. Eating these tasty little dollops takes snacking to new heights. For dessert try the cooling Thai tea panna cotta (B85). The drinks here are also toothsome. They include sweet and sour Thai classics such as cola and plum, and the popular palm syrup on ice (both B85). 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 the EAT has been in existence. And the prices? They are probably the least expensive of any of the outlets at Groove.
EAT [MAP 4/F4] 2nd Floor, Groove@CentralWorld | 0 2251 1230 facebook.com/eatallthai | Daily: 10am-10pm
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in the kitchen
DAVIDE CALO talks to Howard Richardson
“This dish is inspired by my grandmother,” says Executive Chef Davide Calo. “I would stand on a chair as a small boy and watch her make something very similar.” He’s talking about gnocchi pumpkin, the recipe he will show me how to prepare in his kitchen at Opus. “It’s a new dish I created just before I went for a holiday to Italy. The thought of going home is always an inspiration, and I often create new dishes before a visit.” The pumpkin has been cleaned and sliced, put into a baking tray with a little olive oil and cooked in the oven at 140-150 degrees for 40 minutes. After resting it’s made into a coarse paste with parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Davide now gently mixes in 400-grams of flour. “Gnocchi is usually made with potato, but I use only pumpkin for this recipe,” he says. “I’m looking for a nice consistency, not too much moisture, but also not too dry, otherwise the gnocchi will be hard. The pumpkin is still sticking to my hand, so it needs a bit more flour. It’s very important to feel the ingredients.” When it’s ready he leaves it to rest for at half an hour. Then he flours the worktop and rolls the gnocchi into a very thin strip and cuts it into small pieces. “Not too big like a trattoria. The gnocchi will expand as it cooks.” For the cream of spinach sauce Davide puts two knobs of butter into a frying pan on a medium heat and adds finely chopped onions and a little olive oil. Fresh spinach goes in next, having been pre-boiled for a few seconds. Then salt and pepper, before the cream, which 82 | OCTOBER 2014
bubbles vigorously. A little vegetable stock, and after three minutes it all goes into a blender to make a purée. The gnocchi is on to boil. “When they start to rise you know they’re ready,” Davide says. “About three minutes.” Butter goes into another frying pan with fresh sage on a low heat. The chef adds a bit of vegetable stock – “So the butter doesn’t brown too much”. Then the gnocchi. “As it sautés,” he says, “the flour comes out and makes the sauce creamier.” Last, he adds parmesan and a bit more stock. To serve, Davide makes a couple of arty smears on the plate with spinach sauce, and spoons the gnocchi between them, creating an appealing orange-green combination. He decorates with slivers of parmesan, sage leaves and micro herbs. The gnocchi has a firm body in the mouth, but is still moist, and there’s a good balance of pumpkin sweet, subtle spinach, salty parmesan and tweaks of sage, all bathed in rich butteriness. The ingredients are separate on the plate, so you can taste them individually or mix them. It’s luxurious, homey and satisfying, a good example of the Opus menu of traditional Italian cuisine with modern presentation.
OPUS [MAP 5/E6] 64 Pan Rd, Silom | 0 2637 9899 | wbopus.com Daily 6pm-midnight
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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
THE QUEEN OF PASTES
O
ne of those little-known gems which abound in Bangkok, our featured restaurant this month is called Benyathip Khao Khaeng, although locals know it as the ‘Queen of Nam Prik’s restaurant’. You’ll find it in a shop house not far from the mouth of Sukhumvit Soi 93 (a short walk from the Bangchak BTS station). I went. I sat. I ate. And I nearly cried for joy! This is food from the heart. The Queen of Nam Prik (nam prik being a traditional fiery chili paste dish) is actually a friendly aunty who flits between bubbling woks and presides over a kaleidoscopic array of dishes laid out in neat lines for customers to choose from. The sensory excitement of her multi-colored, multiflavored offerings contrasts with her ramshackled yet atmospheric restaurant where bare bulbs hang overhead and the walls, crammed with shrines and photos, have turned yellow and black, layered with grease and grime accumulated over the 40 years the restaurant has been open. But like so many of Thailand’s hidden gastronomic gems, the décor is of little importance. It’s all about the food and among a dizzying range of traditional Thai dishes, the stars of the show here are undoubtedly the nam prik offerings, the metaphorical jewels in the owner’s crown.
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She could hardly contain her enthusiasm as she delivered bowls of spicy nam prik makham (young tamarind), nam prik pla yang (grilled fish) and nam prik ta daeng (meaning ‘red eye’ because large dried red chilies are the main ingredient) to my table. They were all delicious, lip-smackingly good in fact, illustrating that the charm of the Queen of Nam Prik’s cuisine lies in its simplicity, the flavors alive and real, as in the best of hearty home cooking.
WHERE: Benyathip Khao Khaeng is less than 50 meters from the mouth of Sukhumvit Soi 93. Tel: 0 2 311 0459. Home delivery and outside catering is also available.
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listings
The Never Ending Summer
THAI THE NEVER ENDING SUMMER [MAP 5/B2]
The Jam Factory, 41/5 Charoen Nakorn Rd 0 2861 0953 | facebook.com/ TheNeverEndingSummer | Tue-Sun 11am-11pm Located on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River at the Jam Factory development is The Never Ending Summer. Occupying part of three old Chinese-Thai factories, the airy 70-seat eatery offers both short- and longtable dining. The menu inspired by the favourite childhood dishes of one of the owners. The result is an extensive, changing menu of Thai classics. Ma Hor, bite-sized chunks of pineapple topped with minced pork, prawn, peanuts, garlic and shallot, makes a homey starter. Chilli dips are also a house speciality, with many to choose from. The most popular chilli dip with Thai guests is pungent and provoking Nam Prik Long Reua, Moo Wan, Kai Kem (B280), which mashes up shrimp paste, dried shrimp, chilli and garlic served with sweet pork and salted egg. Much tamer is Poo Lhon (B270), a traditional coconut chilli dip made with minced crabmeat and served slightly warm. This one’s a winner with both
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Thais and foreigners. For something heartier, try the tasty and aromatic Kang Raun Juan (B320), beef stewed in a tangy broth of lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, shrimp paste and chilli. This classic dates to the reign of Rama V, yet is hardly seen nowadays. Cocktails (B280), mocktails (B180), beer and a variety on non-alcoholic beverages are available, as well as an array of tempting Thai desserts.
