Now also in Pattaya
The 3 Baht Opera | City Pulse World Film Festival | Travel Mount Kinabalu | Food & Drink Medici | Shopping Talad Rot Fai
SARAS is here to tempt you with a wide variety of delicacies, many of which you will relish for the first time ever in Bangkok and Pattaya.
bangkok 101
VISIT & EXPERIENCE SARAS
PATTAYA
BANGKOK
www.saras.co.th
Sun City Hotel, 557 Moo 10 2nd Road, Pattaya Tai, South Pattaya, Chon Buri 20150 Landmark : Next to Siam Bayshore Hotel
january 2012
Sukhumvit Soi 20, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 Landmark : Near Windsor Hotel 02 401 8484
january 2012 100 baht
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Publisher’s letter Peel back the curtain on this issue and you’ll find a new look for the New Year. Not a radical overhaul but a fresher, more picture-led look that we hope makes leafing through the magazine more pleasurable. At the backend you’ll also notice some new city maps, all meticulously drawn and complete with landmarks plotted. Listings also now have a map reference that pinpoints exactly where that hip new tucked away bar is located. Of course, we welcome your feedback – feel free to drop our editor a line at max@talisman-media.com if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the mag before you even more. Tying in with Chinese New Year, this month’s photofeature, starting p. 44, is a hyper-hued yet unvarnished look at the backstreet Chinese opera: “A tired old Bangkok cliché”, according to photographer Ben Owen-Browne, “that I would never have gone anywhere near with a camera. Except I did, by mistake, and it was film-set perfect.” Our sentiments exactly; and what great films his photos evoke (Wong Kar-Wai’s In The Mood For Love? Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams?). We look forward to seeing more of Ben’s tired old clichés in the future.
What is Bangkok 101? Independent and unbiased, Bangkok 101 caters to savvy travellers who yearn for more than what they find in weighty, dated 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.
Speaking of things cinematic, our City Pulse section preview the World Film Festival, which was pushed back from November due to the flooding. We also take an indepth look at a brand new English language book about Thailand’s magically charged tattoo tradition, Sacred Tatoos of Thailand. A different kind of cultural heritage is also laid bare in Sightseeing, where we visit a museum dedicated to the Italian sculptor credited with reinvigorating Thai art, while our travel section sees us revisiting ever-popular Pai, and, in Over the Border, slogging up one of the region’s tallest rocks, Malaysian Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu. Art interviews, a roundup of local cooking classes, a clutch of reviews, and lots more besides round of a magazine that is bigger, brighter and, even if we do say so ourselves, quite a bit better.
Enjoy.
Mason Florence Publisher
Jbangkok101.com A N UA RY 2012
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The Stylish
New Way to Sleep in Bangkok
seven design hotel 3/15 Sukhumvit 31 Bangkok 10110 t: +662.662.0951 f: +662.662.3344 e: info@sleepatseven.com www.sleepatseven.com
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Contributors 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. Food and travel writer howard richardson lives beside the Chao Phraya River in downtown Bangkok, from where he’s spent 12 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 on Bangkok events and trends in Sawasdee, the Thai Airways inflight magazine. He also wrote the travel guide Bangkok Step by Step, published by Insight Guides. chris menist is a writer, DJ and musician who has been based
in South Asia since 2006. He is a regular contributor to Songlines magazine, and his writing has appeared in The Independent, The Observer, FACT and Straight No Chaser. If you like his column, check out his DJ partner Maft Sai’s record label ZudRangMa, either online at zudrangmarecords.com or at its shop, which has just relocated to a new location on Sukhumvit Soi 51, next door to WTF Bar.
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 publishedc coffee-table book Flavours: Thai Contemporary Art. When not musing about art, he is often found travel writing. korakot (nym) punlopruksa Native-Bangkok writer, photo-
grapher and incurable travel addict, Nym believes in experiencing the world through food. She can usually be found canvassing the city for the best eats around. Nym has been a host for music and film programmes, a radio DJ, a creative consultant for television and a documentary scriptwriter. She is the author of several travel narratives, and her work appears in myriad magazines including ELLE, Elle Decoration and GM.
Greek-born but California-raised, dave stamboulis resides in Bangkok where he works for numerous magazines, newspapers and stock agencies as a freelance photojournalist. His quest for stories and images has taken him to Borneo, Ethiopia, Bolivia, and other way out locations, while his travel book, Odysseus’ Last Stand: Chronicles of a Bicycle Nomad, received the Silver Medal from the Society of American Travel Writers in 2006.
publisher
Mason Florence editor-in-chief
Dr. Jesda M. Tivayanond associate publisher
Parinya Krit-Hat managing editor
Max Crosbie-Jones art director
Christiane Patić designer
Jarmmaree Janjaturonrasamee editorial assistant
Amornsri Tresarannukul Adul Waengemol strategists
Nathinee Chen Sebastien Berger contributing writers
Julia Chinnock, Luc Citrinot, Philip Cornwel-Smith, Leo Devillers, Chris Menist, Simon Ostheimer, Korakot Punlopruksa, Steven Pettifor, Howard Richardson, Noy Thrupkaew, Cassandra Beckford contributing photographers
Dejan Patić, Wynne Cheng, Ben Owen-Browne, Jatuporn Rutnin, Paul Lefevre, Ludovic Cazeba, Austin Bush, Leon Schadeberg, Marc Schultz, Niran Choonhachat, Frédéric Belge, Somchai Phongphaisarnkit director of sales & marketing
Jhone El’Mamuwaldi
director of business development
Erika Teo
sales & marketing manager
Haluethai Wattanapathomvong administrative asssistant
Peeraya Nuchkuar circulation
Pradchya Kanmanee published by
Ben Owen-Browne was just 19 when he decided that picture-
taking was uncool and threw away his camera. This ridiculous error of judgement cost him the next 11 years – during which time he read Literature and Philosophy, wrote travel guides, and worked as a copywriter in the advertising industry. When the inevitable burnout came, Ben jetted to the Himalayas to become a yogi and mystic, and was reborn as a photographer for the second time. The business card has said "Photography - from Weddings to Beheadings", and the base been Bangkok, ever since. www.benowenbrowne.com
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Talisman Media Group Co., Ltd. 113 Soi Tonson, Ploenchit Rd Bangkok 10330 T 02-252-3900 | F 02-650-4557 info@talisman-media.com
© Copyright Talisman Media Group Co., Ltd 2012. 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.
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Hotel Partners
Table of COntents city pulse
food & drink
6 metro beat 10 9 th world film festival 12 incredible ink
54 58 60 62 63 69 70
s n a p s h ot s 14 chronicle of thailand 15 history 17 very thai: nang kwak
nightlife
sightseeing 18 20 20 21 22 23 23 24
museum focus: silpa bhirasri memorial museum historic homes shrines temples parks – flora parks – fauna kids in the city museums
72 74 75 76 79 82 83 84 85
one night in bangkok clubs hotel bars & clubs bars with views bar review: viva & aviv live music jazz clubs pub review: black swan pub crawl
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shopping
t r av e l 26 30 32 35
restaurant reviews street eats bangkok’s best cooking schools meal deals restaurants brunching: tables wine
86 88 90 91 92
upcountry escape : pai upcountry now over the border : climbing mt. kinabalu hotel deals
new collection: the oddyssee market focus: talad rot fai jatujak market jj gem: the twentysecond markets
a r t s & c u lt u r e
wellness
38 40 42 43 44
94 massage & spa 95 massage & meditation classes
exhibitions art 1-on-1: muang krung muang thep theatres & cultural centres reading & screening photo feature: the three baht opera
reference 96 maps 98 getting there
on the cover:
The leading lady and femme fatale at the Three Baht Opera, the subject of this month's photofeature on p.44.
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CITYPULSE
jazz & blues
Jazz pianist Paul Lay, winner of the 2008 soloist prize in France’s Concours National de Jazz de la Défense, performs at the Alliance Française 02-670-4231 on January 12. Tickets are B 400. Hot Danish sax player Jakob Dinesen joins a quartet at Niu’s on Silom 02-266-5333 on January 20. Dinesen has recorded eight albums, including his latest, Dino, which features legendary ex-Bill Evans drummer Paul Motion, and has won three Danish Grammys. He has also recorded with Eddie Gomez, Ben Street and Nasheet Waits. The 4th Thailand International Jazz Conference at Mahidol University, Salaya from January 27 – 29 features artists such as Benny Green, Marcus Strickland and Taylor Eigsti, who will mix performances and workshops. Tickets are B 500 apiece for each performance and workshop or B 2,000 for all three days. Full details are at www.music.mahidol.ac.th
nightlife Highlights of the month at Bed Supperclub 02-6513537, start with Top 20 charters The Freestylers on January 5, before UK duo Skream & Benga bring dubstep on January 12. For details of regular nights at Bed see www.bedsupperclub.com Q Bar 02-252-3274 opened their redesigned lower floor late last month and will rattle the walls with Goldie on January 6. He says: “Some people might call what I do drum ’n’ bass. But I’m not going to narrow it down to what the music industry thinks is commercially viable.” It’s B 800 entry, including two drinks. There’s Latin Dance on two dance floors around a swimming pool every Saturday night at the Imperial Queens Park Hotel 02-261-9000. Rhythms include Salsa, Mambo and Merengueton Latin House. The music flows from 8 pm – 2 am; there’s free entry, and free salsa classes for beginners.
h owa r d Richardson
by
festivals There will be serious street parties all around Yaowarat for the
Chinese New Year Festival on January 23, which this year heralds
the big one – the Year of the Dragon. Along with drums, dragons and fireworks, expect Chinese opera, fashion shows and tasty Taechew and Cantonese food.
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C I T Y P U L S E | M etrobeat
trade shows
rock & POp
Thailand Mobile Expo 2012 presents new mo-
bile phone technology, including software, hardware, accessories and connecting devices. It’s at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre 02-229-3000 from January 26 – 29. See www. thailandmobileexpo.com for more info. There seems as much as they can safely cram under one roof at the Thailand Mega Show 2012, which features books, toys, fashion, food, travel stuff, and a whole lot more at Impact Arena 02-504-5050 from January 7 – 15.
film The 6th Bangkok Experimental Film Festival portrays various films and video, including documentary, animation and installations at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre 02-214-6632 on January 28 – 29 and February 4 – 5. There will also be pre-screening talks and workshops. For the full schedule see
www.beffbeff.com
Over 80 international films make up the 9th World Film Festival of Bangkok at Paragon Cineplex, The Esplanade and the 9 th Srinakarin cinemas from January 20 – 27. The opener is the Thai film I Carried You Home, directed by Tongpong Chantarangkul, with other highlights being the Werner Herzog documentary The Cave of Forgotten Dreams and several movies from the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week. To close, live musicians will accompany Aki Kaurismaki’s music documentary Total Balalaika Show. The full schedule is at
www.worldfilmbkk.com
Moonstar Studio 02-539-3881 continues its impressive run of concerts with the arrival of The Naked and Famous on January 17. Local audiences should warm to lead singer Alisa Xayalith, of ThaiChinese descent, as she delivers songs like ‘Young Blood’, ‘Punching in a Dream’ and other tracks from their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You. The New Zealanders were recent winners of the BBC’s Sound of 2011. Tickets are B1,000 from Thai Ticket major 02-262-3456, www.thaiticketmajor.com Sukhumvit Soi 51 event space Opposite 02-662-6330, www. oppositebangkok.com, is predicting a wonderful night of music on January 20, namely the raw and funky, hard-to-classify, New Orleans street-band sounds of El Dealbreakers. Tickets are B 250. K-Pop comes to Bangkok in the form of Korean twin sisters Jayesslee, who play Centrepoint Playhouse, Central World 02-640-7000 on January 22. Tickets start at B1,200 from Thai Ticketmajor 02-262-3456, www.thaiticketmajor.com Self-styled flower-punk rockers from Atlanta, Georgia Black Lips have a reputation for nudity, fireworks and vomiting at their shows, so anything could happen when they appear at Nakarin Theatre on January 28. They’ve knocked out six albums since forming in 1999, the latest of which is Arabia Mountain, produced by Amy Winehouse collaborator Mark Ronson. Tickets are B1,200 from Total Reservation 02-833-5555, www.totalreservation.com
The Goethe-Institut 02-287-0942 hosts German Open Air Cinema in the garden every Tuesday at 7:30 pm throughout January and February. The
January schedule is Close To You (Dir: Almut Getto, Jan 3); The Day Of The Cat (Wolfgang Panzer, Jan 10); Elephant Heart (Züli Aladag, Jan 17); Sasha (Dennis Todorovic, Jan 24) and Afternoon (Angela Schanelec, Jan 31). The films are German language with English subtitles. Free admission. bangkok101.com
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After gifting us with the catchiest track of last year, The Supremes-esque Kit Mak, Palmy celebrates her ongoing reign of female Thai pop with concerts at Muang Thong Thani’s Impact Arena on January 28 and 29. Available from Thai Ticketmajor 02-262-3456, www.thaiticketmajor.com, tickets range
from B 500 to B 3,000.
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CITYPULSE
food & drinks
Bangkok’s ever growing culinary scene welcomed another upscale franchise with the launch of London’s Zuma restaurant in the St. Regis Hotel 02-252-4707 last month. The “contemporary Japanese izakaya style of informal eating and drinking” includes dishes like Dynamite Spider Maki Roll (soft shell crab, chilli mayonnaise, cucumber and wasabi tobiko sauce) and Tsubumiso Gake Hinadori No Obun Yaki (baby chicken marinated in barley miso, oven roasted on cedar wood). We’ll have a full review of Zuma in next month’s Bangkok 101. Imported chefs plate braai, bunny chow and sundry specialities for the
South African Food & Wine Festival at the Rembrandt Hotel 02-261-7100 from January 12 – 21. Four restaurants
participate, including Rang Mahal and Senor Pico, and there will be barbecues around the pool to enjoy with South African wines and cocktails. Guest chef Maurice Lawson from Gordon Ramsay’s New York prepares a six course Thai Wine Promotion at the Seafood Bar 02-663-8863 from January 17 – 21. It consists of a set tasting menu paired with a selection of local labels. Dishes include deep fried lobster ravioli with Sawadee Chenin Blanc and blackened snapper, gnocchi and Dungeness crab hash with PB Valley Reserve Chenin Blanc. The price is B 2,500 ++ with recommended wine pairing, B1,500++ without. The guys at The Water Library opened a trailblazing new place on Thonglor last month, with the promise of a Michelin-starred chef joining the team. See review p. 61.
culture There’s a water colour exhibition called Images of a Disappearing Isaan from January 3 - 29; a Chinese New Year Party on January 21; and the Neilson Hays Annual Book Sale on January 27 and 28, all at the Neilson Hays Library 02-233-1731
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theatre In the gardens of the Alliance Francaise (02670-4230, www.alliance-francaise.or.th) the Troupe des deux Mondes theatre company will perform ‘24 heures de la vie d’une
femme’, a French adaptation of Austrian writer Stefan Zweig’s novella, ‘Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman’, on January 19, 21, 22, 26 and 28. Staged as a monologue by director David Drai, the performance will kick off celebrations marking the cultural centre’s 100 th anniversary. Tickets are B250 for members, B400 for non-members.
All Soul’s Cabaret 084-109-9588 presents Manco Li Cani (No Even Dogs), an ensemble of short performances every Saturday of January and February. The show looks
at the amusing sides of Bangkok through the eyes of a multicultural group of comedians, with characters including a Roman Centurion working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant. Shows start at 7:30 pm. Entrance is B 300 or B 500 with a glass of Italian wine and Aperitivo Italiano, consisting of garlic bread, fries, pizza slices, etc. There are more details at www.all-soul.org
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C I T Y P U L S E | M etrobeat
Art & Design The Thailand Creative & Design Centre (TCDC) 02-664-8448 has a pair of exhibitions this month. CRISS + CROSS: Design from Switzerland looks at design from Le Corbusier to the Helvetica font; Foodjects: Design & New Cuisine in Spain examines the phenomenal success of Spanish cuisine, including daily screenings of chapters from the documentary El Bulli: The History of a Dream. Both exhibitions run until January 22. Admission is free.