BENJARONG [MAP 8/L14] Dusit Thani Bangkok, 946 Rama IV Rd | 0 2200 9000 | dusit.com | 6pm-10pm, Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm Chef Morten Bojstrup Nielsen, who worked at Nahm in London and Copenhagen’s Kiin Kiin, offers a pair of tasting menus at Benjarong, the Dusit Thani’s signature Thai restaurant. The Aromatic Journey (B1100) and the Benjarong Signature Tasting Menu (B1700) can both can be paired with wines for an extra B800 and B1300, respectively. The Signature Tasting Menu is a five-course delight that opens with sparkling wine and three well-balanced tapas bites – bitter notes in deep-fried cuttlefish with turmeric; sweet spicy scallop in a little light coconut milk; and shredded roast pork leg with smokey sweet, mildly spiced chilli jam. The tom yum goong, prettified with pickling onions and delicate balls of giant prawn, is silkily sour and mildly spiced, while the deconstructed yam pla duk foo arrives in an upside-down cone-shaped glass bowl that you tip into tom yum custard with crabmeat. Yam neua, made with wagyu beef cubes from flat iron steak,
Divino comes with a slightly spicy, sour and salty sauce, set with agar agar for a jammy consistency. End with basil ice cream, which is a riot of flavours from cookie crumbles, preserved pineapple, salty meringue and pineapple foam. It’s a lively, inventive finish to the meal that makes good use of Thai flavours.
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
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Il Bolognese 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, 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.
IL BOLOGNESE [MAP 5/H7] South Sathon Rd 139/3 Soi 7 | 0 2286 8805 ilbolognesebangkok.com | 11.30am-2.30pm, 5.30pm-11pm Il Bolognese is essentially a classy neighbourhood Italian, casual enough for a quiet lunch but with enough tricks up its sleeve for special occasions. The approach to food is straightforward: top-quality produce, the majority of it imported, expertly prepared with an emphasis on bold flavours. For example,
the polpettine (B290) are miniature beef meatballs baked with spinach and Parmesan, topped with a lip-smacking tomato sauce. These are quintessentially Italian flavours – the skill is in allowing them to speak for themselves rather than losing them in a maze of complexity. Similarly, the caprese burrata (B420) presents burrata cheese on a bed of roasted tomato, olives and pesto. As an entree, it is a perfect complement to the richness and sauciness of the polpettine, the velvety texture of the burrata shot through with a zingy aftertaste. The main dishes hold this traditional line but with some signature elements. The risotto alla Milanese (B550) takes a saffron risotto and elevates it with a homemade bone marrow sauce that adds a rich meatiness. Equally, the tortelloni zucca e parma (B490) showcases delicious homemade pasta filled with roast pumpkin and ricotta cheese offset with rashers of Parma ham. Bangkok may be a long way from Bologna but, thanks to this little gem, geography is no reason to forego delicious Italian food.
LA BOTTEGA DI LUCA[MAP 3/P8] The 49 Terrace, Sukhumvit 49 | 0 2204 1731 labottega.name | 10.30am-11.30pm Nestled in a smallish mall on 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. Luca, who runs the show, updates the parts of the menu regularly and orders produce in from Italy fortnightly. The antipasti start at B290
FOOD & DRIN K
Crepes & Co and the grilled scamorza (B390) – that’s smoked mozzarella – wrapped in speck ham with mushrooms and red wine sauce is a delight. It’s a simple idea but the evident care taken in preparation elevates this to a gorgeous starter, reminding diners just how much they’ve come to miss cheese in Bangkok. And that sauce – you’ll be tempted to lick the plate clean. There’s a sizeable menu and it can be tricky to know which direction to take. The most eye-catching salad is the seafood combination (B220) with steamed prawns, baby squid, mussels and clams seasoned with garlic. But who are we kidding? We’re here for the rustic, filling, flavoursome Italian cooking, delivered with real passion. That means it’s hard to go past the homemade pasta that gets freshly made every day – the dishes are reasonably priced at B240-490, although you’ll be shelling out B1790 if you go for the lobster.
INTERNATIONAL CREPES & CO. [MAP 8/L14] 59/4 Langsuan Soi 1, Ploenchit Rd, (also 88 Thonglor Soi 8 and CentralWorld) | 0 2652 0208 | crepesnco.com | 9am-11pm
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The business itself is a uniquely Bangkokian success story. It was founded nearly 20 years ago as a family business which quickly expanded and became more ambitious. The crepe may be French in origin, but the flavours and ingredients here take in the entire sweep of the Mediterranean, borrowing heavily from Morocco and Greece, in particular. The menu bulges with savoury options – try the eggplant caviar – but it’s the desserts that attract a loyal after-dinner following. You can keep it simple by going for the Crepe Josephine (B170), which is a straightforward combination of sugar and lemon zest. But if you’ve got a major sweet tooth, you’ll likely move on to the serious stuff, like the Crepe Framboise (B290), served bulging with vanilla ice cream and lathered in rich, tangy raspberry sauce. These creations are big enough to share or you can have one all to yourself if you have a real craving. The real show-stopper, though, is the Flambe Calvados (B290).