Restaurant Review
The Liit A quiet, unassuming, too-bright restaurant tucked away from the ground floor crowds of K Village is a surprising place to find such inspired cooking. The Liit has some classic Italian dishes, but chef Emanuele Serra, from Sardinia adds a personal signature he describes as “Unconventional. I’m just looking for good tastes combining my home experience with the country of Thailand.” A good example is the cold spicy spaghettini salad, a standard Sardinian recipe using tomatoes, celery and good strong shavings of bottarga, but with the addition of Thai salad elements. There are stabs of chilli and coriander, and while this is not as sour as a Thai salad, the cured fish roe is well within the Thai flavour spectrum. The dish is one of the more successful I’ve tasted of the many Bangkok attempts at melding Thai and Italian flavours.
getting there
THE LIIT map 4 / O9 2nd F K Village | Sukhumvit Soi 26 02-665-6447 | 11 am – 10 pm
Other good choices include onion ice cream with home-smoked fish on a crispy wafer of Parma ham. All astringency is salted out of the onion before preparation, so you’re left with a salty, crunchy, creamy, and perhaps a little too sweet blend that nevertheless works very well. And deep-fried sea bass marinated in garlic, ginger, lime and soy sauce comes on a shallow bed of lime soup, which gives the underside of the fish a different texture and strata of flavours to the top. To finish maybe try vanilla pannacotta, presented beautifully in layers with mango cream and passion fruit jelly, with jasmine rice ice-cream on the side. This looks a tough location for a restaurant like this, but such experimental chefly panache is well worth supporting if you’re in the area. เดอะลิตท์ สุขุมวิท ซ.26
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CITYPULSE
Juliets
Cahaya and Saiful
Passing through the night
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C I T Y P U L S E | W orld F ilm F estival
9 World Film Festival of Bangkok th
Now in Bangkok: One of the casualties of the recent flooding was the World Film Festival, a week-long jamboree of world cinema excellence that was due to take place back in late November. More often than not, when cultural festivals such as these are cancelled they stay cancelled – the logistics and financial costs involved in rescheduling and obtaining film prints are just too insurmountable. Imagine our delight, then, when we heard that the ninth edition of this leaner, more dependable alternative to the Bangkok International Film Festival – which is still languishing in purgatory – has been rescheduled for this month, and with the majority of its original programme still intact. Due to run at screens at Ratchada’s Esplanade Cineplex from January 20 to 27, it’s a three-way tie-up between the Ministry of Culture, the Nation Broadcasting Corporation and the Major Cineplex Group. Much more importantly, the festival is once again in the safe hands of long time director and local arts maven Kriengsak ‘Victor’ Silakong. This year he’s handpicked 84 silver screen gems that would otherwise never (or only fleetingly) see the light of day here – an eclectic parade of exactly the sort of arthouse and world film fare that normally gets sidelined in favour of the latest Hollywood money train.
when / where
Lined-up for the festival opening at Paragon’s Cineplex on January 20 is the debut feature by Thai director Tongpong Chantarangkul. Originally pitched at the festival’s Produire au Sud film development workshop back in 2008, I Carried You Home tells of two estranged sisters, Pinn and Pann, and their journey home with their mother’s dead body. Other highlights include Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, about ancient cave paintings in Southern France, and three Thai films that screenedl at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours, the debut feature by ac-
claimed artist Rirkrit Tiravanijais, is the story of an old man in rural Chiang Mai, while P-047 is a wicked comedy by Kongdej Jaturanrasmee about two guys who break into people's houses while the owners are out. Respected Bangkok Post film critic Kong Rithdee recently called it “one of the best Thai films of the year”. Wattanapume Laisuwanchai’s short film Passing through the Night will also screen.
There will be no director retrospective this year. “Instead we’re going to mark the 50 th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival’s Critics’ Week in by screening some of the best films screened in it,” Silakong says, “including the latest, Las Acacias, by Argentinean director Pablo Giorgelli.” However, one director will be on the receiving end of adulation: Hungary’s master of uncompromising black-and-white cinema, Bela Tarr, will come to pick up the festival’s Lotus Award, and speak at a screening of his latest film, The Turin Horse. To raise awareness of the abilities and potential of people with autism, a strand of the festival has been organised hand in hand with the Autism Awareness Association. “Very moving” is how Silakong sums up his pick For Once In My Life: a cinema veritestyle look at the lives of a group of autistic factory workers who perform in a live band in their spare time. Of the films appearing across the festival’s five categories (Cine Latino, Cinema Beat, Doc Feast, Short Wave and Asian Contemporary), Silakong also recommends you catch Juliets – a collection of three modern Taiwanese shorts that reinterpret Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Also riding high on his hot pick’s list are Marite Ugas’s The Kid Who Lies, about a Venezuelan boy who makes up stories about his missing mother; and a documentary, The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, about ground-breaking performance
artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and the daring sexual transformation he underwent to resemble his lover.
Closing this seven day blip of cinematic excellence (and hastening our return to the art-house wilderness) on January 27 will be a free screening of Aki Kaurismaki’s rare cult music documentary Total Balalaika Show, along with live music, in the open space at Rama IX Road’s The Nine shopping centre.
January 20– 27 Esplanade Cineplex, 2nd – 5th F The Esplanade MRT Thailand Cultural Centre ticketing /programm
Head to www.worldfilmbkk.com for the full line-up and ticketing info. bangkok101.com
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CITYPULSE
INCREDIBLE INK
A new coffeetable book taps deep into Thailand’s magical tattoo tradition story By Max Crosbie-Jones | Photos by Dan White
L
ast year was a big year for sak yan, Thailand’s centuries-old tattoo tradition. There was a Bangkok photo exhibition, a mini-controversy, when the government suggested a ban on foreigners getting them, and the release of the first English language book on the subject, Sacred Skin. Now, the West’s fascination with these magically charged body canvases – black-blue scrawls of arcane geometric and animal patterns intermingled with equally arcane script – looks set to continue with the release of the most comprehensive English book on the subject yet: Sacred Tattoos of Thailand.
Eighteen months in the making, it’s a 200 -page coffeetable book produced by the same duo who brought us 2009’s meticulously researched Buddhist Temples of Thailand: British photographer Dan White and seasoned travel guidebook author, American Joe Cummings. Comparisons with its precursor are inevitable, but neither book comes out badly. If Sacred Skin, with its stunning studio pictures, splashy quotes and lively prose, offered an accessible and slightly artsy introduction to the tradition, then Sacred Tattoos is the more intense and scholarly companion piece – the quietly written but definitive resource for true ink aficionados.
Ink’, with its rigorous descriptions of how tattoo lore – or weechaa – is passed on, and designs given ‘power’ by the writing and chanting of khaathaa (verses), demonstrates that even if sak yan is all hocus pocus, it’s one of the most beguilingly complex forms of hocus pocus you’re ever likely to encounter. What really set Sacred Tattoos apart, though, are its sprawling profiles of many of Thailand’s most revered and in-demand tattoo masters, or ajhan. Much of Joe’s research for the book entailed travelling to meet and spend time with these men (and it is just men – only they can harness the powers required for the role we’re told), watching them at work in their samnaks (tattoo huts). This quest led him and Dan to mountain temples, shacks hidden down winding rural lanes and crowded urban slums, among other remote corners of the country.
Hardwork, no doubt, but worth it… from the story of how Ajahn Noo, the master who applied a haa theaw (five rows) design to Angelina Jolie’s shoulder back in 2003, rose to fame, to his meeting with Ajahn Kamthorn, a monk who practiced the northern Lanna-style and passed away shortly after his visit, this is first-rate on-the-ground research that will be serving tattoo scholars and enthusiasts for generations to come. Arguably the man most responsible for kickstarting the Thai Bringing it all to life is Dan White’s reportage-style photograbackpacking revolution, Mr. Thai Lonely Planet, Joe is well phy: unposed, in the thick of it, honest. known in these parts for his command of the language and his “The light and the clutter were the main challenges,” he says. respect for and knowledge of Thai customs and culture. Here, “Samnaks are practical places, often crowded and not set up he uses both to deconstruct in laymen’s terms the hotchpotch for aesthetics, so it was sometimes difficult with harsh fluoresof Hindu, Buddhist and animist beliefs and practices that are cent tubes and bits of old paper everywhere and people millsaid to lend sak yan their magico-religious potency – their puring about. My aim was to portray the reality and not prettify ported ability to protect the wearer from mishaps, bad spirits, it or make it stylised or conform to any preconception I might and even, some believe, bullets. have had.” It’s an approach that will surely be appreciated by As with Sacred Skin, it opens with chapters on their history the many followers of this oft misrepresented and misunderand origin, but Joe delves deeper and goes back further, trac- stood tradition, and help ensure this excellent book finds its ing the origins of tattoo lore in the region to the proto-Tai, the rightful place amid the clutter. early ethnic group that Thais – and most Southeast Asians – are thought to have descended from. Another chapter, ‘Magic
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C I T Y P U L S E | incredible ink
Sacred Tattoos of Thailand is published by Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) and retails for B 995 at bookstores. Asia Books are selling it for the reduced price of B 650.
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SNAPSHOT
Child rebel leaders surrender in the jungle
16 January 2001
Thai security forces took rebel twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo, and 14 other Christian ethnic Karen insurgents into custody. The teenage brothers had led a self-declared God’s Army inside Myanmar, whose 150 followers had sought to create an autonomous or independent zone for Myanmar’s Karen minority. The long-haired Htoo twins surrendered along the broader at Ratchaburi. Since 2000, they had lost their ability to wage a guerrilla war and were struggling to survive in the jungle. “We had seized them, including the twins, who are not so healthy following our twoweek-long encirclement sealing the broader area, denying them food,” said Maj Gen Mana Prajakjitr. Followers of the Htoo twins claimed the brothers had ‘black tongues’ and supernatural powers, but an inspection by Thai force debunked those tales. “I am afraid,” Johnny told reporters. They wanted to return home, go to school and live a normal life, and said they were between 13 and 15 years old. The skinny Htoo brothers were sent to their parents, who lived in Ban Tong Yang refugee camp in Thailand. Other Karen rebels taken into custody included some who allegedly killed six Thai villagers in Ratchaburi on 30 December 2000. Other God’s Army rebels were blamed for seizing a hospital in Ratchaburi in January 2000 and holding 800 patients and hospital staff hostage for 22 hours; the siege ended when Thai troops stormed the building and killed all 10 insurgents. 14 | JA N UA RY 2012
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Chronicle of Thailand | EDM Books editor-in-chief Nicholas Grossman B1,450 Chronicle of Thailand is the story of Thailand during the reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Beginning on the day he was crowned, 9 June
1946, the book presents a vivid eye witness account of Thailand’s development through
the major news events of the last 64 years. Alongside a grandstand view of events as they
unfolded and quirky aspects of daily life that
just happened to make the news, the book features thousands of rare and fascinating pictures and illustrations, representing one of the most comprehensive photo collections
of Thailand ever produced. Every month in Bangkok 101, we serialise a major news story
that sheds light on this month in the history of the Kingdom.
bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:20
snapshot | X X X X X X X X X
กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหา ดิลกภพ นพรัตนราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์ * (The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated God, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.) * Original name of the City of Bangkok
snapshot: History of Bangkok Bangkok became the capital of Thailand in 1782 , when the royal court relocated from the city of Ayutthaya, which had been left in ruins following years of conflict with the Burmese. After settling temporarily on the western banks of the Chao Phraya River in Thonburi, the capital moved again, this time to the area of Rattanakosin in present-day Bangkok. Almost entirely surrounded by water, the new location was easier to defend against potential attacks. The final move marked the beginning of the Chakri Dynasty. Rama I named the new capital Krung Thep (City of Angels) in reference to the past glories of Ayutthaya, and he ordered the construction of two of the Kingdom’s most illustrious religious monuments, Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace, to consolidate the new capital’s ruling status. During the subsequent reigns of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and his son King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), the city developed rapidly, culminating in the modernisation and explosive growth of the 20th century. After visiting European capitals, Rama V moved the royal family to the leafy enclave of Dusit. The modern architectural monuments built in this neighbourhood include the Thai Parliament Building, the impressive marble Wat Benchama Bophit and the enormous teak Vimanmek Mansion. bangkok101.com
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Greater Bangkok now occupies nearly 1.5 square kilometres and is home to some 12 million residents. Rattanakosin remains the spiritual centre of the city, graced by the dazzling splendour of the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew and nearby Wat Po. Modern downtown Bangkok stretches southeast of Rattanakosin and looks very much like many other Southeast Asian capitals, with gleaming skyscrapers, deluxe apartment projects and lots of snarled traffic. The core of the new city encompasses the Sathorn / Silom districts and Sukhumvit Road, which include upscale shopping plazas and leafy public parks. These major downtown neighbourhoods are connected by the BTS Skytrain and the MRT subway systems. These gradually-expanding public transportation networks, with their bright, snaking trains carrying wideeyed tourists and weary commuters alike, have not only helped relieve the city’s notorious traffic congestion and pollution, but given this City of Angels a modern, 21st century feel.
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bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:20
snapshot | V ery T hai
เวรี่ ไท ย
Nang Kwak
The beckoning lady brings business and love
“Those who don’t ask don’t get” runs the English proverb and Thai shopkeepers aren’t shy to ask for more custom. Most unambiguous of all the trade talismans, nang kwak (beckoning lady) ushers in business at restaurants, shops and stalls. Many assume she’s a copy of maneki-neko, the Japanese beckoning cat often seen performing the same role beside her, but Nang Kwak has a separate local origin. Dressed in traditional costume and crown, she sits Thai-style – legs tucked in, left hand on floor or thigh – her right arm half-raised to beckon. In the courteous way that Thais summon taxis, waiters or social juniors, her palm faces down. Were nang kwak’s fingers pointing up, trade would suffer. Made by men, that rude gesture aggressively challenges; made by women, it’s a raunchy signal to “come hither”. Actually, nang kwak does have a sexy side. Like many amulets, she doubles as a love charm, though in the form of leaves from the plant of the same name. “In junior high school half a dozen girls in my class would wrap nang kwak leaves in a handkerchief to place in their top pocket to find a boyfriend,” recalls Chatchai Ngoenprakairat, 24. Coloured red or green with a white centre, these leaves curl down – an auspicious trait seen as beckoning. Leaves have a limited life however, so their power was extended by carving a beckoning figure from the herb’s tuber root. Over time, the sculptures were enlarged and executed in ivory, bronze, clay or a particular wood (notably the fig tree). Most elegant in gold leafed black lacquer, they’re often now plaster or plastic, moulded and painted with the same imprecision as spirit house attendant figures, among whom nang kwak sometimes sits. bangkok101.com
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Very Thai Everyday Popular Culture | River Books hardcover | with photos by John Goss & Philip Cornwel-Smith | B 995 Very Thai – Everyday Popular Culture is a book that almost every foreigner living in Bangkok has on their bookshelf, a virtual bible on Thailand’s pop culture. For page
after colourful page, city resident and author
Philip Cornwel-Smith guides readers on an
unconventional tour of the quirky everyday things that make Thailand truly Thai. From
the 60-plus mini-chapters, we present a dif ferent excerpt every month. Prepare yourself properly for the sideways logic in what seems
exotic, and snap up a copy of Very Thai now at any good book shop.
JA N UA RY 2012 | 17
22/12/2011 18:20
Remembering the Father of
Thai Modern Art by Amornsri Tresarannukul
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อเมซิ่ง = AMAZING MUSEUM FOCUS: Silpa Bhirasri Memorial Museum Have you ever looked up at one of Bangkok’s regal monuments and wondered who made it? For the answer you need to go back eighty-nine years, to 1923, when the first farang (western) artist arrived in Thailand and shook up the local art scene forever.
mustard yellow walls. Looking at them it’s clear that cubism and surrealism had a big influence on mid 20th century Thai art. Also on display in glass cases are some of the professor’s belongings: his glasses, stationary, work implements, and even some old watercolour palettes. And displayed on plinths dotted around the room are sculptures by Ajarn Corrado Feroci, to give him his real Italian name, arrived Silpa and some of his students, including a famous, flowhere after quitting his job as a professor at The Academy flowing figure of a lady by Kien Yimsiri. of Fine Arts in Florence. Though it was a dramatic move, he did so with good reason, after winning a contest con- In the office next door, more objects conjure a sense of ducted by the Italian government on behalf of King Rama VI. the life he lived. Centre place sits the desk and chair he This reformist monarch was on the lookout for a western- used when reviewing his students’ work. The Olympia typeer who could come and help decorate Siam with exalted, writer he used to pen letter and his art textbooks on is also Italian-style sculptures, and Corrado Feroci was the perfect here, as is a framed copy of the picture that all Silpakorn man for the job. students know as his signature portrait, and even a copy of a love letter to his wife. Silpa Bhirasri remains a revered He fulfilled his duties with aplomb, giving Bangkok many of figure, especially among Silpakornians, and this museum is its most iconic monuments, including statues of King Rama a hallowed space that all Thai art buffs should visit. Also I, King Rama VI, and King Taksin, all of which still stand worth checking out is the nearby National Gallery, which proud today. But aside from these works of art, this kruu gives an impression of how Thai modern art has evolved farang, as his students respectfully called him, is also credsince. ited with single-handedly fostering the country’s contemporary art scene, and so rightfully earning his sobriquet as getting there “The Father of Modern Art in Thailand.” There are a lot of entrances in to Silpakorn University. To He founded the School of Fine Arts in 1933, and went avoid getting lost, we recommend using the door into the on to establish the country’s first university of fine arts, Fine Arts Department, which is opposite Sanam Luang, the Silpakorn, in 1943. It was in his free classes, given in the royal grounds near the Grand Palace. Another way to get in office which today houses this museum, that the foundais via the Au Bon Pain located in one of the shophouses on tions for a new Thai aesthetic, one that moved away from Na Phra Lan road. Walk out through the café and you’ll see the old obsession with the Indian and Khmer styles seen in the yellow building on your left. religious paintings and architecture at that time, were also laid. Having changed his name to Silpa Bhirasri after World where War II (reputedly to avoid being captured), he went on to teach until shortly before passing away at the age of 69, as a Silpa Bhirasri Memorial Museum Map 7 / C8 Registered Heritage Building, Thailand Fine Arts fully fledged Thai citizen. Department, Naphrathat Rd | 02-223-6162 | Mon – Fri In the narrow room that houses the free museum in hon9 am – 4 pm, closed Sat, Sun + public holidays | free our of this influential immigrant, paintings by his graduates, many of whom are now legendary Thai artists, hang on the พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติ ศิลป์ พีระศรี อนุสรณ ์ถ.หน้าพระธาตุ
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Sightseeing
historic homes
ANANTA SAMAKHOM PALACE Throne Hall map 8 / F8 Uthong Nai Rd | opp. Dusit Zoo | Dusit 8:30 am – 4 pm | B 50 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 mounted on a horse that is still worshipped today. พระที่นั่งอนันตสมาคม ถ.อู่ทองใน ดุสิต
Shrines
M.R. KUKRIT’S HOUSE map 5 / H8 19 Soi Phra Pinit, Sathorn Rd BTS Chong Nonsi | 02-286-8185 Sat, Sun & Holidays 10 am – 5 pm, Mon – Fri by appt. only | B 50 / B 20 kids Kukrit Pramoj was one of Thailand’s mostloved statesmen of the 20 th century. A natural all-rounder, he was a poet, a writer and even served as prime minister. His peaceful abode with its lovely gardens, now on show to the public and off the tourist trail, is a terrific example of traditional Thai architecture. บ้านหม่อมราชวงศ์คึกฤทธิ์ ซ.พระพินิจ สาทรใต้
VIMANMEK MANSION map 8 / F8 139/2 Ratchawithi Rd | Dusit 02-281-1569 | 9 am – 4 pm | B100 The world’s largest teakwood building was originally built on the island of Koh Si Chang, in 1868 , and then moved, piece by piece, to Bangkok for use by King Rama V. Its 81 rooms spread over three floors overlook a beautiJIM THOMPSON HOUSE 3 / A3 ful garden. Inside, many of his acquisitions 6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama I Rd from international trips are on display, includBTS National Stadium | 02-216-7368 ing possibly the first bathtub in the kingdom. www.jimthompsonhouse.com Regular tours in English are held daily. 9 am – 5 pm | B100 / B 50 students Visionary American Jim Thompson was พระที่นั่งวิมานเมฆ ถ.ราชวิถี เขตดุสิต the Princeton graduate and former spook who spearheaded the hand-woven Thai silk revival before disappearing mysteriously in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands in 1967. One of the things to do in Bangkok is visit his home beside a pungent canal: six traditional teak houses from around the country kept exactly as he left them, and brimful with art and antiques rescued from around Asia – everything from limestone Buddha statues to European furniture and a cat-shaped por- WANG SUAN PAKKARD map 8 / J11 celain bedpan. Free tour guides discuss these Si Ayutthaya Rd, Ratchathewi | BTS Phaya exquisite treasures and the much-mythol- Thai | 02-245-4934 | www.suanpakkad.com ogised life of the man himself. And the sun- 9 am – 4 pm | B100 dappled tropical garden they sit in, a lovely A former market garden that was convertplace to while away a tranquil hour. There’s ed into a residence and garden by Princess also a shop selling his trademark designs, an Chumbot. Consisting of five reconstructed art gallery and a café. Ban Krua, the Muslim Thai wooden houses, Wang Suan Pakkard silk-weaving community he commissioned, is pays testament to her dedication to collecting also nearby. Thai artefacts and antiques. บ้านไทย จิมทอมป์สัน ซ.เกษมสันต์ 2 วังสวนผักกาด ถ.ศรีอยุธยา ราชเทวี ตรงข้ามสนามกีฬาแห่งชาติ 20 | JA N UA RY 2012
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ERAWAN SHRINE map 3 / G5 Ratchadamri Rd, near Grand Hyatt Erawan BTS Chit Lom 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, which performs for a nominal fee. Fancy making an offering? Buy a set from the surrounding stalls, and starting with your back to the main entrance walk around it clockwise, offering three incense sticks, a candle, garland and a piece of gold leaf to each of the four faces. พระพรหมเอราวัณ ถ.ราชดำ�ริ
GANESHA SHRINE map 3 / G3 Outside Centralworld and Isetan Department Store | Ratchadamri Rd Perhaps the most recognisable Hindu deity, a silent 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. พระพิฆเนศวร หน้าห้างอิเซตัน
TRIMURTI SHRINE map 3 / G3 Outside Centralworld and Isetan Department Store | Ratchadamri Rd If your love life is lacking a little omph then this shrine is for you: at 9:30 pm each Thursday it’s rumoured that Lord Trimurti descends from the heavens to answer prayers of the heart. To maximise your chances of meeting your dream partner you should offer nine-red incense sticks, red candles, red roses and fruit. พระตรีมูรติ หน้าห้างอิเซตัน ศูนย์การค้าเซนทรัลเวิลด์
bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:20
sightseeing | temples
TEMPLES
WAT PO (reclining buddha) map 7 / D11 Chetuphon, Thai Wang Rd 02-226-0369 | www.watpho.com 8 am – noon and 1 pm – 5 pm | B 50 The Temple of the Reclining Buddha is the oldest and largest wat in Bangkok. Originating in the 16 th century, it houses the largest reclining Buddha statue in Thailand as well as the greatest number of Buddha images. Wat Po is also the centre for traditional Thai medicine and a learning centre for Thai massage (see p.101). The 45 m long statue depicts the Buddha entering nirvana and is impressive both for its size and the mother-of-pearl detail on the soles of the feet, a blueprint revealing the 108 auspicious signs of a genuine Buddha. วัดโพธิ์ ถ.เชตุพน
THE GRAND PALACE & WAT PHRA KAEW map 7 / C,D9 Na Phra Lan Rd, near Sanam Luang 02-222-0094 | 8:30 am – 4:30 pm B 400 incl. entry to Vimanmek Mansion dress respectfully Bangkok’s most beloved temple (and top tourist site) is a fantastical, mini-city sized royal complex enclosed by quaintly crenulated whitewalls. Building began in 1782 , the year Bangkok was founded, and every monarch subsequent to King Rama I has expanded or enhanced it. Today, despite being able to visit many sights on its grounds, much of it remains off-limits. The Chakri Mahaprasat Hall – colloquially known as the "Westerner in a Thai hat" – is worth seeing, and there are some state halls and rooms open to visitors. The highlight, though, is the Emerald Buddha – Thailand’s most sacred Buddhist relic – and the = temple purpose-built to house it, Wat Phra Kaew, where hundreds pay their respects each day. Remember to dress respectfully as a strict no shorts or sleeveless shirts policy is enforced. WAT MAHATHAT map 7 / C6 พระบรมมหาราชวัง และ วัดพระแก้ว Tha Prachan, Sanam Luang, Mahratch Rd ถ.หน้าพระลาน (ใกล้สนามหลวง) 02-221-5999 | 9 am – 5 pm | free An amulet market is situated near this 18 th century centre of the Mahanikai monastic sect and an important university of Buddhist teaching. On weekends, market stalls are set up on the grounds to complement the vendors of traditional medicines and herbal potions. Courses on Buddhism are given in English. วัดมหาธาตุ ท่าพระจันทร์ สนามหลวง WAT ARUN map 8 / B13 Temple of Dawn | Arun Amarin Rd 02-465-5640 | www.watarun.org 8 am – 5 pm | B 20 Across the river from Wat Po is Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn, one of the city’s most important and beguiling religious sites. Before being moved to Wat Phra Kaew, the Emerald Buddha was temporarily housed here. The five-towered structure is covered almost entirely in pieces of colourful porcelain and designed as a representation of Mount Mehru, the Khmer home of the gods. The temple is believed to have been named by Rama I on his first sunrise visit, but in contrast with its name, it is best visited at dusk when the setting sun forms a stunning backdrop. วัดอรุณราชวราราม ถ.อรุณอัมรินทร์ ผั่งตะวันตกของแม่น้ำ�เจ้าพระยา bangkok101.com
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WAT RATCHANATDA map 7 / J7 Mahachai Rd | Phra Nakhorn 02-224-8807 | 9 am – 5 pm | free This temple, a centre for buying amulets, features the bizarre multitiered Loh Prasat. Collecting amulets is popular in Thailand and many believe these miniature images of Buddha possess spiritual powers, protecting the wearer and bringing good fortune. วัดราชนัดดา ถ.มหาชัย พระนคร
WAT SAKET map 7 / K7 Chakkraphatdiphong Rd, Sattruphai 02-233-4561 | 7:30 am – 5:30 pm | 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 built a smaller chedi on top, which was subsequently expanded to house a Buddhist relic inside. วัดสระเกศ ถ.จักรพรรดิพงษ์
WAT SUTHAT & GIANT SWING map 7 / H9 Bamrung Muang Rd, Phra Nakhorn 02-222-9632 | 9 am – 5 pm | B 20 Surrounded by perhaps the greatest concentration of Buddhist supply shops in Bangkok, Wat Suthat is one of the most important Buddhist centres in the kingdom and home to some 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. However, the practice proved a bit too dangerous and was banned in the 1930 s. วัดสุทัศน์ ถ.บำ�รุงเมือง พระนคร ตรงข้ามเสาชิงช้า
WAT TRAIMIT map 6 / K3 661 Hua Lamphong, Charoen Krung Rd 02-623-1226 | 8 am – 5 pm | B 20 Housed safely in this unassuming Chinatown temple is the world’s largest solid gold Buddha. Weighing over five tonnes and standing over three metres high, its worth has been estimated at over 10 million US$ . วัดไตรมิตร หัวลำ�โพง (เยาวราช) JA N UA RY 2012 | 21
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Sightseeing
parks – Flora
BANG KRACHAO map 1 / E6 Bang Krachao, Phra Pradaeng, Samut Prakan 02-461-097 | 6 am – 8 pm | Free It’s hard to believe that this oasis of lush orchards and mangroves is just opposite the concrete jungle of Klong Toey. Included within it is the 200 -rai Suan Klang Central Park with a large pond where you can rent paddle boats for B30 . Or rent cycles for the same rate and ride a bike around the park then head down to the Bang Nam Pueng Floating Market. บางกระเจ้า พระประแดง
LUMPINI PARK map 8 / J,K-15,16 Entrances on Rama IV, Sarasin, Witthayu and Ratchadamri Roads 5 am – 9pm, cycling, skating 10 am – 3 pm | free Come here when it all gets too much, when you can stand the din and traffic no more. The biggest and most popular slice of public space in Central Bangkok, Lumpini Park is 142 acres of trees and grass sewn together with wide, meandering concrete paths. Busy as soon as the sun rises and again around sunset, Bangkokians of every ilk take advantage of the relative cool and quiet to practice Tai Chi, do aerobics, hold hands or jog around the picturesque lakes. A surprising number of animals also like it here – from turtles and giant monitor lizards, to flocks of crows and the occasional stray cat. Activities include taking a Swan-shaped pedal boat out onto the water for a quick spin and pumping iron at the outdoor gym, while live concert recitals and film screenings take place here during the cool season. There are entrances on each of its four sides, all of them open till 9pm, but the most impressive is the one at the corner of Rama IV Road and Ratchadamri Road, where a grand statue of King Rama VI stands sentinel.
Benjasiri park map 4 / M7 Between Soi 22 and 24, Sukhumvit Road Klongtan Sub-District Bangkok 10110 Right next to the Phrom Phong BTS Skytrain station, this is a great place to escape the Sukhumvit rat race – amble around lakes, chase cooing pigeons, find shade under a tree, and admire pretty Thai sculptures. สวนเบญจสิริ อยู่ระหว่าง สุขุมวิท ซ.22 – ซ.24
สวนลุมพินี เข้าได้ทาง ถ.พระราม 4 ถ.สารสิน ถ.วิทยุและ ถ.ราชดำ�ริ 7
8
9
Sarasin
JATUJAK & QUEEN SIRIKIT PARKS map #8 / L2 820 Phahonyothin Rd, Ladyao | Jatujak 02-272-4358 | 5 am – 6:30 pm | free These two parks situated not far from the mayhem of the weekend market offer some much-needed respite. Many depleted shoppers can be found taking a breather here, their bags of JJ booty splayed out on the lawn beside them. Jatujak Park hosts some art exhibits and a collection of old railway engines and ancient automobiles. Nearby, Queen Sirikit Park has a botanical garden. สวนจตุจักรและ สวนสมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสิริกิติ์ 820 ถ. พหลโยธิน จตุจักร
RAMA IX ROYAL PARK map 1 / F5 Sukhumvit 103 Road, behind Seri Center Pravet | 02-328-1972 | 5:30am – 7 pm | B10 The biggest in Bangkok, this 200 -acre park features a small museum dedicated to the king, set amongst pleasant botanical gardens with soothing water features. สวนหลวง ร.9 ถ.สุขุมวิท 103 (หลังพาราไดส์ พาร์ค) ประเวศ
6 Radio Station
Lumpini Head Office
5
dam
ri
Glas House
Elderly Center Playground
Yaovarach Pavillon
Raja
7.56
Lumpini School
1
km
Youth Center
Aerobic Octagon Pavillon
Lumpini Park
Library
Witthayu
Lanna Thai Pavillon Entertainment Building Lily Pond 4 Rama VI Statue
Silom
N
Thailand China Friendship Pavillon Lumpini Youth Center
JP
Lumpini Hall Chinese Pavillon
Indoor Stadium
Ram
a IV
Bodybuilding 3
Playground Clock Tower
20o ft 100 m
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2
Lumphini
ROSE GARDEN RIVERSIDE (Suan Sampram) map 1 / D5 32 Phet Kasem Road, Yai-Cha, Sampran, Nakhon Pathom | 03-432- 2544 www.rosegardenriverside.com | 10 am – 4 pm B 500 Take an hour’s drive out from the city and explore this 70-acre property located beside the Ta Chine River, which includes a hotel resort, golf course, spa, organic farm and botanical gardens. The cultural shows here are about as popular as the gardens. โรสการ์เด้น ริเวอร์ไซด์ สวนสามพราน ถ.เพชรเกษม bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:20
Kids in the city
SARANROM PARK map 7 / E10 Intersection of Rachini and Charoenkrung Rd Phra Nakhon | 5 am – 8 pm | free This ‘green belt’ within the city is located opposite the Grand Palace, built in 1866 during the reign of Rama IV as a royal garden of the Saranrom Royal Palace. It is now a botanical garden and public park, featuring a glass house, and royal bugle pavilion. สวนสราญรมย์ แยกราชินี ถ.เจริญกรุง
parks – Fauna
BANGKOK BUTTERFLY GARDEN map 8 / L2 Suan Rot Fai Park, Kamphaeng Phet 3 Rd | 02- 272-4359 | Tue – Sun+public holidays 8:30 am – 4:30 pm | free This dome-enclosed sanctuary not from JJ Market houses over 500 species of butterflies fluttering freely in the mazes of the landscaped gardens, with their wild flowers, canopied benches, ponds and waterfalls. Besides butterfly watching, visitors can picnic or rent a bicycle for around B 30. อุทยานผีเสื้อและแมลงกรุงเทพฯ สวนรถไฟ ถ.กำ�แพงเพชร จตุจักร
DUSIT ZOO map 8 / F8 71 Rama V Road, opposite Chitralada Palace Dusit | 02-281-2000 | 8 am – 6 pm B100 / B 50 kids The city’s main zoo, situated to the north of Rattanakosin, is home to a large selection of mammals, reptiles and other animals. There’s also a lake with paddle boats for rent. สวนสัตว์ดุสิต 71 ถ.พระราม 5
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QUEEN SAOVABHA MEMORIAL INSTITUTE (SNAKE FARM) map 5 / J4 1871 Rama IV Road, Henri Dunant, 02-252-0161-4 ext.120 | Mon – Fri 8:30 am – 4 pm, Sat – Sun 9:30 am – 12 pm (shows at 11 am + 2:30 pm) | B 200 A centre for developing antidotes to poisonous snake bites, this research facility is open to the public. There’s an informative slide show followed by live venom extraction from some of the deadliest serpents in the kingdom. สถานเสาวภา (สวนงู) ถ.พระราม 4 สภากาชาดไทย
SAMPHRAN ELEPHANT GROUND & ZOO map 1 / D5 Petkasem Road km 30, Samphan, Nakhon Pathom | 02-295-2938 www.elephantshow.com | 8:30 am – 5:30 pm B 550 / B 350 kids Apart from The Elephant Theme Show, watch the Crocodile Wrestling Show or ride on an elephant’s back through the tropical gardens and waterfalls ลานแสดงช้างและฟาร์มจระเข้สามพราน ถ.เพชรเกษม สามพราน
SIAM OCEAN WORLD map 3 / D4 B/F Siam Paragon | 991 Rama 1 Rd 02-687-2001 | www.siamoceanworld.com 10 am – 7 pm | B 900 / 700 kids Such a pity that this tourist attraction– reputed to be the largest acquarium in Southeast Asia – operates a dual-pricing policy. This irritating iniquity aside, though, there’s fun to be had inside, with 8 m high tanks, glass tunnels to walk through, and shark-feeding shows. A ride on a glass-bottom boat to see sharks and rays costs an extra fee. สยามพารากอน ถ.พระราม 1
Negotiating Bangkok with kids needn’t be the nightmare many parents presume. The single biggest plus point is that Thais absolutely adore children, meaning there are always people around ready to help out. Skytrain guards will drop what they’re doing to help you haul that stroller down the stairs and waitresses will gladly whisk junior off for a tour of the kitchens while you enjoy a coffee. Most of the big shopping malls have play areas set aside for kids, with two of the best being Kiddy Land, which has slides, a ball pit and a balloon room on the 6th floor of CentralWorld; Jamboree on the 3rd floor of Emporium; and the huge indoor playground Funarium located off Sukhumvit. Plus, of course, most of the shopping malls have cinemas and enough ice-cream stores to sate a homesick Inuit. There are also a fair few attractions that appeal to wee ones. The city’s parks (see opposite) offer a chance to let off steam, especially Rot Fai Park near Chatuchak Weekend Market, where you can rent bicycles; and Dusit Zoo is a sprawling, chaotic afternoon’s worth of fun. Although expensive, Siam Ocean World is a great way to entertain the kids while you shop at Paragon department store. If you’re sticking around town for a while, Bangkok Dolphins (www. bangkokdolphins.com) offer swimming classes from three months old.