VERTIGO [MAP 5/K8] Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathon Rd | 0 2679 1200 | banyantree.com 6pm-11pm The menu is tidily short, presenting Pacific Rim standards which appear just as refined as that ambassador’s wife’s gown the next table over. Undeniably not the place for a cheap night out, soups start from B400, salads B500, appetisers B650. Seafoods and meat mains range from B1000-2900, and there are eight set menus (B2200-B6000 no wine, B3300 – B8700 with wine). They also do a good line in “sustainably sourced” Australian and Japanese steaks. Carpaccio garnished with chili, rocket and ginger is served, like all the signatures, on an elongated plate. It’s a subtle, mild dish, the ginger cutting through. Even better are the tataki of wagyu, which are melt-in-your mouth oblongs of beef cooked rare in shoyu, or Japanese soy sauce. Neither, though, matches the spicy kick and decadence of the tuna tartar, a slab of fish topped off with guacamole and lemon caviar. The pan-roasted free range chicken is married well to tarragon jus and excellent mash potato, while lamb shank served with cumin-spiced potatoes, young roots and a little pot of sweet massaman curry sauce is also delightful. Desserts include Thai twists such as Thai tea crème brûlée or the even richer mango and 86 | OCTOBER 2014
sticky rice with mascarpone served in a cocktail glass.
LADY BRETT [MAP 5/G5] 149 Soi Sueksawittaya, North Sathorn Soi 12 0 2635 0405 | ladybrett.com | Tue-Sun 6pm1am; Sat-Sun 11am-3pm Lady Brett on Sathorn Soi 12 proclaims itself a New York-style tavern and it fits the bill perfectly. The owners describe their menu as ‘rustic’ and the lax tartare broed (B120), enjoyed with a pre-dinner cocktail, is a case in point. It consists of raw chopped salmon in a lemonmustard marinade with dill and parsley served on a dark baguette croûton. Equally impressive are the giant scallop carpaccio (B420) and Beef Tenderloin served with blue cheese crostini and raspberry vinegar pearl onion. A standout item is BBQ pork ribs, a half rack served with roast thyme, pineapple and buttermilk onion rings. But the dish that really catches the eye is the baked Phuket pink snapper (B395) with sundried tomato couscous, zucchini, roast sage-marinated eggplant and tzatziki, a remarkably compatible group of ingredients. Like any authentic tavern, drinks play as big a role at Lady Brett as the food. Tuesday – Sunday, there is a ‘buy 1 get 1’ happy hour from 5-7pm featuring either pale or dark Beer Lao (B150); Charlotte Street chardonnay/ Semillion or Shiraz/Cabernet (B295) and a selection of dynamite cocktails. On Saturdays and Sundays brunch is served from 11am-3pm. It features a special menu of items including mango apple pancakes with green tea butter and caramel sauce (B255) and a chilled asparagus frittata with garlic crostini, saffron aioli, roasted peppers, rocket leaves and Parmesan cheese (B210).
INDIAN INDUS [MAP 3/O11] 71 Sukhumvit Soi 26, Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2258 4900 | indusbangkok.com | 11.30am-3pm, 6pm-11pm The mark of a good restaurant is its ability to deliver consistently over time and in every respect Indus does this with aplomb. While much of the menu remains unchanged, a few new dishes have been added in recent weeks. These include Chicken Tikka Chaat (B200), a tangy combination of diced and spiced chicken tossed with onion, bangkok101.com
listings tomato and pepper. It goes well with the smokey flavours of the delightful Tandoori Creamy Broccoli (B280), fresh broccoli florets that have been marinated in a creamy spice mix and barbecued over charcoal. Also recommended is the succulent Gelafi Seekh Kebab (B390), spiced mutton mince mixed with finely chopped chilli. Full of meaty goodness and best eaten with a squeeze of fresh lemon, it has a lovely piquant finish. Two of the stars of the show are the signature Indus Kebab-E-Malai (B360), tender flame-grilled pieces of chicken marinated in yoghurt, cream cheese and herbs; and the hearty Nawabi Raan (B990 regular portion, B1590 large portion; serving 4-6 people). It comprises a whole leg of lamb marinated overnight in Captain Morgan dark rum, yoghurt and a wellguarded secret combination of spices. Slow-cooked for hours over charcoal, it is ridiculously tender and infused with a smokey sweet and sour flavour. Finish off with delicious hand-churned Pistachio Kulfi (B120) Indian ice cream.
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 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. bangkok101.com
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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 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 port-marinated 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 goatcheese ravioli and garnished with virgin sauce (B450) – it’s a deeply satisfying combination.
L’APPART [MAP 3/G9] 32F, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit, 1 89 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. OCTOBER 2014 | 87
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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 that it works and the snow fish is never overwhelmed.
MAISON BLANCHE [MAP 5/G4] 38 Narathiwat Soi 2 | 0 2634 7939 maisonblanchebkk.com | 11.30am-2pm, 6.30pm-11pm In Maison Blanche owner Remi Joffre and Chef Bruno Serre have created a little slice of southern France in the heart of Bangkok. This is contemporary homestyle French cooking its best. Of course, that is not to say it is uncomplicated or lacking sophistication. Far from it. Take one of the signature offerings, egg cocotte royal (B390), a melange of egg white, truffle paste and foie gras baked in an oven. It is served with a raw egg on top and mouillettes mini bread sticks with truffle oil. Despite sounding heavy it is surprisingly light and smooth in texture and not at all overly rich. The same can be said for succulently tender pan-fried duck breast cooked to a rosy hue. It comes with a choice of grand veneur dressing (B440) or a Girolles mushroom sauce (B540). To finish off try a dish with a slightly Asian twist. Tuna Tataki (B460) is served with a unique wasabi and citrus-infused ice cream which not only provides a refreshing ‘zing’ but also an interesting cold counterpoint to the heat of the beautifully seared tuna. The outlet has a good list of wonderfully refreshing cocktails (B220-B290) in addition to local
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beers and a well-considered choice of mainly French and Chilean wines served by the glass and bottle.
VIETNAMESE SAIGON RECIPE [MAP 3/P7] 46/5 Piman 49, Sukhumvit Soi 49 | 0 2662 6311 | saigon-recipe.com | 11am-3pm, 5am10pm As much as any cuisine on offer in Bangkok, Vietnamese restaurants reward closer inspection. Begin here with the 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.