Funarium map 8 / O17 111/1 Sukhumvit 26 | 02-665-6555 www.funarium.co.th | 8:30 am – 8:30 pm | kids: B180/300; adults B90 B 90 / B 180 kids up to 105 cm / B 300 kids up to 13 years Basically 2,000sqm of slides, ball pits, trampolines, obstacle courses, cycling tracks and basketball courts, with a decent on-site café for lunch and a small branch of Mothercare. ฟันเอเรียม สุขุมวิท 26
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Sightseeing
Museums – in town
There’s a museum for every mood here – hundreds in fact. Here, some of our favourites, both in town and just outside of it.
BANGKOK DOLL MUSEUM map 8 / K11 85 Soi Ratchataphan (Soi Mo Leng), Ratchaprarop Rd | 02-245-3008 www.bangkokdolls.com Mon-Sat 8 am – 5 pm | 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 talented artisans out back, and clad in traditional costumes based on museum originals, temple murals and illustrations from antique books. บ้านตุ๊กตาบางกอกดอลล์ ถ.ราชปรารภ
BANGKOKIAN MUSEUM map 5 / E3 273 Charoen Krung Soi 43 | 02-233-7027 www.bma.go.th/bmaeng/bangrak Sat + Sun 10 am – 5 pm | 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, traditional household utensils and ceremonial items. พิพิธภัณฑ์ชาวบางกอก ถ.เจริญกรุง 43
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Madame tussauds map 3 / C4 6th F Siam Discovery Center Rama 1, Phaya Thai Rd BTS National Stadium | 02-658-0060 www.madametussauds.com/Bangkok/ 10 am – 9 pm | B 800 / B 600 kids / 15 % discount for online Perhaps the best thing about Bangkok’s version of the famous European waxwork museum is the line-up – it’s clearly designed to keep tourists and locals alike snappy happy. About as common as international sporting legends, world leaders in sharp suits, pouting Hollywood A-listers, and sequined global pop stars here are wax likenesses of Thai and regional musicians, soap stars, sportsmen and women, famous monks, poets and statesmen. And once you’ve finished talking human rights with Aung San Suu Kyi, or admiring Angelina Jolie’s Khmer tattoo, there are lots of interactive games to stave off waxwork-fatigue too. มาดามทุซโซ สยามดิสคัฟเวอรี่ ชั้น 6
Museum of Siam map #7 / D,E12 4 Samachai Rd, Pra Nakorn 02-622-2599 | www.ndmi.or.th Tue – Sun 10 am – 6 pm | free A truncated history of Thailand unfurls through this down-with-the-kids discovery museum, located in a beautifully restored former government building from the 1920 s. Design company Story! Inc delivered the conceptual design, replacing the usual ‘don’t touch’ signs and interminable text with pop graphics and interactive games galore. Entertaining highlights include dressing up as a 20 th century nobleman, blowing up Burmese soldiers on elephant-back with a canon (a bit tasteless that one), and mapping out the borders of your own Siam using a touch screen. Tellingly, the place teems with the usually museum-shy – Thai teenagers. Afterwards, enjoy the open-sided corridors and elegant Renaissance-stylings of the building itself. พิพิธภัณฑ์การเรียนรู้แ้ห่งชาติ ถ.สนามไชย
MUSEUM OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS 26th F, Supalai Grand Tower Building, Rama III Rd | BTS Surasak | 02-653-5555 www.tillekeandgibbins.com | Mon – Fri 10 am – 4 pm | Appointments required for the 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. 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. While its off-the-beaten tourist track means it doesn't see too many drop-in visitors, it's an eye-opening experience that would make even the thriftiest market-goer think twice. พิพิธภัณฑ์สินค้าปลอมและเลียนแบบ ถ.พระราม 2
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM map 7 / C,D 5 5 Chao Fa Rd, Sanam Luang 02-224-1333 | www.thailandmuseum.com Wed – Sun 9 am – 4pm | B 200 | no photo Previously a palace during the reign of Rama V, the National Museum features extensive displays of Thai artifacts from the 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 on display. Free tours in English, French, German and Japanese are given on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:30 am. พิพิธภัณฑสถานแห่งชาติ ถ.เจ้าฟ้า ใกล้ท้องสนามหลวง
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sightseeing | M useums & ancient siam
Museums – out of town
RATTANAKOSIN map 7 / J6 EXHIBITION HALL map 100 Ratchadamnoen Klong Rd, next to Wat Ratchanadda | 02-621-0044 www.nitasrattanakosin.com Tue – Fri 11 am – 8 pm, Sat + Sun 10 am – 8 pm This multimedia museum offers a skillfully abbreviated introduction to an area that many admire, but few truly understand: Rattanakosin Island, Bangkok’s glittering birthplace. Wandering its seven 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, communities, architecture and traditions into much clearer focus. Up on the fourth floor there's also an observation balcony from which you can stare out at the area you now have a more in-depth grasp of. นิทรรศน์รัตนโกสินทร์ ถ.ราชดำ�เนินกลาง
SIRIRAJ MEDICAL MUSEUM map 8 / A11 Siriraj Medical Museum, 2 Prannok Rd 02-419-7000-6363 | www.si.mahidol.ac.th Mon – Sat 9 am-4 pm | B 40 Located on the west bank of the river, in Thailand’s oldest and most prestigious hospital, the Siriraj Medical Museum is chiefly an educational facility where trainee medical students come to take notes and harden their stomachs. However, fans of the macabre can also pay a visit. Among the many chilling displays, far and away its most famous is the crisped cadaver of Si Ouey, Thailand’s most notorious serial killer, stood in a phone booth. Other stomach-churning exhibits include the mummified remains of murder victims, and deformed human foetuses embalmed in formaldehyde. Best come before lunch. พิพิธภัณฑ์การแพทย์ศิริราช ถ.พรานนก
ANCIENT SIAM (MUANG BORAN) map 1 / F6 296/1 Sukhumvit Road, Samut Prakan 02-709-1644 | www.ancientcity.com B 400 / B 200 kids / B1,500 private guide in English for 2 hours Samut Prakan province’s Ancient Siam crams reproductions of over a hundred of the Kingdom’s most venerable palaces, temples, stupas, stone sanctuaries and traditional houses into a huge map-of-Siam shaped plot of land only an hour’s drive from the capital. Don’t come expecting a tacky themepark. Its late founder, eccentric culture preservationist Prapai Viriyahbhun, demanded that every replica look and feel like the real thing. Teakwood, stone and brick abound; everything looks authentically aged; and amidst the scaleddown and life-size copies are lots of salvaged original buildings. เมืองโบราณ จ.สมุทรปราการ
ROYAL BARGE MUSEUM map 8 / B10 80/1 Rim Khlong Bangkok Noi, Arun Amarin Rd | Thonburi | 02-424-0004 9 am – 5:00pm | B 30 / B100 photo / B 200 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. Beautifully and ornately decorated, these magnificent long craft were completely renovated and restored to their former glory by the present King, who also commissioned the newest boat for his golden jubilee in 1996 . พิพิธภัณฑ์เรือพระราชพิธี ถ.อรุณอมรินทร์
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YAOWARAT CHINATOWN HERITAGE CENTRE map #6 / K3 661 Mittaphap Thai- China Road, just off Charoenkrung Rd | MRT Hualumphong 02-225-9775 | Tue – Sun 8 am – 4:30 pm B100 / B140 incl. visit to the Golden Buddha For Bangkok’s Thai-Chinese, the story of how their forefathers fled here on leaking junk ships and rose to become an affluent and fully integrated force in Thai society is likely familiar, having been drip-fed to them over the years by their elders. But for the rest of us, the Chinatown Heritage Centre is the next best thing, presenting an engaging history of Bangkok’s Chinese community and their bustling focal point, Yaowarat. Highlights include recreations of a leaking junk ship and bustling street market, a miniature model of Yaowarat during its Golden Age, and a room commemorating the community’s high-achievers. ศูนย์ประวัติศาสตร์เยาวราช ถ.มิตรภาพไทย-จีน
ERAWAN MUSEUM map 1 / F6 99/9 Sukhumvit Rd (entering Samut Prakhan) 02-380-0305 | www.erawan-museum.com 8 am – 5 pm | B150 / B 50 kids Outside the city, in a garden of Naga sculptures and other fabled Thai beings, you’ll find this mammoth building. Constructed in the shape of a mythical three-headed elephant, it would be a marvel to look at even if it didn’t house ancient artifacts within. Built by the owners of the Ancient City, it is divided into three “worlds”. ‘Underworld’ contains antiquities like Chakri dynasty tea sets; ‘Earth’ is a technicolour hall embellished with religious iconography and stained glass; and ‘Heaven’, inside the elephant’s belly, is a concave space filled with standing Buddhas and abstract murals. The building is also a site of worship. Rumour has it that a Thai girl prayed here before buying what turned out to be a winning lottery ticket! พิพิธภัณฑ์ช้างเอราวัณ ซ.วัดไตรสามัคคี ถ.สุขุมวิท
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PAI IN THE SKY t r av e l
Photos max crosbie‑Jones
Pai Klang Na resort
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travel | xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
travel – Upcountry escapes: Pai When people talk about Pai these days, it is often with a sense of regret at what the town has become: an ultracommercial Bangkok outpost, crawling with city slickers shopping for Pai souvenirs and photographing each other at every opportunity. Yet, this is only one half of the picture. Away from the hectic main strip, this little town in northern Thailand is still as charming as ever: loaded with sweeping vistas, cheery locals and natural attractions galore. People don’t brave one of the windiest, most nausea-inducing mountain roads in the country – Highway 1095 – for nothing after all. Pai Past and Present
Nestled in a verdant, rice-paddied valley, Pai has for most of its history been a tiny trading village. After being “discovered” by backpackers in the 1980s it grew slowly, existing primarily as a jumping off point for intrepid trekking tours. Gradually it came to be seen as a destination in its own right, attracting longer-term tourists and expats looking for a peaceful, friendly escape from the modern world. Though higher-quality tourist facilities only started to appear about five years ago, the options are now abundant: the town and outskirts rife with bungalows and the odd luxurious resort. Unsurprisingly, with the arrival of hordes of tourists each Thai winter, not to mention the K Banks and Black Mountain coffee shops, the character of the town has changed a lot, but there’s still a huge surplus of space and solitude to be had if you venture away from the main Walking Street. Furthermore, most of the higher-end resorts have taken special pains to integrate into the beauty of the natural surroundings, providing the discerning traveler with plenty of excellent, one-of-a-kind accommodation, and sparing Pai the fast-growth blight of many other former Shangri-Las.
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The Scene
One of the biggest downsides of Pai’s phenomenal popularity is that the locals – the mélange of Shan, Muslim, Northern Thai and hilltribes like the Karen, Lisu, Lahu and Meo – are less visible these days. Head away from the bustling fourblock centre of town, with its fashionably quaint boutiques, bohemian coffeehouses, art galleries and smattering of internationally-inspired restaurants, though and you can still find them going about their colourful everyday business. The town’s fresh market, on Raddamwong Road, at sundown is a good place to start. This quizzical mix of diverse cultures in such a concentrated area has led some to distinguish the town from the country at large with the T-shirt friendly sobriquet “Pailand”. One might even argue it already has a national flag of sorts – the ubiquitous rainbow-coloured hammock. Were Pailand a real country, its principal export would be lower blood pressure, or cans of clean, cool country air.
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The Attractions The main attraction is, of course, the scenery. Cruising around the outskirts of the Pai valley on a motorbike or bicycle, a cool breeze tousling your hair (or dreadlocks), the fuzzy philosophical notion that the journey is the destination suddenly becomes as inarguable as algebra. There is no need to stop anywhere, unless that is it’s for a frustrating attempt to capture the endless acres of gobstobbing scenery on your wee point-and-shoot or smart phone. For those beholden to actual destinations, however, there are an endless number to choose from. Nature lovers can lap up an assortment of picturesque waterfalls, from Mor Paeng, 9 km out of town, to the cave-like Pam Bok, 6 km away. Just a little further are the bizarre, serpentine ridges of Pai Canyon. Reached via a walkway up through a hillside tree orchard, it’s the place to get your widescreen shots of the area’s undulating topography. And further still are the Tha Pai hot springs – some of the pools are hot enough to boil eggs. Facing out at the spectacular Chiang Dao mountain range, Huai Nam Dang National Park, on the road back to Chiang Mai, is also one of the area’s best kept secrets. Loads of Thai tourists come at this time of year to watch the sunrise over the jagged Chiang Dao peaks, which protrude out of a sea of mist that normally blankets the surrounding valleys – quite the spectacular sight in the pink pastels of dawn.
Revolution and sell some of Thailand’s best tea. Pony rides and traditional swing rides are also available. You can also sign up for Thai cooking, language or Thai boxing classes, hilltribe weaving course, or study any number of spiritual disciplines like yoga, meditation and reiki from local gurus at holistic centres like The Womb. Oriented more towards the material? Chaisongkram and Rangsiyanom Roads feature some of the cutest little homespun boutiques in the country (Pai-branded t-shirts and animal beanie hats are especially abundant), and your corporeal form can be tended to at assorted spas and hot springs just outside of town. The quaint walking street features interesting shopping and entertainment opportunities as well. Love your nightlife? Got to boogie? Myriad bars, such as Lun Laa, Almost Famous and Be-Bop, offer hip places to hang out with cool tunes and cocktails and even raucous live music by truly world-class acts.
A perfect place to chill out Given its small size, Pai crams in more stuff to do per square foot than just about anywhere else on earth. Yet oddly enough, the favourite pastime of most visitors is to do essentially nothing at all. Hanging out at coffeehouses, scribbling on artistic, locally designed postcards is one of the things to do, as is shuffling listlessly around the late afternoon market.