XUAN MAI [MAP 3/P7] 351/3 Thong Lor | 0 2185 2619 xuanmairestaurant.com | 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30 There’s some overlap with Thai food in terms of ingredients and flavours but the exquisite combinations at this much-loved Thong Lor shophouse are more subtle and yet more complex than at many Thai places. Some of the appetisers will be familiar to those who have explored Vietnamese food before. The bun cha (B350), for example, are imperial rolls with barbecued pork served Hanoi-style. Equally, the banh xeo (B250), a turmeric and shrimp crepe, manages to be delicate and entirely unpretentious at the same time. And if Vietnam has a national dish, it’s probably pho. Of the varieties on offer at Xuan Mai, the pho bo (B150), with beef noodles in the northern style, is the most prominent internationally. Here, there is a rich, refined broth, with an intoxicating herbal perfume. The salads are another treasure trove in their own right. Try the honeysuckle flower salad with shrimp and barbecued pork (B200) – one of the owner’s original creations that you’re unlikely to find in standard Vietnamese outlets. Among the mains, the spare ribs (B300) fall off the bone on to a bed of sugar snap peas (B300), while the grilled river fish (B350) has a zingy seasoning that culminates on a herbal finish. End with the spectacular passionfruit creme brulee (B200). A Thong Lor stand-out.
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THE SPEAKEASY AT HOTEL MUSE
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NIGHTLIFE HIGH SPIRITS
It’s that time of the year to go trick or treating! On Friday October 31 visit Park Society at the rooftop of Sofitel So Bangkok to enjoy a delightfully ghoulish four-course Halloween set menu including Bloody Scallops and Vampire Beef Steak Rossini, all for only B2999++ per person. Following the spooky gastronomy, guests can party with freaky cocktails and great beats provided by a guest DJ at Park Society Terrace and HI-SO. The devilish dinner starts at 6pm while the high-spirited party gets underway at 8pm (party entrance fee is B300 net per person – including 1 free drink. Dress code is ‘So Halloween’). Advance reservations are highly recommended. Call 0 2624 0000 for more information.
TURNING UP THE HEAT
Extended weekday happy hours and a new Ladies’ Night promotion make WOOBAR a hot ticket throughout October, November and December. Every Monday to Friday from 5pm to 9pm, W Bangkok’s signature bar and nightlife destination hosts an After Work Is Hot happy hour promotion offering buy-1-get-1-free deals on all wines, beers and cocktails until 9pm. One for the ladies, Friday’s also see the Girls’ Night Out promotion with free-flow sparkling wine from 7pm to 10pm.
PLEASE STAND UP
Don’t Sit Down hosts its third live event of the year, this time at Aftermoon@71 at Karaoke City, Ekamai-Raminthara on October 17. The lineup features four headline bands, each with its own distinctive style. They are Lomosonic, Barbies, Slur and The Jukks. The evening’s entertainment, which kicks off at 8pm, includes a set by opening act The Real Choice, a live session by DSD People and tunes spun by DJ Ohhcomeon. Tickets (which include a free drink) are available at Selvedgework, Siam Square Soi 2, priced B400 (early birds) and B500. Contact 08 4700 6333 for more information.
BEAT MASTERS
JAM at Charoen Rat Soi 1 in the Sathorn-Silom area hosts its monthly Talkin’ All That Groove night dedicated to Hip Hop, Instrumental Hip Hop, Future Funk, and Beats & Breaks. This month’s installment celebrates the event’s 1 year anniversary. The three Resident DJs come from different backgrounds but share a deep passion for music. They are DJs TO-RU (a turntable-meister from Japan), Frederik Funk (a half-Thai half-Swedish jazz enthusiast) and Broken Kassette (a Thai indie music producer and Drum ‘n’ Bass DJ). Special guest MCs DUJADA (Nutty Nut and Sinnamon) will also be tearing it up live. Entry is Free but get there early as the event starts at 5pm.
SAFETY DANCE
Party organizer and DJ crew Top Secret celebrates its 2nd anniversary at Ekamai Soi 7’s renowned after hours club, Safe House. The lineup features resident turntablists, joined by guest DJs Dam-Sib-Dao (MAD), Mixzymuse and Bowza (SyamSpin). Dress code for the evening is Sexy Black and entry is free. bangkok101.com
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ROUTE 66 - Diverse nightlife under one roof -
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n the sweep of Bangkok’s nightlife, RCA remains one of the areas that defies easy categorization. Certainly, it has never been completely colonized by ex-pats the way certain pockets along Sukhumvit have been. But nor is it rigidly Thai, like many slick Thong Lor spots or rowdier clubs further afield. Instead, RCA remains a broad church, a long line of venues that, combined, offer a range of choices. And that, to an extent, is the key to its enduring appeal. Perhaps the best-known of these venues is Route 66, a labyrinthine hybrid of club, lounge and live music venue. It is several rungs above the boxy bars elsewhere on RCA but has a more laid-back feel than many of the excessively swanky outlets. On a Saturday night, the outdoor area at Route 66 attracts the biggest crowds of any of the venues along RCA, so clearly this happy medium remains an attractive proposition to a diverse mix of people. RCA is divided roughly into thirds. On the left, there is the band room where some impressively accomplished bands, generally Thai three- or four-pieces outfits, rotate through in rapid sets. The set list leans heavily on Thai pop tunes, which is another refreshing departure from the clubs and bars where 20-year-old Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams tracks still get a workout.
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It is in this band room that visitors start to notice some of the charming little design touches – the vintage fire pumps in one corner and LCD lighting that instead of being over-the-top is employed to more low-key effect, creating a wall of fairy lights rather than a solar flare. Of course, it’s not all so demure. The middle section is a proper dance floor, lit up like a Christmas tree or a neon mirror ball. That’s not a criticism – quite the opposite. If anything, it is a testament to Route 66’s versatility as a venue. The far right section comprises the DJ lounge, the back wall lined with sofas, the center holding a forest of tables with a raised booth towering over all. It lacks the charm of the band room but the harder edge is undoubtedly part of its appeal. Even as venues come and go along RCA, Route 66’s pitch remains the same: different nightlife combined under one roof, delivered with enough flair to suggest it will remain at the center of this neighbourhood for a while yet.