Those looking for more of an adrenaline rush can choose a 70 It’s not hard to derive utopian inspiration from Pai’s uniquely kilometre two-day white water rafting trip (shorter ones are accommodating beauty and extrapolate it to available), a challenging trek to visit hilltribe vilGiven its size, the world at large. In fact, after a few days of lages, a bareback ride aboard a friendly elephant, Pai crams hanging out in this inspiring international burg, and now even a session at a piranha fishing park. in more stuff sipping excellent coffee and watching smiling to do than locals shuffle by, it’s easy to get a little 'Pai Visitors looking for a different sort of culjust about in the Sky' about the place. Overheard sniptural immersion might check out ethnic vilanywhere else pets of seemingly intoxicated conversation are lages closer to town, such as the “Chinese on earth. bound to assure you you’re not alone. village” of Haw Chinese that fled the Cultural 28 | JA N UA RY 2012
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travel | upcountry escapes
cafes and bars
All about coffee 100 Moo 1, Chaisongkram Road | 053-699-429 Run by former advertising execs Prapakorn Vanijyanada and his wife Watcharee, this little cafe and art gallery has become popular with travellers seeking double shots of espresso and an equally satisfying dose of expressionism. ALMOST FAMOUS Chaisongkram Road (near Wat Pa Kham) This little white house on the main Walking Street is a popular latenight hangout where beatnik foreigners predominantly swing by for cocktails and the night’s tend to get a little wild. Artsy stencils, lurid artworks, rock-n-roll tunes – Cameron Crowe would surely approve. BE-BOP BAR 188 Moo 8, Viengtai (opposite Tourist Police box) 089-560-8561 | 6 pm – 1 am It’s hard to believe, but one of the best places in the country to see live music is at the long-running Be-Bop Bar in Pai. International luminaries and many of Thailand’s most popular acts shuffle through this hallowed house of blues. Note: it often doesn't get going until late. COFFEE IN LOVE Highway1095 km95, Chiangmai-Pai-Mae Hong Son Heading into town you can’t miss the extraordinary gingerbread looking house on a hill just before you arrive. While the coffee is fine, the precipitous view over the valley below will get your heart beating faster – it is arguably the money shot, photographically speaking, in Pai.
stay
PAI KLANG NA 199 Moo1, Mae Hee | 083-304-3300 www.paiklangna.com | B 2,200 – 3,000 Judging by all the poems and lovingly drawn sketches in the guestbook, Pai Klang Naa is one of the most inspiringly bucolic spots in the country. The reason? As the name, ‘in the middle of rice fields’, suggests the beautiful bamboo thatch huts here sit marooned amid lush green paddy. Bonuses include free bowls of northern noodle dish khao soi each evening, a hearty breakfast, and the companionship of the owner’s friendly golden retriever. Each hut comes with satellite TV, air-con, wi-fi, a cute bath-room with semi-open air shower, as well as a terrace for taking in the impossibly dreamy scenery. HIM NAAM PAI 107 Moo 3 | 053-065-780 | www.himnaampai.com | B1,400 – 2,300 About 7 km out of town, this small garden resort on the banks of the Pai River affords guests a drop-dead gorgeous view of the town’s steel bridge circa World War II. All have quaint thatched roofs and a terracotta paintjob, but the river view cottages look out on to this picturesque scene, while the doors in the others open out onto the garden. other info
Piranha Fishing Park 08-5707-5074 | paipiranhafishingpark.paiexplorer.com Thai Adventure Rafting 80 Moo1, Rungsiyanon Rd | 081-993-9674 | www.thairafting.com
LUN LAA BAR Moo 3 Viengtai (opposite Wat Pa Kem) | 7 pm – 11 pm Get here early and grab a couch in the courtyard, and cruise to the blues, funk and reggae stylings of Nong and his smoking band. All-in jams break out some nights in this little arcade bar.
Thom’s Pai Elephant Camp 5/3 Moo 4, Rungsiyanon Rd | 053-699-286 | www.thomelephant.com
PHU PAI ART CAFE 22 Moo 4, Rangsiyanon Road, Viengtai 084-209-8169 | 7 pm – 12 am (live band at 10 pm) Spearheaded by Noi, the violinist from veteran Thai folk-rock band Caravan, this art-bedecked place is where to take in quieter, eclectic sorts of tunes. Don’t miss Noi’s fascinating nightly performance of rong-ngeng, a rare type of music which hails from his home in southern Thailand and is in fact influenced by soulful European gypsy traditions.
getting there Minibuses from Chiang Mai can be arranged at most travel agencies and leave throughout the day from 9 am- 4 pm. The trip takes three hours. Local buses can be arranged from the bus station but are considerably less comfortable. Cars can also be rented in Chiang Mai for about B1,000 a day. Flights on 12-seat Cessnas are also available from Chiang Mai via Kan airlines (02-551-6111, www.kanairlines.com) and cost B1,990 each way. Flying time is 20 – 30 min.
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The Womb Meditation Center 053-065-034 | www.the-womb.com
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Upcountry now!
January 8 Jim Thompson Farm Tours Did you know that Jim Thompson’s world famous Thai Silk Company has its very own silk farm up in Korat’s Pak Thong Chai district? Well it does, and once a year they fling open the gates and let Joe Public in. Tours of their mulberry plantation, silkworm egg production centre, vegetable plots and plant nursery are available every day until January 8 between 9 am – 5pm. 02-216-7368 | www.jimthompsonfarm.com
January 14 Dolls of Japan Exhibition A collection of ornate Japanese dolls are on a tour of the country, and after successful stints in Bangkok and Chiang Mai their next is in the South’s Nakhon Si Thammarat. Over 70 different types, including dolls used in traditional performing arts such as Noh and Kabuki, will be displayed until January 14 at the Muang Khon Contemporary Art Gallery, which is on the second floor of the city’s learning park. www.jfbkk.or.th
January 15 – 17 Bor Sang Umbrella Festival The little community of Bor Sang, just east of Chiang Mai, is often referred to as the Umbrella Village, and justly so. During this celebration between January 15-17 of the delicately hand-painted saa-paper and silk parasols it churns out, bands will play, lanterns line the main street, and villagers compete to win the award for the year’s prettiest. Nearby San Kamphaeng also gets in on the act with its own handicrafts fair.
January 28 Silverlake Music Festival Pattaya’s Silverlake Vineyard will host the inaugural Silverlake Music Festival on January 28. Whether it’ll live up to the organiser’s claims and “write a page in Thailand’s musical history” remains to be seen, but the line-up does at least feature import acts, such as Incubus and Owl City, in addition to all the usual Thai bands. Tickets, available at www.thaiticketmajor.com, cost B1,500. www.silverlakemusicfestival.com
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travel | upcountry now
Until End of January Chet Samian Art Festival Until the end of January, free weekend arts classes, poetry readings and flea markets are being held at two locales in nearby Ratchaburi province: the peaceful Suan-Silp Baan Din arts centre, and the century-old Chet Samian Market. There’ll also be music performances and dance and acrobatic shows by a range of contemporary artists. For more information contact one of the organisers, Khun Mujarin, on 081-818-2542.
Until End of January Hat Yai Lantern Festival One of Thailand’s quirks is its love of luminous night lights and lanterns, which locals believe evoke the spirit world and use to embellish everything from city streets to shabby restaurants. At this after-dark festival being staged in the southern city of Hat Yai through January, this tradition reaches its colourful zenith, with themed lamps drawn from local folklore, Thai festivals, the animal kingdom and even Walt Disney lighting up the city’s main park between 4 pm and 9 pm each evening. www.hatyailantern.com
Until february 9th Khon Kaen International Marathon The self-proclaimed Greatest Marathon of Thailand takes place again on January 29, 445 km northeast of Bangkok. The starter’s gun for the full marathon will fire at 4:15 am sharp, with the half-marathon, mini-marathon and 10 km fun run setting off shortly after. As usual, it starts and ends at Khon Kaen University’s Golden Jubilee Convention Hall, and the winners will take home some cold hard cash. www.khonkaenmarathon.com
Until february
January – March 14 Royal Flora Ratchaphreuk Skulk through endless indoor and outdoor displays of rare flowers from home and abroad at this humungous annual flower show, being held on the outskirts of Chiang Mai at the Royal Park Ratchaphreuk gardens until March 14. A trade show as well as a public one, there will also be competitions and symposiums on a range of pressing horticultural matters. www.royalflora2011.com bangkok101.com
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Lopburi Sunflower Festival If you’re a budding Van Gogh or just plain into flowers you’re in clover this month, as endless fields of bright yellow sunflowers are now in bloom in nearby Lopburi province. The perfect location for an outdoorsy daytrip – it’s only an hour and a half ’s drive away – locals flock here to photograph and roam amidst the tall, sun-drinking sprouters, which usually hang around until February. They’re also blooming over in nearby Saraburi.
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Adventures in High Places
Climbing
Mt. Kinabalu
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travel | C L I M B I N G M T . K inabalu
Bangkok
over the border South China Sea MALAYSIA
S
Mt. Kinabalu
MALAYSIA
Kuala Lumpur INDONESIA
outheast Asia is not exactly known as being an alpine environment, and most tourists plan their visits around sandy beaches and island breezes in order to escape the tropical heat. However, there is a far more adventurous, albeit exhausting way to do this: Mount Kinabalu, in Malaysian Borneo, has become one of the premier natural adventure spots along the equator.
Other than rain gear and a set of warm clothes and wind protection for the summit, most trekkers are equipped only with cameras and personal snacks. Porters are also available for those who want them, almost all members of the local Dusun people, and a large percentage of them women. Ours, a 56 year old mother named Sigim Dangu, had been carrying loads two-three times a week for the past six years, and probably could have reached Laban Rata in half the time it took our Located in Sabah district, Kinabalu is in a league of its own. In group if she had felt like it. addition to being the highest point for miles around (at 4,095 metres, it’s the highest peak between Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar and Puncak Jaya in West Papua), Mount Kinabalu and its 750 km² national park are home to possibly the highest plant life biodiversity in the world. Some 5 – 6,000 plant species survive in the varied climactic zones that make up the mountain environment, along with over 600 species of butterflies, 300 types of different birds, and another 100 or so mammals. Carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants, rare orchids, and the world’s largest flower, the rafflesia, are just some of the jungle flora to be found.
Named for the local Dusun phrase aki nabalu, which means “revered place for the dead,” Mount Kinabalu was first climbed in 1851 by the British colonial Hugh Low, who reached the summit plateau with a local Dusun guide after three weeks of forging their own trail through the jungle. Low did have the summit pyramid “Low’s Peak” named after him, although he never made it to the top himself, too exhausted by the grueling march through the tropical lowlands. The true summit honour went to John Whitehead, a zoologist, who in 1888 was on a bird collecting outing on the mountain slopes.
For most though, it takes about 4 – 6 hours to reach Laban Rata, six vertical kilometres up from the Timpohon Gate. Through the first five, the trail is pure montane forest, filled with ferns, orchids, wild ginger, and pitcher plants. Lucky visitors may spot a Nepenthes rajah, which is the largest pitcher plant in the world, named after an Englishman called James These days, the summit of Kinabalu is far more attainable, but Brooke who became the first white rajah of Sarawak in Borit is still a long slog up from the bottom and brutally taxing neo. The giant plant, which can hold over three litres of water on the knees, quadriceps, and calves. Potential climbers are in its basin, is known for even drowning rats in its conical bowl. warned in literature distributed by the park and guides to From the last shelter before the Laban Rata Hut, the path “have a fitness regime suitable to climbing for at least three emerges into an alpine zone, where stunted shrub branches lie months prior to visiting,” and once one has experienced a bent over by the wind, often shrouded in the dense mist that climb of the peak, one understands that this probably entails blankets the mountain's higher reaches each afternoon. The doing a Stairmaster routine for six hours a day! gnarled pygmy trees, despite looking worse for wear, are often The climb starts from the Timpohon Gate, about 10 minutes over 100 years old. Most travelers are cold, hungry, and pretty from the visitor’s centre via bus. Compared to trekking in Eu- depleted by the time they reach the Laban Rata Hut, so it makes rope or North America, the going is pretty luxurious, as you an excellent place to rest up and swap travel stories with the don’t need to carry a sleeping bag, tent, or food, plus filtered hundred or so other climbers scaling the peak. As the weather drinking water is available at the shelters that are one’s con- usually clouds in by late morning, it is best to spend the night stant companion from the frequent pummeling rainstorms. and complete the last two kilometres before sunrise. bangkok101.com
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t r av e l transport Malaysia Airlines, the top carrier and hospitality provider in the region flies to more than 100 destinations on 6 continents worldwide. The airline has won awards for World’s Best Cabin Staff and Best Business Class Airline in Asia. International flights go to Kuala Lumpur with daily connecting flights to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah. www.malaysiaairlines.com From Kota Kinabalu, it is a two hour drive to Kinabalu National Park, at the base of the climb, where one can find accommodation, both inside and outside of the park, register for permits and guides, and buy snacks or box lunches for the climb up.
The lodge starts serving breakfast at 2am and shortly after this, a string of headlamps can be seen spread out over the mountain, as trekkers make their final push to the summit.
stay Sutera Sanctuary Lodges have privatised the accommodation in the national park, and now manage the comfortable climbers hut Laban Rata, nestled under the mountain peak at 3,200 metres. The lodge provides heated dormitory rooms, buffet meals, hot showers, and snacks for summit bound climbers, and needs to be booked in advance due to limited space. Sutera also manages the Kinabalu Park lodge at the base of the mountain, offering various types of accommodation for visitors and trekkers. Laban Rata | Mount Kinabalu | Kundasang, Ranau | Sabah, Malaysia +60 (0)88 303-917, -916, -915 | www.labanratamountkinabalu.com
While not technically difficult, the climb features some steep sections on big granite blocks, where ropes have been installed for climbers to hold onto. It is usually windy and very cold up on the summit plateau, and quite a shock to go from sweating do in t-shirts to needing a fleece jacket. On clear mornings, one Climbing: To climb Mount Kinabalu, non-Malaysian visitors must pay a can see all the way to the China Sea, with tremendous views permit of 100 RM (1000 B) insurance and conservation fees of 23 RM to of the surrounding Crocker Range peaks silhouetted against Sabah Parks; everyone must walk with a guide. A guide costs 42.50 RM the colours of the dawn and rising sun. Following a brief photo session on the summit block, most weary climbers return to Laban Rata, gather their possessions, and make the often more taxing descent back down to the parking lot, where one’s entire lower body starts making exclamation points. Then again, it could be worse. For the truly masochistic, the Kinabalu Climbathon takes place every October. Italian Marco De Gasperi has won the last two, reaching the top in a sickening two and a half hours. One can only imagine what he must have felt like upon return. The author traveled courtesy of Malaysia Tourism and Malaysia Airlines.
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a day for one to three walkers, 50 RM a day for four to six walkers. Porters are available on request Via Ferrata: For something even more exciting than the summit climb itself, try the world’s highest via ferrata. Translating from Italian as iron road, via ferrata is a system of cables and iron rungs that are fixed to the mountain, allowing climbers without experience to safely ascend what would otherwise be technical rock-climbing routes. Returning from the summit, climbers have the option to tackle a more difficult route involving some abseiling, or an easier section where normal walkers cannot go. The outfitter Mountain Torq runs both of the routes and also has packages which include a stay at their Pendant Hut, located just above Laban Rata. www.mountaintorq.com
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travel | H O tel D eals
Hotel Deals
Until January 31 Ultimate Pampering
Until March 31 Three Centara Chiang Mai hotels
Until March 31 Anantara’s Thai Residents Package
The Barai
Centara hotels
Anantara Golden Triangle
Hua Hin’s The Barai is an award-winning destination spa located adjacent to the Hyatt Regency. Until January 31 they’re offering the Ultimate Pampering package: one night’s accommodation in a residential spa suite, plus breakfast, all-day butler service and a couple of select spa treatments. Rates start from B 22,500++ per night for The Barai Balcony Suite and B 24,500++ for The Barai Pool Suite.
Centara Hotels & Resorts is offering special packages at its three Chiang Mai hotels to visitors attending the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011 (see Upcountry Now, p.31). Stay two nights or more and you'll receive one Royal Flora ticket per person, one-way transfers to the exhibition, roundtrip airport transfers, breakfast for two, and a complimentary kanthoke set dinner for two.
Chiang Rai's Anantara Golden Triangle perches on a ridge overlooking the misty hills of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. To lure Thai residents up there, they’re offering exclusive rates inclusive of breakfast for two, until 31st March. Prices per night: Deluxe 3 Country View (B 7,500 net); Anantara Suite (B 15,500 net); Suite 3 Country View (B 17,000 net). Rates include service charge and government tax.
Until March 31 Ramayana Indulgence Package
Until April Amari Loves Samui Package
Until Dec 23 2012 HRP10 Anniversary Package
Ramayana Koh Chang
Amari Palm Reef
Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya
The Ramayana Koh Chang on the island's Klong Prao beach is offering a great value, three day / two night accommodation, meals and leisure activity package. It costs B 9,000 net per couple and includes breakfast, welcome seafood set dinner, one Thai set dinner, full-day snorkelling, a 60-minute massage each, pick-up service to Klong Plu waterfall and White Sand Beach, and two hours of kayaking.
The Amari Loves Samui package includes three nights in a superior room at Chaweng Beach’s Amari Palm Reef resort. It includes: breakfast for two, upgrade to a deluxe room with garden or pool view, airport transfers, a set dinner at Italian restaurant Prego, spa discounts, a day trip to Angthong Marine Park and one hours kayaking. Rate starts from B 26,324++ for 3 nights per room.
After 15 months of renovation work, the Pattaya’s Hard Rock hotel is celebrating its new look with discount rates stretching all the way into next December. Until then you’ll be able to weekday rates of B 3,960 – B 7,565, and weekend rates of B 4,260 – B 7,865 across all their refurbished rooms. The package includes buffet breakfast for two, 10 % off hotel facilities, complimentary t-shirts, and more.