ROUTE 66
[MAP 3/J1]
Block A, RCA | 0 2203 0936 route66club.com | 8.30pm-2am
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SMALLS - Suan Phlu’s Happiest Hour -
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ormer LA pro photographer turned veteran publican David Jacobson became a legend after he opened Q Bar on Sukhumvit Soi 11 in 1999, kicking off a successful club scene that has since taken over virtually the entire soi. Fifteen years later Jacobson and his French partner Bruno Tanquerel left Sukhumvit glitz behind to set up shop in the three-storey 1960s relic at the corner of Suan Phlu Soi 1 that formerly housed Chez Pepin restaurant. Decorated with vintage furniture, quirky art, and Tanquerel’s own sculptures and paintings, it’s reminiscent of Le Derriere, the room Tanquerel designed at the back of Q Bar, but with a more bohemian feel. As at Le Derriere, absinthe – served with the proper fountain and slotted spoon – is a speciality, along with a wide selection of wines by the glass and such hard-tofind liquors as Basil Hayden’s Bourbon Whiskey. As at Q Bar spirits are dispensed in stout New York-style 45-cl servings rather than the anemic European 30-cl pour commonly seen elsewhere in Bangkok. The new location has found an enthusiastic local market. “Sathorn was an obvious new frontier for us, as there isn’t that much out this way in terms of bars and restaurants,” says Jacobson. “At the same time, a lot of people live in this community. Why would they bangkok101.com
travel all the way to Thonglor or Ekamai for an evening out, if they have places to go here? My goal has always been to provide a great atmosphere for people who want to go out, meet their friends over excellent drinks served by a knowledgeable and kind staff, get a bite to eat, enjoy the music, etc. That said, bars that offer an atmosphere conducive to engaging in a conversation are rare and often boring. At Smalls we try to provide a neighbourhood experience that is both cosy and adult.” To that end the playlist at Smalls tends to be noncommercial, with an emphasis on jazz and world music, rather than the standard hip-hop, house and techno heard in many Bangkok clubs. On occasion Smalls hosts live blues or jazz ensembles and visits by eclectic DJs like club veteran Justin Mills, who dares to spin Tom Waits, Zapp, The Heavy and Eric Dolphy back to back. Smalls’ kitchen, which stays open at least until midnight nightly except Tuesday (when the bar is closed), serves a well-conceived roster of entrees and bar snacks, including much-lauded fresh Irish oysters on the half-shell.
SMALLS [MAP 5/K8] 186/3 Suan Phlu Soi 1 | 09 5585 1398 Wed-Mon 8.30pm-2am
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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 94 | OCTOBER 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.
HOTEL BARS & CLUBS BARSU [MAP 3/F6] 1F Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit 250, Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2649 8358 barsubangkok.com | 6pm-2am The informal yet sleek BarSu features the tagline ‘eat, play, dance,’ and appeals to the over-30 Bangkok crowd who feel disenfranchised by the city’s current nightlife offerings. To this end, there are five live bands for each night of the week. Comprised of students from Silpakorn University’s Faculty of Jazz, Tenon Round’ are a gifted young
Barsu quartet who perform every Tuesday from 8.30 to 10.30pm. The other bands, JazzPlayground, P.O.8, Rhythm Nation and Hot Gossip, play from Wednesday to Saturday respectively. In between sets, tuck into their ‘Goong goong goong’ menu, combining fresh prawns with a variety of international flavours.
SPASSO [MAP 8/L13] Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, 494 Ratchadamri Rd | 0 2254 1234 | bangkok.grand. hyatt.com | 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm-2.30am 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 | Mon-Sun 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
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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.
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 | 02 302 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 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] 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 bangkok101.com
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, 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
The Speakeasy 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 OCTOBER 2014 | 95
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Apoteka 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 96 | OCTOBER 2014
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.
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
Hyde & Seek 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, Georgian-influenced 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 | TuesSun 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 bangkok101.com
Namsaah Bottling Trust its decadent 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.
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
Viva Aviv 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.
WTF [MAP 3/Q6] 7 Sukhumvit Soi 51 | 0 2626 6246 wtfbangkok.com | Tue-Sun 6pm-1am This tiny shophouse – signposted by graffiti on a corrugated tin wall in the street opposite – has a bar on the ground floor, decked out with mirrors along one wall, old Thai movie posters on the other, and found items like wooden screen doors and chairs. It works. The Thai-farang owners (an art manager, hotelier and photographer by trade) have made a good fist of cocktails (from B130) with rye whiskies and unusual bitters in the mix, while plates of tapas consist of Thai and Euro choices such as Portuguese chorizo and feta salad. Expect live gigs, art exhibitions upstairs and a mix of hipsters, journos and scenesters.
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 98 | OCTOBER 2014
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IN THE FOLD By Doman ByGaby Gaby Doman
Yx
ou know xxxxxhow xxxxxx after xxxxx an extended backpacking trip, you come home with xxx a bag full of clothes that seemed like a great idea at the time xxx but now you’re not traipsing round bazaars or visiting temples, xxx they seem a little inappropriate for everyday life? Milin’s Autumn/Winter 2014 collection, One Way Ticket, is like that, but on a much bigger budget. AVAILABLE ATcollection The idea behind the : is that of the wardrobe of a jetsetter, who indulges in a little shopping in Africa, a little in Russia and wherever xxxelse she may travel – although the core of the collection is African-inspired xxx prints versus Russian-influenced folds. While this imagined xxxjetsetter isn’t trawling markets for tie-dye, she is seduced by some styles that may look a little unusual back in her hometown. The xxxweb result is a deliberate hotchpotch of looks, creating a collection that screams avante garde, verging more on Gaga than it does the worldly. And that, of course, always makes for a fun and curious collection – and Bangkok’s fashionistas are certainly an experimental crowd at times. If you’ve got lithe legs you’ll need them to pull off some of these high hemlines and folded voluminous skirts. And no doubt people will be surprised when you tell them you picked up your floor-length intricately folded, zesty green geometric print dress, or your fringed crop top folded like an oversized bow, in Bangkok and not on your fabulous trip to the Serengeti. The collection, mostly comprising eveningwear, is chock-full of statement pieces; the combination of unusual cuts, volume and bold prints and colour assures that. While they may not be for the likes of those who sheepishly tuck their harem pants and non la hats into the back of the wardrobe, wondering why they ever thought they’d wear them back in their local pub, we’re still looking forward to seeing the bolder among us stepping out in these fun, if not functional, styles. Milin is available at Siam Centre facebook.com/milinbrand
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SHOPPING
Embassy to the World Y
ou might think that Bangkok simply couldn’t have room for another high-end shopping mall but when Central Embassy, the already-iconic retail and hotel development located at the junction of Wireless and Ploenchit Roads, opened its doors in late 2013, it immediately became a magnet for discerning local shoppers and visitors from all over the globe. So named because it sits on land that was once part of the UK’s diplomatic mission in Bangkok (land that is reputed to be more expensive than anywhere else in the city), Central Embassy covers a total of 144,000 square meters spread over 37 floors. Of these, 8 floors form the shopping center (known as the Retail Podium) while the remainder are given over to a tower hosting the 6-star Part Hyatt Bangkok Hotel (due for completion in 2015) and the Embassy Diplomat Screens, an ultra-premium cinema complex. Already a by-word for luxury, the shopping center is home to the world’s leading luxury brands – over 200 of them in fact, headed by the likes of Bottega Veneta, Chanel, Gucci, Hermes, Miu Miu, Prada, and Ralph Lauren. These and other stores at Central Embassy are divided into three main categories; iconic flagship outlets, exclusive stores and first-to-market stores. They include Christian Louboutin, CK Collection, Givenchy, Isabel Marant, Jil Sander, John Varvatos, Maison Martin Margiela, McQ, Moschino, Mulberry, Paul Smith, Proenza Schouler, Roberto Cavalli, Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Versace, and watch and jewellery brands such as Anyallerie, Audemars Piguet, Chavana, Chopard, Hublot and Pomellato. A further big attraction at Central Embassy are the dining outlets. At the lower ground level is E.A.T. (standing for Eat All Thai), a restaurant offering sumptuous local cuisine that represents almost all the provinces in the country. Here too is the Issaya Cooking Studio, a baking school run by renowned local chef Ian Pongtavach Chalermkittichai. Elsewhere throughout the retail complex, eclectic dining is represented by restaurants such as Yuutaro, Hinata, Din Tai Fung, Great American Rib, The Girl & The Pig, Minibar Café, and the French bistro-style Water Library. At level 4, among many lifestyle and wellness brand outlets, there is a VIP Lounge for The Embassy Club bangkok101.com
members. It offers classy refreshments and premium shopping services – retail therapy can be a tiring business after all! Of course, if you want a break from the myriad shopping attractions, you can head to Embassy Diplomat Screens. This is an ultra-luxurious 5-theater facility with just 30-50 seats per cinema. Exclusively designed to mirror the glamour of Hollywood, it includes a Real D screen, state-of-the-art sound systems and a plush lounge with services akin to those at a 6-star hotel. Speaking of which, the Park Hyatt Bangkok Hotel, one of only 36 Park Hyatt outlets around the world, will open next year with 222 suites spread over 30 floors. Distinguished by sheer luxury and the largest room sizes on offer in Bangkok (averaging 70 square meters), the hotel will also include a chic roof-top sky bar and a premium spa. All this luxury and decadence is conveniently located in the heart of town and is easily accessible via road and rail – indeed Central Embassy is the only retail complex in Bangkok accessible by two Skytrain stations, Chidlom and Ploenchit.
CENTRAL EMBASSY [MAP 4/K4] 1031 Ploenchit Rd | 0 2119 7777 | centralembassy.com | 10am-10pm
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SHOPPING
unique boutique
CASA PAGODA C
asa Pagoda, an internationally recognized store located in Sukhumvit 24, is home to a large collection of beautiful imported furniture and household décor items. Established in 2003 by a young and dynamic creative team from Belgium, Casa Pagoda opened its first store in Bangkok before expanding with a second shop in Shanghai, China. It aims to bring interior design flair at affordable prices to this part of the world. The choice on offer is certainly eclectic, partly because the team behind the outlets travel all over the world to build their inventory. Hence, Casa Pagoda offers a wide variety of stylish European and Asian-inspired pieces. These range from cozy country cottage-style items to elegant pieces that wouldn’t look out of place in a baronial home. Everything from sofas, club chairs, and occasional tables to bookshelves and dining sets are on display. And all come with a guarantee of craftsmanship and quality. Next to the traditional can be found the modern. There is a growing popularity in Thailand for the industrial-chic style, the mixture of woods, leathers and metals to create bold contrasts, and Casa Pagoda has its finger on the pulse of this trend. Redecoration can be a great deal of fun when you shop at Casa Pagoda, where pleasant and efficient staff are happy to show you round this Aladdin s cave of home décor delights. 104 | OCTOBER 2014
CASA PAGODA Sukhumvit Soi 45 (Nearest Train BTS Phrom Phong) | 0 2258 1917 casapagoda.com daily | 11am-8pm
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spotlight tailor
SHOPPING
PERRY’S R
ated among the top 5 tailors in Bangkok in a CNN travel website piece last year, legendary tailor Perry’s has been going strong for four decades. It is run by genial septuagenarian twin brothers Narong and Phonchai, who learned the trade from their father, a tailor who came to Thailand from mainland China in 1928. Prior to opening the Perry’s outlet on Silom Road (so named on the advice of a Filipino diplomat who told the brothers it was an easier name to remember than either of theirs), Narong and Phonchai would visit the homes and offices of their clients for measurement and fitting sessions. “We catered mainly to local and international civil servants, diplomats, businessmen, and senior military offices...still do in fact,” says Narong. Among their more illustrious clients they count the Duke of Edinburgh, former UN Secretary Generals Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Javier Perez de Cuellar, and the late Hollywood star Robin Williams. The brothers, both of whom speak English fluently, are known for their ability to measure and cut ‘by the eye’ – so good are they at this that they can size you up for a perfect-fit suit without actually taking any measurements at all. They are also able to maintain superb quality because they operate their own workshop at the back of Perry’s – no sending garments out for cutting at a third-party sweatshop. And Perry’s 30 plus artisans use only imported fabrics – the likes of bangkok101.com
Ermenegildo Zenga, Loro Piana, Dormeuil and Lanificio from Switzerland, Italy and England – to create bespoke garments for discerning gents. “We take the time it needs to get a job right. If you want a suit made in 24 hours, I’m afraid you’ll have to look elsewhere,” says Narong. On average, it takes from one to two weeks for Perry’s to make a two-piece suit, which will run to B20000 or more depending on the material selected.