91 Hua Hin – Khao Takiap Rd Hua Hin | 02-254-6200 thebarai.hrhuahin@hyatt.com www.thebarai.com
19/9 Moo 4, Klong Prao | Koh Chang 02-261-6364 | rsvn@ramayana.co.th www.ramayana.co.th
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02-101-1234-1 reservations@chr.co.th www.centarahotelsresorts.com
Chaweng Beach | Koh Samui 07-742-2015 | www.amari.com
229 Moo 1, Chiang Saen | Chiang Rai 053-784-084 goldentriangle@anantara.com
Beach Road | 038-428-755-9 rooms.pattaya@hardrockhotels.net www.hardrockhotels.net
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ARTS & C u lt u r e
Mom Luang Toy Xoomsai at the Kathmandu Photo Gallery 36 | JA N UA RY 2012
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A R T
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A R T S & C ulture | xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Arts & Culture After the political unrest of 2010 , it was hoped that 2011 would be a more stable and productive year for the capital’s art spaces. But it was not to be: the global economic slowdown and the recent flooding of a large swathe of the nation have continued to impact the scene. Not that it’s all bad news. While things are far from rosy, many of Bangkok’s commercial and non-commercial galleries still licking their wounds, there are still lots of decent exhibitions worth catching this month, from American artist Charles LaBelle’s ambitious architectural drawing installation over at Number 1 Gallery, to Atthaphon Suetrongprasert’s striking monochrome drawings on mulberry over at Sukhumvit Soi 49’s The Pikture Gallery. The anonymous Bangkok-based collective Proxy also continue the latest in their series of provocative multi-media responses to the recent public upheavals at WTF, while Kathmandu Photo Gallery should be inciting a different sort of artistic dialogue with the latest in its ongoing Seeking Forgotten Thai Photographers series (pictured opposite). Pick up a copy of our free sister publication BAM, or see www.bangkokartmap.com for the authoritative, galleryby-gallery rundown of what’s on where.
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ARTS & C u lt u r e
Exhibitions
Enjoy these highlights from our sister publication the Bangkok Art Map. BAM is a free city map containing insights into Thailand's blossoming art scene. www.bangkokartmap.com
Complete = ครบเครื่อง
La Lanta Fine Art | 245 / 14 Sukhumvit Soi 31 BTS Phrom Phong | 02-204-0583 | www.lalanta.com Tue – Sat 10 am – 7 pm, Sun by appointment Until Jan 6 After Gossip Gallery’s recent display of pugilistic portrayals of Khmer boxing by Cambodian artist Denis Minh-Kim, young blood Thai artist Songrit Dokbua also attempts to capture the motion and rhythm of Muay Thai. The latest recruit in the gallery’s ongoing Young Programme, Songrit’s drawings are influenced by the cultural nuances of this brutal martial art.
proxy
WTF Gallery & Café 7 Sukhumvit Soi 51 | BTS Thonglor 02-662-6246 | www.wtfbangkok.com Wed – Sun 3 – 10 pm until jan 13 Both troubled and inspired by recent events that have affected the local populace, the anonymous collective Proxy engages through public interventions and multimedia installations. A welcome break from ego-driven art, the covert protagonists pluck imagery and themes from the detritus of the 2010 street protests and the current flood deluge and channel them into tragicomic provocations that offer an alternative perspective to the official line.
Heritage
The Pickture Gallery | 47/1 Sukhumvit Soi 49 BTS Thonglor | 02-662-8359 | Tue – Sun 10 am – 7 pm www.thepikturegallery.com Until Jan 12 Cultural motifs and symbolism are the preserve of Atthaphon Suetrongprasert’s series of monochrome drawings on mulberry paper and canvas. Sustaining a generational legacy that is in danger of being lost to modernity, Atthaphon liberally interprets traditional visual coding.
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A R T s & culture | E xhibitions
Primitive
Jim Thompson Art Centre | 6 Kasemsan 2, Rama I Rd BTS National Stadium | 02-216-7368 www.jimthompsonhouse.com | 9 am – 5 pm Until Feb 29 Palme d’Or winning film director Apichatpong Weerasetha kul’s latest work, Primitive, is a multiple video installation filmed around the northeastern village of Nabua. During the 1960s the village was home to several communist farmer insurgents who battled the Thai military before fleeing into the jungle. By implanting fictional scenarios (such as constructing a spaceship for a pseudo sci-fi film), and observing the behaviour of today’s younger generation of listless villagers, Apichatpong metaphorically explores the memories and socio-political legacy of this turbulent period of history.
Charles LaBelle
Number 1 Gallery | Silom Galleria B1 919/1 Silom Rd Soi 19 | BTS Surasak 02-630-3381 | www.number1gallery.com Mon – Sat 10 am – 7 pm, Sun 11 am-6 pm Until Jan 21 Started fourteen years ago, Buildings Entered is an ongoing project in which American artist Charles LaBelle documents every building he physically enters. Recorded photographically,with the photos themselves never exhibited, LaBelle selects certain buildings to render in watercolor pencil atop gesso painted pages torn from a relevant theoretical tome. Conceptual in nature, the project is both a diary and a historical document in which the artist’s own life and the space of the world intersect. For the Hong Kong-based artist’s first solo project in Thailand, Number 1 Gallery will present an ambitious archi tecturally-inspired drawing installation. On view are two bodies of drawings: the 200 -composite sketches in the bodyfocused Corpus, alongside the newly created site-responsive series of 100 drawings, A Kind of Counter Sublime. Presented as single moments in a larger continuous narrative that is never actually told, the exhibition is both a celebration and critique of what Walter Benjamin called the “phantasmagoria of the modern metropolis”. bangkok101.com
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M L Toy Xoomsai
Kathmandu Photo Gallery 87 Soi Pan, Silom Rd | BTS Chong Nonsi 02-234-6700 | kathmandu-bkk.com Tue – Sun 11 am – 7 pm until feb 26 For the fourth installment in Kath mandu’s ongoing Seeking Forgotten Thai Photographers series, the respected photo gallery is hanging 30 nude prints by Mom Luang Toy Xoomsai, all of them shot between 1946 and 1961 and unexhibited since his death. Against the context of that time, the prudish days of Field Marshall P. Pibulsongkram’s nationalist government, they can be seen as more than just pictures of pretty naked models, but also acts of defiance against the power of the fascist state and its imposed social order. JA N UA RY 2012 | 39
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ARTS & C u lt u r e
Somsak Pattanapitoon on Muang Krung Muang Thep
In his latest exhibition of poetic photography at Silpakorn University’s Art Centre, Somsak Pattanapitoon scratches below the surface of his native domain to search for sanctity, while highlighting the complexities of a conurbation in the throngs of relentless development. Inspiration for Muang Krung Muang Thep came during the last Thai New Year holiday, when Bangkok’s streets become devoid of the daily traffic tailbacks and sidewalk melee. The desolate thoroughfares offer a rare respite that Somsak supposes can only be sustained if the populace were to evacuate, leaving the city to wandering resident spirits, or celestial angels.
art 1-on-1
Somsak
What is the main theme behind the exhibition Muang Krung Muang Thep?
because no one sees the world like that. Infrared black and white photography is even less true when we use the eye looks at it. I’m drawn to it because we only see the truth of the work when we use our heart to look at it.
If we ask Thai people what they would wish for Bangkok at the start of each New Year, one of their most popular wishes would no doubt be “no more traffic jams”. The main idea of this exhibition is to prompt people to take a look at themselves I hope THAT and realise that only we, Bangkok’s citizens, can one day our make that wish come true. expectations of How does this profile of the Thai capital differ from your previous series about the former capital Ayutthaya?
You are an optometrist by trade. How and when did you first become interested in photography?
About 10 years ago, when my old camera broke down. I bought an expensive new model that was at the cusp of technology at that time but all the pictures I took with it turned out worse than those from the very old one. The realisation that you don’t the latest new fangled cameras to take interesting pictures changed my whole life and approach to art.
Bangkok and the reality meet somewhere in the middle
The previous series was about how we Thais have received a valuable inheritance with which to ground ourselves, culturally speaking, but how we seldom intend to leave a similar inheritance to our children. The new series is about how we always want things better but fail to realise or acknowledge that we are part of the problem, if not the root cause of it. At the heart of both is the same idea: that the decisions we make affect our own lives and our children’s future.
Does your knowledge of optics affect your approach to photography in any way?
It helped me a lot when I first started because many of the principles are the same. But once I had got my head around the technical theory, it very quickly became much harder What is it about Bangkok that you find particularly inter- because I have no background in art. As any photographer esting? knows, you need a bit of both to be any good. I think it might be the same as in any big city, that we all complain from time to time, tend to do nothing, but are all still What do you predict it will be like living in Bangkok in say happy to live in. Despite its problems, if you asked us to move 50 years from now? out, the answer for most of us would be no. Something draws More convenient, faster, better, smaller, higher, and hopefully nicer. Above all, I hope that our expectations of Bangkok and and keeps us here. the reality will meet somewhere in the middle: our dreams Why do you shoot with infrared film? become more realistic, and the reality more closely resemble As a medium, black and white photography is only semi-true our dreams. by Steven Pettifor 4 0 | JA N UA RY 2012
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A R T s & culture | A rt 1 - on - 1
Muang Krung Muang Thep January 18 – February 15
Silpakorn University’s Art Centre
Wang Tha Pra Campus; 02-221-3841 Mon – Fri 9 am – 7 pm, Sat 9 am – 4 pm closed Sun and public holidays
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ARTS & C u lt u r e
Theatres Our performing arts scene may not throb like in other cities, but look under the surface and you’ll find it there, beating to its own rhythm. For more information try www.thaiticketmaster.com or our own website www.bangkok101.com .
AKSRA THEATRE map 8 / K10 King Power Complex 8 / 1 Rangnam Rd, Phaya Thai | BTS Victory Monument 02-677-8888 ext 5678 | Tue – Fri 7 pm, Sat + Sun 1 pm and 7 pm Tucked away in the sleek white bowels of Soi Rangnam's King Power Duty Free complex, this 600 -capacity theatre, lined with fabled wood carvings, is the place to come to enjoy hypnotic performances by the Aksra Hoon Lakorn Lek (Aksra Small Puppets) troupe. Intricate Thai puppets, given life by puppeteers swathed in black, act out Thai literary epics. Family entertainment of the most refined kind, this has been one of the few places where you can catch puppet show ever since the famous Joe Louis Puppet Theatre was demolished back in 2010. โรงละครอักษรา คิงพาวเวอร์ คอมเพล็กซ์ ถ.รางน้ำ�
NATIONAL THEATRE map 7 / D4 2 Rachini Rd, Sanam Luang Mon – Fri 9 am – 4 pm 02-224-1342, 02-225-8457~8 Along with the National Museum, this imposing theatre forms an island of high culture and is held in high esteem by those who care about classical Thai performing arts. Classical Thai drama, musicals and music performances – all elaborate affairs, sometimes strange to foreign eyes and ears – are intermittently staged on a small side stage and the open-air sala. The season runs from November to May, but you can catch also classical Thai dance and music on the last Friday and Saturday nights of each month. โรงละครแห่งชาติ ถ.ราชินี สนามหลวง
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PATRAVADI THEATRE map 8 / A11 69/1 Soi Wat Rakhang, Arun Amarin Rd, Thonburi | 02-412-7287~8 | www.patravaditheatre.com Outside of university art departments, this is one of the few places in Bangkok to see contemporary performing arts. Its founder, the well-known Patravadi Mejudhon, created not only a theatre, but an entire arts complex, comprising classes, artists’ residencies and international exchanges. โรงละครภัทราวดี ถ.อรุณอมรินทร์
BACC – BANGKOK ART & CULTURE CENTRE map 3 / B4 939 Rama I Rd, Pathumwan | BTS National Stadium | 02-214-6630-1 | www.bacc.or.th Tue – Sun 10 am – 9 pm หอศิลปวัฒนธรรมแห่งกรุงเทพมหานคร แยกปทุมวัน
GOETHE INSTITUT map 8 / K17 18 / 1 Goethe, Sathorn Soi 1 | MRT Lumphini 02-287-0942~4 ext.22 | 8 am – 6 pm www.goethe.de สถาบันเกอเธ่ 18 / 1 ซ. เกอเธ่ สาทร ซ. 1
SIAM NIRAMIT map 8 / Q9 19 Tiam Ruammit Rd | 02-649-9222 | www.siamniramit.com A breathtaking, record-breaking extravaganza, hailed as ‘a showcase of Thailand’. Using hundreds of costumes and amazing special effects, more than 150 performers journey whirlwind-like through seven centuries of Siamese history. Up to 2,000 guests experience this spectacle nightly; eyepopping poignancy to some, detached fantasia to others. JAPAN FOUNDATION map 4 / F4 สยามนิรมิต ถ.เทียมร่วมมิตร 10 th F, Serm-mit Tower | Sukhumvit Soi 21 BTS Asok | 02-260-8560-4 | www.jfbkk.or.th Mon – Fri 9 am – 7 pm, Sat 9 am – 5pm Cultural Centres เจแปน ฟาวน์เดชั่น ชั้น 10 อาคารเสริมมิตร สุขุมวิท 21 Bangkok’s cultural centres bring in topnotch exhibitions and performances from the world of visual arts, drama, dance, music, fashion, film, design, literature and more …
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE map 5 / J7 29 Sathorn Rd | BTS Saladaeng 02-670-4200 | www.alliancefrancaise.or.th Mon – Sat 10 am – 6 pm สมาคมฝรั่งเศสกรุงเทพ ถ.สาทรใต้
TCDC – THAILAND CREATIVE & DESIGN CENTRE map 4 / M7 6th F, The Emporium Shopping Complex Sukhumvit 24 | BTS Phrom Phong 02-664-8448 | www.tcdc.or.th | Tue – Sun 10:30 am – 9 pm ดิ เอ็มโพเรียม ชอปปิ้ง คอมเพล็กซ์ สุขุมวิท 24
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A R T s & culture | reading & screening
Dead Drunk
Bangkok’s Top 50 Street Food Stalls
Where are you going today Bertie? Thailand
Paul Garrigan | Maverick House 256 pp | B 450
Chawadee Nualkhair | 149 pp | B 400 order via www.bangkokglutton.com
Jo Rattigan & Sammiiii | 24 pp | B 485
The West has The Priory. Thailand has Wat
If you’ve been admiring Bangkok’s sidewalk
Is this illustrated kid’s book about a purple
where a regimented diet of Buddhism and
dence to approach one, pick up a copy of this
to cash-in on the Kingdom’s panda-mania?
Thamkrabok: a temple in Saraburi province
vomit-inducing herbal potions are used to
combat addiction. It’s a last chance saloon for Thais and foreigners (rockstar Pete Doherty
numbers among its few failures) that dishes out its unique brand of rehab for free. This
account by a former patient, Paul Garrigan,
recounts the daily grind as he, an alcoholic, and other addicts make a sacred vow to
leave their poison behind and battle acute withdrawal (there’s little medical assistance
and certainly no Valium-assisted recovery
here). But first… there’s the story of how he ended up there, a sorry tale that begins with
a childhood spent drinking the dregs in Irish pubs, and ends with near meltdown in rural
Thailand. Like much from Maverick House, it’s written in a simple, direct style and, like the bottle, pretty hard to put down.
kitchens from afar, but not had the confi handy little guide. In it self-titled Bangkok glutton and journalist Chawadee Nualkhair
whittles down the capital’s tens of thou
sands of food stalls down to, erm, fifty. Though that’s an absurd undertaking on the face of it, she has at least chosen wisely, pick
ing only hygienic stalls that offer something special in the city's best-known streetfood
areas. However, what really condemns this book to a life of tom-yum-splattered servi
tude is its overview of the different types of noodles, rice-based dishes, desserts and bev erages. All are clearly decoded, illustrated
and listed with Thai script – neat. We’re also fans of the maps, the blank pages, so you can
jot down your favourites, and Chawadee’s fluff-free prose: “Restrooms: yes, squat toilet, bring your own toilet paper”, etc.
panda who visits Thailand a cynical attempt
Hard to say. If it is though, it’s a far more engaging cash-in than the Panda Channel, an oh-so-soporific Thai cable TV station
broadcasting the captive life of Lin Ping, the first panda cub born here. Like so many
kid’s books, it’s so out-there it’s hard to shake the niggling suspicion that the author puffs the funny stuff. After chomping a bowl of (LSD-laced?) worm cereal, Bertie feels a bit
funny in his tummy, jumps on his rainbow trampoline (a “glittering paradise of possi bilities”) and is transported to a Thailand so
lurid your eyes ache. But trippy panda psy chedelica aside, this is a sweet, if slight, little
tale perfect for bedtime reading sessions. By
the time little Bertie has scooted around the Kingdom and is safely tucked up in bed, your sprog will be sleeping as soundly as he is.
reading
& screening
Jan Dara
Nonzee Nimibutr | 2001 | B99 Based on the most notorious erotic novel in Thai literature, Jan Dara is a gothic exploration of
twisted sex, corroded families, and… more twisted sex. Set in the 1930s, Nimibutr’s third film focuses on the sexual and moral coming of age of its titular character. Born to a philander ing father who hates him, Jan Dara vows not to repeat his dad’s shocking behavior, but then
vaThe film and its hero predictably descend into a humid, perverse rapture of lust, amidst a sumptuously shot background of finger-waved hair and Saharan expanses of golden flesh.
For all its sensuality, Jan Dara ladles on the melodrama and the moralizing to make sure that we don’t forget the lessons of both Freud and the Buddha amidst the moaning – if you’re not careful, what goes around certainly comes around, be it karma or craziness.