PERRY’S [MAP 5/K5] 2/1 Silom Rd (opposite Silom Complex) | 0 2233 9236, 0 2267 0622 perry.tailor@gmail.com | Mon-Sat 9.30am-8pm
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listings
SHOPPING
July Tailor
Lucky Angel
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
Moon River by VJ
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 | Website unavailable 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 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.
MOON RIVER BY VJ [MAP 3/H10] 288 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2229 4457 | Mon-Sun 10am-9pm | moonriverbyvj.com 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 the business has its own in-house workshop, enabling it to have better quality control. This also means that the tailors can be present during fittings, so they really understand the changes that need to be made. The shop, which caters to both men and women, has been providing locals, expats and visitors with bespoke attire since 1981 and carries a large inventory of fabrics and styles suitable for any budget.
NARIN COUTURE [MAP 3/G10] 180 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2251 9237 | Mon-Sat 10.30am-9pm (last fitting at 8pm) | narincouture.com
& GENTS CUSTOM TAILORS - LADIES -
LUCKY ANGEL by
BOYCE
Sukhum
26-26/24 soi Ruamrudee (behind All Seasons Place), Ploenchit rd., Lumpini, Patumwan, Bangkok 10330 t. (+66) 2 650 7577 m. (+66) 80 559 2655 boycelama28@hotmail.com
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Wireles
s Rd
Plaza Athene
vit Rd
soi Ru amrude
e
Ploenchit
All Season Place
Conrad Bangkok
LUCKY ANGEL
Ruamrudee soi 1
Ruamrudee soi 2 Aetas Hotel
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listings
Rajawongse 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.
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 bangkok101.com
SHOPPING
Sodhi 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 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”.
Moonriver by VJ
God made men, we make gentlemen
Complete bespoke experiencenot just made to measure
UNIVERSAL TAILORS [MAP 5/F5] 252/2 Silom Rd | 08 1611 2313 | Mon-Sat 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.
Moonriver by VJ Sukhumvit Road under Asoke Skytrain station - Exit 2 Bring this ad for 20% off on your first bespoke experience. OCTOBER 2014 | 107
WELLN ESS
treatment Yunomori
Refresh
REFRESH [MAP 3/N9] 43 Sukumvit Soi 24 | 0 2259 7235 refresh24spa.com | 9.30am-1am | $
One of Sukhumvit’s biggest, this 25-room manor of rubdown magic is located just down the road from Emporium mall – head here for a post mall-blitz recovery sesh. Instead of the exotic Thai overkill that prevails in spas here, this slick new-build has a plush neo-vintage look, with Louis XV-style furniture adorning the lobby and Victorian-style skirting boards lining the rooms and corridors. It’s different, but elegant, calming. The menu is similarly understated, dabbling mostly in unflashy rubs and scrubs, though there are packages and a selection of Jurlique and Algoane facials available. Of the offerings, the hot oil massage is our pick – this 90-minuter melds Thai, Balinese and other styles to snooze inducing effect.
LAVANA [MAP 3 / F 7] 4 Sukhumvit Soi 12 | 0 2229 4510 9am-11:30pm | $$$
Lavana does its treatments right. Spa options are refreshingly clear-cut, and primarily focused on massage. Scrubs and facials are also available, along with the unusual and intriguing Shirodhara oil
Lavana
Cenvaree treatment, in which warm oil is drizzled along the “third eye” in the forehead and massaged into the head and neck. Those seeking a tidier signature option should choose the herbal ball oil massage – Lavana’s dedicated therapists manage to pack a restful eternity into a well-priced 90 minutes. Masseuses combine long Swedish and sports-massage strokes with very detailed work on problem areas – they take computer-knotted shoulders and other ailments as a matter of personal concern, and banish those tweaks and twinges with wonderfully intense kneading and muscle release work.
YUNOMORI [MAP 3/O9] A Square, Sukhumvit 26 | 0 2259 5778 facebook.com/yunomorionsen | 10.30am12am | $$$
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 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 $$$$
The Centara Grand may be right in the bustling heart of Bangkok but high above the chaos of Sukhumvit, the Cenvaree Spa is an oasis of calm. The selection here is vast. Try the evocatively named Salt Pot Muscles Melter (B2800 for 90 mins), which is designed to flush all traces of tension from a tired frame. Also excellent is the Thai Harmony Four Hands Massage (B3000 for 90 min) which involves two expert Thai therapists working in unison to deliver a feeling of intense relaxation. Another alternative is the Shirobhyanga, or Indian Head Massage (B1200 for 60 mins). Often during treatments, after the back and legs and have been kneaded into putty, it’s the light finish on the neck and scalp that is most effective. Here, you have the opportunity to extend that for an entire hour. A visit to Cenvaree is a remarkable salve for the stresses that build up in Bangkok – after an hour or so soaking up the benefits, you won’t want to leave. SPA COSTS $ :: under B600 $$ :: B600-B1000 $$$ :: B1000-B2000 $$$$ :: B2000+
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treatment
WELLN ESS
PARADISE EMBODIED Themed on the concept of a heavenly garden, Devarana Spa at Dusit Thani Bangkok invites guest to leave behind the hectic world outside and drift away on a raft of relaxation, as PAWIKA JANSAMAKAO discovers.