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behind the curtain at…
The 3 Baht
Opera by Ben Owen-Browne
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Once the moment had been captured, this lady broke the spell and transported us back to modern-day Thailand. "Have you eaten yet?� she enquired.
For this three hour extravaganza watched by so few and involving myriad costume and make-up changes, most of the performers were on 500 baht a night.
I t was already late, the rain had been drenching the city all day, there was computer work to be done. I was definitely not going out. But then she called. That friend who always calls from somewhere I've never been, even if she's only just down the road. That friend who always sees what others don't see, who dwells in a state of perpetual wonderment, whose delight always infects me. I was definitely not going out, especially not in the pissing rain to some interminable Chinese opera on the other side of town at 10 o'clock at night when there was work to be done. Except, now she'd asked, of course I was. They told me it didn't matter that there was hardly anyone watching the show. “The actors are employed by the temple to entertain the Dead during festivals. The presence of anyone actually living in the auditorium is merely a bonus�. But the more I looked, the more it seemed like I had strayed into a mythical place in which all the participants had passed on long ago. A bunch of actors performing an endless elegy for themselves, watched by no-one except ghosts.
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An ancient court in all its regal splendour, or a two-bit sideshow at a travelling fair?
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These totally dazzling fluorescent lights – more intense than the lights used to illuminate the actors – made watching the show a potentially hazardous, retina-burning ordeal and photographing it a technical nightmare.
People would drift in and out of the auditorium, sometimes chatting with friends quite loudly or standing around smoking cigarettes. Motorcyclists used the place for parking their bikes, too.
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A tricksterish Divaraja beamed down to earth from a cloud full of extremely serious Chinese gods.
A robed courtier waiting in the wings beneath a decidedly untriumphal arch.
In reality, of course – the reality in which the photographer doesn't seek meaning and reference – it was all just a night's work for the cast. The curtain fell, the set was dismantled, the rubbish was set alight, and everyone rushed back off to their lives.
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Photographic prints from this story are available from Ben's website at www.benowenbrowne.com. Bangkok 101 readers who quote "DRAGON" in their e-mails are eligible for a three prints for the price of two Chinese New Year deal. Ben is also available for assignments in and around the city.
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WHITE CHOCOLATE at Water Library 52 | JA N UA RY 2012
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!
AROY
snapshot | X X X X X X X X X
maak maak * so tasty
FOOD & Drinks Food is of the utmost importance here. Locals have been known to brave the beast of Bangkok traffic and make cross-town journeys with the sole purpose of sampling a bowl of noodles at a famous local shop. Thais often ask each other “gin khao reu yang?” or “have you eaten yet?”. This shouldn’t be understood in the literal sense, but almost as another way Thais say hello. It’s how Thai people socialise. Whether the occasion calls for family, friends, business, or anything in between, there’s usually food nearby. The Thai dining experience requires that all dishes be shared – real evidence of the importance of dining to the Thai sense of community. Look around and you’ll see that a taste of Bangkok doesn’t just stop at the world-famous national cuisine – flags of all nationalities fly here, and the results can be amazing. Tom yum soup and creamy curries can be found alongside seared foie gras, crispy tempura and heart-stopping steaks. It won’t be a challenge to find some culinary bangkok101.com
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dynamite for your palate. You’d be better off compiling a list of what the city doesn’t have on offer. You’re bound to eat very well, whether it is at the sexiest, high-end locales, or at the origin of most local food – the streets, where you can get a very tasty, hearty meal at a nondescript stall, or even crackling grasshoppers and worms!
Fantastic food is also available round the kitchen clock, although choices narrow as it gets closer to midnight. Many restaurants have closing times at 9 pm or earlier. However, plenty of them feed late-night appetites. If you really want to bump elbows with the locals and get to the heart of things, Bangkok’s street food culture doesn’t acknowledge the concept of time, with some vendors even carrying on into the wee hours. If a business can survive by trading when everyone is asleep, then it must be good, right? So whether you’re a night owl or an early bird, slightly picky or a try-anything-once daredevil, you’re in for a non-stop gastronomical journey. JA N UA RY 2012 | 53
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FOOD & DRINKS
Kuppadeli
Restaurant review by Max Crosbie-Jones
A restaurant in an office block is not something we usually get excited about, but when that restaurant is a spin-off by Kuppa, one of Bangkok’s top all-time brunch spots, we just had to sit up and take notice. Fans of the original will be pleased to hear that, while the location is less leafy, and the menu shorter, the main components are the same: bright and stylish chic café interior, comfy furniture, lots of glossy magazines, and, the main draw, affordable comfort food. getting there
Kuppadeli map 4 / E2 219/1A The Pride | Sukhumvit Soi 21 | BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit | 02-664-2350 | www.kuppadeli.com 7 am – 10 pm
The slim menu comes divided into pies, salads, sandwiches, burgers, tapas, meat and fish, each section offering between two and eight punter-friendly dishes. Unsurprisingly, the opening ‘All Day Brunch’ section is the biggest, starring tried-and-tested Kuppa stalwarts like scrambled eggs with Tasmanian smoked salmon (B 295), and pinto beans ciabatta (B180). Portions are generous. Pop in for a quick bite by yourself and salads like the fruity fig, rocket and chicken salad (B 250) and sandwiches are manageable, but much of the rest is better suited to sharing. Among them, tapas dishes range from nuggets of lightly deep-fried salt and pepper squid (B150) served with lemon and tartar sauce to bowls of warm, spicy chorizo (B 220). Mains-wise, we plumped for the ‘Wagyu Cop-theLot Burger’ (B 450) and were very happy with it: both with the juicy beef patty ensconced in a handsome wholegrain bun, and the tasty wedges it came with. Not so impressive was the crispy pork leg (B 420). Yes it was huge, but the bland meat only came to life when eaten with the accompanying onion jam, apple sauce or mash. Gourmet coffee and sumptuous cakes are a highlight at the original Kuppa (it actually started out as a coffee shop), and the same appears to be the case here, the smell of freshly ground beans drift from the roaster, and the display counter impossible to walk past without a second glance. Seating ranges from chic, modern tables and chairs stretching the length of the long counter with open kitchen, to a slim outdoor terrace, and a cosy mezzanine with banquettes perfect for lingering on. Much like the original branch, the service is a mixed bag, nothing’s outstanding, but everything’s good, and well worth these prices. Free parking in the building available. เดอะ ไพร์ด สุขุมวิท ซ.21
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F o o d & Dri n k s | R E STA U R ANT R E V I E W
Water Library AT Grass Restaurant review by Howard Richardson
There’s no other non-hotel operation attempting the level of sophistication, chutzpah, and – let’s face it – price, as the guys behind The Water Library at Grass. This is the second in a line of planned openings, after the original in Chamchuri, and for the next phase they have Michelin-starred chef Juan Amador of Langen restaurant, in Germany, joining full time. One of the boldest moves on the Bangkok culinary scene, Water Library at Grass could – if they pull it off – be one of the most influential. For starters there are just ten seats (fewer than a back street raan aharn), all of them at a sushi counter (although they don’t serve sushi). And they only have a set menu. Chef Haikal Johari heads the kitchen but also presents the dishes, explaining both the ingredients and the best way to eat them. This is less chef and diners, more entertainer and audience, and much of the restaurant’s success will depend on Haikal’s personality and infectious enthusiasm.
getting there
WATER LIBRARY at Grass map 4 / Q2 264/1 Thong Lor (Sukhumvit Soi 55), Thong Lor Soi 12 089-520-7066 | Mon – Sat 6 pm – 1 am / dinner at 7:30 pm
The 12 course menu with eight wines (or, more accurately, drinks) changes every few weeks according to the seasons in the countries they source product. And there’s a lot on these complex plates, with modern techniques and funky presentation to the fore. Belon oysters come with beurre blanc ice-cream, caviar and yuzu; Brittany lobster sits in a sardine can with bouillabaisse sauce; rib eye has sides of porcini marmalade and violet potatoes. German beer pairs well with three delicious breads, while ripe époisse cheese, frozen then whipped into cream, partners a Sauternes, which makes the wine really sing when the dessert arrives. Dinner is B 8,400++ with wines or B16,800++ with superior wines, but they will also build you a custom dinner, for a custom price, with wine choices including Chateaux d’Yquem, Lafite and Mouton Rothschild, some up to 70 years-old. Downstairs is a bar, outdoor tables and, opposite, a wine bar with 600 labels and an imported wine specialist and mixologist. Shielded from busy Thonglor, this could be the kind of cool hangout Bangkok’s creatives and professionals crave. It should provide the bread and butter income for some serious dining: long, intense and fantastic fun. วอเตอร์ ไลบรารี่ แอท กราสส์ ทองหล่อ ซ.12
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FOOD & DRINKS
Medici
Restaurant review by Max Crosbie-Jones
Most hotel basements are lackluster spaces used to house the buffet, meeting rooms or cheesy disco. Not so at Hotel Muse: in the bowels of this slick, early 20 th century themed hotel is a new Italian restaurant that’s drawing suits and the hi-so in crowd with its Italian cuisine and cinematic setting. Will the hype die down? Quite possibly, but currently Medici is going down a storm, reservations only on weekday lunch and dinnertimes as well as weekends. Located at the bottom of a staircase lined with ornate wrought iron balustrades, Medici is of a different time and place – the luxurious underbelly of raffish, Prohibition-era New York perhaps. Classy, button tufted black leather chairs and circular banquettes dot the elongated, cellar-like dining room. Wooden beer casks line the brick walls, wrought iron girders prop up the ceiling, and wine racks near the bar act as columns. Industrial overhead lamps cast a crepuscular light. The end result is very Boardwalk Empire: an opulent hidden space that conjures images of wise-talking American-Italian mobsters and cagey politicians forging big deals over lavish meals. The food might not be as adventurous as the setting, but it’s certainly hitting the spot. And not outrageously pricey, either, given the quality on offer. Helming the kitchen is Tuscan-born Francesco Lenzi, a young chef who many will know from his tenure at local wine bar Opus, and who raves passionately about his artisanal produce, most of it imported from the motherland. Already popular is his good value lunchtime set
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menu, with its choice of antipasti, like arugula salad with grilled Tuscan sausage, a spaghetti, fish or meat-based main, plus optional dessert (B 379 for 2 courses, B 450 for 3). The à la carte menu ups the ante with starters like the cold cuts and cheese platter (B 490): a wooden rack arrives piled high with moist slices of palma ham, salami, biroldo and other hard to find imported cold cuts, plus a few rare soft cheeses. As well as risottos and perfectly al dente pastas, Francesco’s signatures include foie gros ravioli doused in a rich, thick truffle sauce, and Filleto alla Rossini (grain-fed Australian beef tenderloin on a bed of spinach and sliced black truffle and topped with foie gros; B1,290). Both were excellent, immaculately plated and decadently delicious. Rotisserie dishes include roasted quail stuffed with prosciutto di parma and saffron risotto, and there are over 120 labels, over 75 % from Italy, the rest Old and New World, to choose from. Like a ruthless new mobster who’s just rolled up in town, Medici is still finding its feet, but looks destined to be a big-hitter: we’ll be back. รร.โฮเทล มิวส์ ซ.หลังสวน
getting there
Medici at Hotel Muse map 3 / I6 55 / 555 Soi Lang Suan | Lumpini | BTS Chit Lom 02-630-4000 | www.hotelmusebangkok.com 12 am – 2:30 pm, 6:00 pm – late
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F o o d & Dri n k s | re s t a ur a n t review
TADAIMA
Restaurant review by Amornsri Tresarannukul
As well as an everyday phase in Japanese, Tadaima, or “I’m home”, is just the latest new casual Japanese to roll up on Thong Lor. After years of studying and running a restaurant in the Land of Rising Sun, the owner Khun Krit decided to try his luck here in his homeland. Whether he picked the lucky number 88 – every dish costs a ‘plus-plus’ free B 88 – to increase his chances of success isn’t clear, but what is clear is that this is a very natty stab at an izakaya, especially for one in a mall. Concrete floors and chic walnut wood tables, chairs and funky tubular lamps are the rather minimalist motifs. We like the izakaya-style woodplank bar with row of seats at the back, too. Behind it, instead of the usual chefs slicing sashimi in front of shelves of sake, there’s an open kitchen where the dishes are rustled up. Don’t be afraid to order in a few dishes: portions may not be huge, but they’re good value considering given the quality.
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getting there
Tadaima map 4 / R3 LG F Eight Thong Lor | Thong Lor Soi 8 | BTS Thong Lo 02-714-9883 | Facebook: Tadaima | Mon – Fri 11 am – 3 pm, 5 pm – 11 pm, Sat + Sun 11 am – 11 pm | B 88 for every dish
Or so we thought on our visit. You could begin with some eringi butter yagi perhaps, then follow that with a sweet and sour Japanese salad. With its crispy veg and soft sashimi, it feels great on the tongue. Our pick of the signatures was the Sushi Sandwich: salmon wrapped in an elongated triangle of sticky rice topped with tobiko and crunchy fried tempura flour. Yum. Two other dishes that also had us scheduling our return visit – not something we do likely at a mall diner – were the aburi yakibuta (grilled pork with soy sauce) and buta bura (pork belly with miso sauce). Want to do the authentic izakaya thing? Wrap a tie round your head and miss the last train home? Drinks include the obvious, sake and glasses of beers like Asaki, as well as fruit flavour beers (B118) and sour Sawa Cocktails. The location takes a bit of getting used to, but this is a mall joint done right. ทาไดมะ เอททองหล่อ ทองหล่อ ซ.8
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FOOD & DRINKS
Street Food Hotspots SUKHUMVIT SOI 38 map 4 / S7
Directly beneath BTS Thong Lo station, the mouth of this soi fills up with food vendors selling late-night delicacies to passing commuters. Sample the delicate, handmade egg noodles, or Hong Kong noodles; and never head home without trying the sticky rice with mango. getting there
Bamee jup gang map 6 / G2
Charoen Krung Soi 23 MRT Hualumphong 089-763-5838 | 8 am – 7 pm
bamee jup gang Street Eat review by Max Crosbie-Jones
Bustling Bamee Jup Gang is one of Chinatown’s more interesting noodle stalls: a socio-cultural history lesson as well as a cheap, if slightly hectic, meal. A generations old fixture, its bustling open kitchen and tables stretch down Charoenkrung Soi 23, a narrow pedestrian only soi that leads into one of Chinatown’s oldest shophouse communities, Charoenchai. According to the locals who live here, it originally catered to hungry Chinese coolies in need of a quick, cheap carb and protein fix, namely bowls of bamee (egg noodles) with wontons and slices of red pork. That explains why the bowls here are the streetfood equivalent of a Big Mac Extra Large meal: much bigger than your average bowl. Today, the labourers are long gone, and the prices have increased considerably (from a pawltry B 9 in the old days, to B 30 for a big bowl and B4 0 for an even bigger big bowl), but Bamee Jup Gang still does a roaring trade among locals looking to give their energy levels a cheap boost. Head here at lunchtime, and you can barely squeeze down the alley for all the people queuing for their portion while the main cook, with his Village People-esque handlebar moustache, douses the noodles in a vat heated by a white-hot charcoal fire. Helping him is a factory line of staff, chopping meat, topping off bowls with pork and wontons, delivering them to the tables located deeper inside the alley, or packing portions away into carrier bags for those who order to-go. It’s not streetfood at its finest or friendliest by any means – people just wolf down their bowl and head on their way – but dining here is certainly an experience; very Chinatown. บะหมี่จับกัง ซ.เจริญกรุง 23 58 | JA N UA RY 2012
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SURAWONG map 5 / I4
A long row of street vendors offers special noodle dishes along this street near Patpong Night Market. Be sure to try the stewed chicken noodles in herbal soup in front of the Wall Street Building. Stalls are open from 10 pm until 4 am. CORNER OF SILOM / CONVENT RD map 5 / I5
The stalls at the mouth of Soi Convent are popular with inebriated night crawlers; but it’s the B10 sticks of moo ping (grilled pork) served by one rotund, Zen master vendor that are justly famous. Go before the bars close (about 2 – 3 am) to avoid the queues. PRATUNAM map 3 / G2
Midnight khao mun gai (Hainanese chicken rice)! There are two shops at the intersection of Pratunam (on corner of Petchaburi Road Soi 30); the first one is brighter and good, but if you like your sauce authentic – with lots of ginger – go to the second one. Also, try the pork satay with peanut sauce. CHINATOWN map 6 / H,I,J (3,4)
Shops fill the streets after dark. There’s an amazing range to sample, but a must-try for seafood fans is the vendor at the corner of Soi Texas. A bit farther on the other side of the street you can get delicious egg noodles with barbecued pork. For dessert, try fantastic black sesame seed dumplings in ginger soup next door. SOI RAMBUTRI (NEAR KHAO SAN ) map7/F,G4
Many a hangover has been stopped in its tracks after a pre-emptive bowl of jok moo (rice porridge with pork) from the famous stall in front of Swenson’s. Popular among tipsy Thai teenyboppers, this is just one of Soi Rambuttri’s many late night food stalls. bangkok101.com
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F o o d & Dri n k s | e a t li k e n ym
ealtike
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 …
Floating Fish Taling Chan is one of our most popular floating markets. Its popularity is partly down to its openings hours. Open throughout the day on weekends and public holidays, it's not one of those floating markets where you need to wake up at the crack of dawn to experience it. Also, you don’t actually have to come here by boat; many just drive and park in the compound of the nearby temple instead. The food, not the convenience, though is its biggest draw. For gluttonous me, walking along its narrow wooden deck lined on both sides with boats peddling hot and cold snacks is always a futile exercise in self-control. Will I be able to make it my favourite stall without succumbing to one of the many other temptations first? Usually I don’t, of course, but it’s not the end of the world: I always make it to my beloved grilled fish with lime-chili sauce stall, eventually. To find it, look out for the lady in the boat wearing a classic Thai gardener’s hat, like something out of an old sepia postcard. And if you don’t see her, just follow the smell of fresh seafood gently smoking over red hot charcoals. Usually I choose whatever she says is best that day, be it a snake-head fish, silver perch or sea bass, giant prawns, or some mussels. Brought from Supanburi province, just north of Bangkok, all of it’s super fresh. But the scenestealer here is not the soft tender flesh, but her nam jim (spicy dipping sauce). She makes it herself, mixing lime, chili, pinch of salt and sugar and garlic, and the result is stunning – citrusy, salty, sweet and spicy. Everything is served traditionally, on a banana leaf, and with boiled vegetables to cool your mouth down.