T
he blissful journey at Devarana begins as soon as you arrive at the reception area where, amid contemporary Thai décor, you are greeted with traditional local hospitality and the heady scent of exotic herbs and flowers. The spa offers a variety of pampering treatments using a combination of East meets West aromatherapy and massage. The delicate massage oils employed are organically developed and blended following an exclusive formula using high quality of natural ingredients to enhance relaxation and feelings of well-being. The Devarana Signature Massage (B3200++/1 hr 30 mins; B3900++/2 hrs) is a unique therapy that focuses on muscle relief and the balancing of the body’s energy
DEVARANA SPA
[MAP 5/L6]
Dusit Thani Bangkok, 946 Rama IV Rd 0 2200 9999 | devaranaspa.com
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pathways through a combination of Ayurvedic, Shiatsu and Swedish massage techniques. The treatment begins with the application of a warm towel to the back to prepare the body for the core massage work that follows. Aromatic oil is then applied as the therapist works upwards from the base of the spine to the upper back, shoulders and neck. During the treatment, a bowl of steaming hot water scented with kaffir lime and orange is placed below the face as a further aid to deep relaxation. The Heavenly Nantha Garden Experience (B5000++/2 hrs 30 mins) is also highly recommended for its relaxing qualities. 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). It is inspired by a traditional Filipino mixture of tropical fruits and the exotic scent of vanilla and leaves you feeling cleansed and refreshed. OCTOBER 2014 | 109
GETTING THERE 110 | OCTOBER 2014
RAMA III BRIDGE AT NIGHT Photo: Supawin Thanasubharerk
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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. OCTOBER 2014 | 111
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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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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
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OCTOBER 2014 | 115
MAP 4 Siam / Chit Lom F
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116 | OCTOBER 2014
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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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SIGHTSEEING a Snake Farm b MR Kukrit’s House OCTOBER 2014 | 117
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118 | OCTOBER 2014
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Rajchawongse
OCTOBER 2014 | 119
M Y B A N G KO K
JOE
THAWILVEJJAKUL Bon vivant Joe Thawilvejjakul may have slowed down a little since the birth of his twin daughters two years ago but the business executive has lost none of his zest for the good life.
You have been described as a ‘purveyor of finer things’ – what things exactly? Cuban cigars, significant collections of rare whiskey and Armagnac, delicious Lavazza coffee and Gryphon teas. I also distribute Euro Cave, the world’s finest wine cabinets, and many accessories associated with fine wines. Pacific Cigar was a pioneer of the cigar scene in Bangkok. How has the market developed? The cigar market, although still nascent in Thailand, is growing all the time. Cigars have gained wider acceptance in recent years and consumers have become more selective. They may prefer to smoke less but they smoke better. They understand that the appreciation and enjoyment of cigars is an art, not addiction. Over the last decade cigar retailers have evolved into lifestyle bar operators focusing on premium quality products and impeccable service, which truly compliment fine cigars. That we now have a number of dedicated high-class cigar venues in Bangkok says much about the market. Have local consumers become more sophisticated and discerning? Local consumers have certainly become more sophisticated. They want more bang for their buck and are demanding a fair ratio of price versus quality. With new technologies and social media, younger folk are better informed and are increasingly adventurous in their lifestyle choices. Consumers may be spending less generally, but when they do spend 120 | OCTOBER 2014
they want to buy the best. So, yes, they are becoming more discerning. Where are your favorites shopping haunts? For fine spirits and personal accessories I shop in Tokyo and Paris. You can’t beat Bangkok and Vietnam for top European furniture. Much of it is manufactured here and can be bought for real knock-down prices. For fresh food, I like to shop at Samyarn market and I keep updated price lists from all my food and wine-importing friends so that I can order direct. You are a member of the Chaine des Rotisseurs – where do you go to eat well? I have many favorite places and I do like to eat well but oddly enough I also have a thing for street food, especially noodles. I find it hard to pass a noodle stall without stopping to try a bowl. In terms of restaurants, I have always enjoyed Gianni for Italian food and Silk Road at Plaza Athenee for Chinese. David Thompson’s Nahm is excellent, as is Erawan Tea Room for Thai cuisine. The whole fine dining scene is becoming a bit passé in my opinion but I still enjoy occasional visits to Water Library and Le Beaulieu. Where do you take visitors for a quintessential Bangkok experience? I love hopping on and off the Chao Praya Express boats, savoring the wide variety of food available at many of the piers along the river. It is a great way to introduce visitors to the city and its cuisine. When we have people over I like to end the day with sundowners,
usually a few glasses of bubbly, at home on the balcony overlooking the river. The serenity of the Chao Praya at sunset is hard to beat. After years of representing fine international brands here, do you also involve yourself in the export of quality Thai goods? Oddly enough, no. I haven’t gotten around to that yet and sometimes I regret not having made the effort in that direction. but it does interest me. We make a number of great products in Thailand and they deserve to be better-known and more widely available on an international level. Has your outlook on city living changed since the birth of your twin daughters in 2012? My wife and I enjoy a balance between town and country living. We spend most of our weekends soaking up the fresh air by the river. We love the dynamic pace of Bangkok but don’t want to waste quality family time stuck in traffic, so we tend to do things locally. We also have a home out of town and it’s great to be able to get away as a family. The twins really enjoy our escapes, which provide us healthy opportunities to unwind physically and mentally. Since our girls were born, I suppose I spend less time gallivanting around town on business and at social events. I’m more selective with my time and like to be at home. bangkok101.com