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getting there
map 2 / A7
Catch a long tail boat from one of the piers along the Chao Praya River. Bargain hard on the price, and make sure you tell them you want to stop at the market. Allow at least 45 min., preferably more. If going by car, Taling Chan is west of the river, in Thonburi, at the intersection of Chimphli and Chak Phra roads.
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FOOD & DRINKS
Bangkok’s best cooking schools
Want to recreate the magic back home? From schools in slums to pricier classes at the upmarket hotels, Thai to Vegetarian and even Indian, here’s our pick of Bangkok’s handson cooking classes. AMITA THAI COOKING CLASS map 2 / B9 162/17 Soi Wutthakat 14, Wutthakat Rd | Talad Plu, Thonburi 02-466-8966 | www.amitathaicooking.com 9:30 am – 1:30 pm (except Wed) | B 3,000 Held in a charming old canalside home in Thonburi, Amita Thai’s setting is far and away the most picturesque. Owner Tam Piyawadi Jantrupon teaches a changing roster of four Thai favourites to classes of no more than 10, but not before she’s led them through her nursery herb garden to handpick their own fresh ingredients. At the end of the class the four-course meal you’ve prepared is served in a Thai-style sala overlooking the canal. Another nice touch: if you’re staying in central Bangkok pick up and drop off by car is included. รร.สอนทำ�อาหารไทยอมิตา วุฒากาศ ซ.14 BAIPAI COOKING SCHOOL map 2 / E5 8/91 Ngam Wongwan Soi 54 | Ladyao, Chatuchak | 02-561-1404 www.baipai.com | Mon – Sat 8.30 am – 5.30 pm | B 2,200 No sitting back and just watching at this traditional Thai house. Shortly after being passed an apron and given a brief demonstration of how to cook four dishes it’s over to you. Fortunately the breezy openplan workshop, personal cooking stations and pre-prepped ingredients mean cooking here is no chore. Plus, the staff are smiley and professional, as they answer your questions (“But what if I can’t find kaffir lime leaves?”) and ensure you don’t singe your spring rolls. Some take home recipes and a souvenir fridge magnet featuring a snap of you in action completes the four-hour morning or afternoon experience. รร.สอนทำ�อาหารไทยใบพาย ถ.งามวงศ์วาน ซ.54 60 | JA N UA RY 2012
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Benjarong Royal Thai Cuisine Restaurant map 5 / K6 The Dusit Thani | 946 Rama IV Rd | 02-200-9000 ext. 2699 www.dusit.com | Mon – Fri 2 pm – 5 pm B3,000 net or B4,200 with Dusit cookbook Want to learn how to cook like a top Thai chef at one of the most elegant restaurants in town? Here’s your chance: The Benjarong Royal Thai Restaurant at the luxurious Dusit Thani Hotel is holding halfday cooking classes with the head chef, Surasak Kongsawat, who has racked up dozens of prestigious culinary awards and medals over his 20-year career in the kitchen. He is also an expert fruit and vegetable carver and you will have the option of learning how to carve fruit along with preparing three exceptional Thai dishes, or choose to learn a fourth recipe if carving doesn’t interest you. เบญจรงค์ รร.ดุสิตธานี ถ.พระราม 4 BLUE ELEPHANT map 5 / D7 Thai Chine Building, 233 South Sathorn Rd | 02-673-9353 www.blueelephant.com | B2,800++ half day / B5,000++ full day The class offered at this classy restaurant is very hands-on and easy to follow. The morning class is preferable since it starts with a visit to the Bang Rak market with the chef, where you’re shown the ingredients you’ll use later. Equipped with apron, knives and wok, each student works at a personal cooking station in a spacious kitchen after short, informative demonstrations. No reason to limit yourself to just tom yam goong and phad thai – each session includes four innovative dishes; the selection changes daily. Perfect for tourists on a short Bangkok stint. บลู เอเลแฟนท์ ถ.สาทรใต้ (รถไฟฟ้าสุรศักดิ์) HELPING HANDS THAI COOKING SCHOOL map 8 / N18 Klong Toey Slum | www.cookingwithpoo.com thai 087-686-3714, engl. 084-901-8717 | 8:30 am – 1 pm | B1,200 For the past two years Khun Poo, a long-time resident of Klong Toey, one of the city’s most impoverished slums, has been running her own cooking school as part of the Helping Hands initiative, a community self-help program that she instigated with four other slum residents. Held in the slum, the classes for up to ten offer the chance to see a little-known side of Bangkok in a safe environment as well as master four classic Thai dishes. The price includes return pick-up/drop-off near BTS Phrom Phong, a market tour, and some printed recipe cards. รร.สอนทำ�อาหารไทยเฮลพ์ปิ้งแฮนดส์ ชุมชนคลองเตย bangkok101.com
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F o o d & Dri n k s | c o o k i n g cl a s s e s
From left to right: Helping Hands | Amita Thai | Rembrandt Hotel | Mrs Balbir's.
CUISINE MAY KAIDEE’S map 7 / G1 33 Samsen Rd (near Soi 2) Watsamphraya | Phranakorn 02-281-7699 | www.maykaidee.com | B1,200 Learn to whip up meatless Thai dishes at this yellow Samsen Road shophouse, one of three popular vegetarian restaurants run by northeasterner Sommay Jaijong, or May, in the Banglamphu area. Like her restaurants, her cooking school has been a big draw with backpackers for 23 years. As well as learning how to cook eight recipes, morning classes include how to make the all important chili paste using a mortar and pestle, a discussion of Thai herbs and spices, and a trip to a local market. Less in-demand afternoon classes tend to be more one-on-one and let you pick what recipes you learn. Fruit carving classes also available. หมายขายดี ถ.สามเสน MRS BALBIR’S INDIAN RESTAURANT map 4 / D6 155/1-2 Sukhumvit Soi 11/1 | 02-651-0019 www.mrsbalbirs.com | B2,200 per session Not content with serving some of the Bangkok’s most authentic Indian dishes at her self-titled restaurant, former TV cookshow host Mrs Balbir also shares the secrets behind them at her regular classes. Pearls of sub-continental wisdom include how to master marinating lamb, prepare dal, and get your tamarind chutney just right. Each of the four sessions includes tutelage in four dishes, a recipe folder, full Indian lunch, and a B500 gift voucher to dine at Mrs Balbir’s. She also offers cooking classes for maids in English or Thai, as well as occasional classes aboard a floating rice barge (B3,500). มิสซิส บัลบีร์ สุขุมวิท ซ.11 REMBRANDT HOTEL BANGKOK map 4 / J8 19 Sukhumvit Soi 18, Klong Toei | 02-261-7100 ext. 7537-8 www.rembrandtbkk.com | 12 pm – 4 pm | B 999++ Sukhumvit Soi 18’s Rembrandt Hotel recently launched their own stab at the Thai cooking school: intimate classes of no more than four and offering insight into all the herbs and ingredients used. Students are taught how to cook four crowd-pleasers (green chicken curry, papaya salad, tom yum goong, and a classic Thai sweet like boiled banana in coconut milk) from scratch, and also shown the basics of Thai fruit and vegetable carving. Classes are officially between 12 pm – 4 pm, but can be rescheduled depending on the chef ’s availability. รร.แรมแบรนดท์ สุขุมวิท ซ.18 bangkok101.com
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ART
Hidden in a secret oasis right in the heart of Bangkok, Ruen Urai, “the House of Gold,” combines fine Thai culinary art with the elegant ambience. Inspired by Thailand’s diverse regions, cultures and lifestyles, our gastronomic creations vary from royal Thai cuisine to refined home-cooking. Experience exquisite Thai flavours. Casual dining and bar from noon to 11 p.m. Plus happy hours from 3 to 6 p.m. daily.
Ruen Urai at the Rose Hotel 118 Soi Na Wat Hualumphong, Surawongse Road Tel: 66 (0) 2266-8268-72 Fax: 66 (0) 2266-8096 www.rosehotelbkk.com www.ruen-urai.com
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FOOD & DRINKS
MEAL Deals
From January 16 Sushi Mondays
Until January 22 Winter Clay Pot
Until January 23 Chinese New Year
Anantara Bangkok Riverside
The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel
Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square
Warm up the family at The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel’s Chinese restaurant this month with a ‘Winter Clay Pot’: braised Cantonese soup served in traditional-style clay pots. Braised goat meat with tofu sheet and black mushrooms in brown sauce, and drunken seafood with Chinese wine in herbal soup are just two variations Hong Kong Master Chef, Chu Hoi Hong, and his team will rustle up.
Celebrate the Year of the Dragon at Lok Wah Hin Chinese Restaurant with a smorgasbord of traditional dishes. Native Chinese Chef Chan’s recommendations include Chinese oysters with seaweed in brown sauce, panfried soft shell crab with X.O sauce, and braised sliced abalone and fish maw with seaweed in brown sauce. Set menus are also available: B6,500++ for 4 people, B13,000 Baht++ for 10.
Until January 31 Celebrating Moroccan Cuisine
Ongoing Wagyu Beef & Wine Buffet
Ongoing Relax and Relish by the River
CrÊpes & Co., Sukhumvit Soi 12 or Thonglor Soi 8
CentaraGrand at CentralWorld
Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers
Like Thai food, Moroccan cuisine uses lots of fresh ingredients and pungent spices (but not as much chilli). Until the end of January sample the country’s rich culinary tradition – its subtle tastes, fragrant flavours and colourful presentation – at both branches of popular brunch spot Crêpes and Co. The newest branch is at Thonglor's Eight Thonglor, while the original sits down Sukhumvit Soi 12.
Thursday nights are now the night at the CentaraGrand’s Ginger and The World, both of which are on the hotel’s floor. Starting this month, Chef Paul Hoeps and Chef Kenji Shindo will prepare dishes made from premium Wagyu beef (think steak tartar, braised Chinesestyle short ribs). To go with it, there’ll be free-flow Antares Cabernet Sauvignon. B1,390++ per person.
The Royal Orchid Sheraton’s etc...on the river offers world cuisine, a refreshing al fresco ambience and views of the Chao Phraya River. Starting this month, they’re offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch buffets featuring popular favourites from across the world. Prices start at B700++ for breakfast and move up to B1,300++ for Sunday brunch, B1,700++ if you go for free flow wine.
257/1-3 Charoennakorn Rd | 02-476-0022 -1416 bangkok-riverside.anantara.com From January 16 the Anantara Bangkok Riverside will serve all-you-can-eat servings of sushi every Monday lunch and dinner time. It works like this. To say “yes please” to pass around selections of hand-crafted sushi you must show the green side of a coin handed to you. Then, to say “no more” simply turn your coin red side up. B599 each, B799 with Asaki beer and sake.
02-653 3990 or 02- 726-9398 www.crepes.co.th
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Sukhumvit 22 | 0-2261-9000 -5938 dining@imperialhotels.com www.imperialhotels.com
999/99 Rama 1 Rd | 02-100-6255 diningcgcw@chr.co.th www.centarahotelsresorts.com/cgcw
Siam Square Soi 6 | 02-209-8888 www.novotelbkk.com
2 Charoen Krung Rd, Soi 30 02-266-9214 www.royalorchidsheraton.com
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F o o d & Dri n k s | R e s t a ur a n t s
Our rundown of the restaurants currently piquing our palates, both old favourites and tantalising newcomers
THAI
BAAN THAI SUK 16 map 4 / H7 186 Sukhumvit 16 | BTS Asoke 02-663-2329 | www.baanthaisuk16.com 2 pm – 11 pm | $ This golden teakwood house pairs indoor and outdoor seating spaces, with chunky wooden furniture, and a menu of simple Thai cooked by a chef from the north. Starters to try include the excellent tod mun pla (fish cakes) and a classic Thai beer snack, moo daed diaow (fried sun-dried pork). Dishes you don’t see everywhere else include piquant kaeng som cha-om goong (sweet and sour soup with acacia omelet and shrimp) and goong Baan Thai: five raw prawns pinned together using cocktail sticks with salmon, lemon, mint, and slivers of mandarin. The atmosphere throughout, from the dining room to the tropical terrace, is homey, heartwarming even, making this a good spot for a Thai meal with soul. บ้านไทยสุข 16 สุขุมวิท ซ.16
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TABCHANG map 2 / g6 1 Nakniwat 41, Ladphrao 71, Ladphrao Rd 081-812-2868 | www.tabchang.com 11:30 am – 2 pm, 5:30 pm – 12 pm | $$$ Worth doing battle with Ladphrao’s rushhour traffic for, Tabchang was our favourite new Thai restaurant of 2011 but remains a virtual unknown. Housed in a tall, open-sided pavilion peppered with plush cream furnishings and fringed by lawns, a pond and a gnarled Banyan tree, the setting is sumptuous. What really marks Tabchang out though is its ancestral Siamese food, dating back to the late 18th century and slow-cooked in accordance with the owner Supada Rattagan’s rules of pure Thai cooking. Dishes that wowed include moo krong krang, wok-fried pork nuggets coated in palm sugar, the yum som-o salad, and pork rib stew with Chamuang leaves from Chantaburi. An exotic and modestly priced journey back through the recipe books, the only thing that wasn’t excellent at Tabchang was the service, which is a bit abrupt and short on polish, closer to “local-style” as Supada admits. Book ahead, especially if there’s a few of you, so she has time to get her staff and stoves fired up. ทับช้าง ถ.ลาดพร้าว
THANYING map 5 / E6 10 Pramuan Rd (between Silom 17 and 19) BTS Surasak | 02-236-4361, 02-235-0371 www.thanying.com | 11.30 am – 10 pm | $$ Housed in a townhouse set back from the road, this two-decade strong Thai restaurant is run by a Princess’s son and his actor business partner. Inside, a stately dining experience awaits, with royal portraits looking on as impeccably smart and attentive (but never hovery) waiters serve high-society sorts sat in tall-back wooden chairs. The menu of simple Thai looks unextraordinary – until the dishes prepared to the exacting standards of the Sukhothai Royal Court arrive. On our visit even the mainstream ones you find everywhere were memorable. The Tom Yum Goong soup for example had a haunting delicate perfume herbal hint; while the look chin pla green curry was faultless: thick with sweet basil, fresh galangal strips and juicy fish balls. Dessert selection is slim but equally well done (try the ripe mango with sticky rice balls). It might be too prim and proper for some, but Thanying is undoubtedly a gem, up there with the best fine dining establishments in town. ท่านหญิง ถ.ประมวล
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FOOD & DRINKS
CHINESE
AN AN LAO map 8 / Q14 331/1-3 Soi Thonglor, Sukhumvit 55 (between Thonglor 15-17) | BTS Thong Lo 02-712-6859 | Mon – Sat 10 am – 10 pm, Sun 10 am – 9:30 pm | $ An An Lao is a Thonglor favourite. The reason: within its four walls, dotted with big round banquet tables, some of Bangkok’s best value Thai-Chinese food is served. The family who runs it hails from Betong, a cool mountainous district in the Deep South. And it is the specialties they brought with them, over 20 years ago, long before the J Avenues and yuppies moved in, that are most intriguing. They include stir-fried watercress, guay deow lot (barbequed pork in flat rice noodles) and tofu with pork. The don’t misses though are the Betong chicken – steamed, served cold and very lean because it’s free-range; and the whole Peking Duck, yours, how you want it, for B350. Extended hi-so families, media folk, Japanese expats, even celebrity masterchef McDang all feast here regularly. อัน อัน เหลา ทองหล่อ ระหว่าง ซ. 15 – 17
french
Café Tartine map 3 / K5 4 Athenee Residence Retail Space Soi Ruamrudee | BTS Ploenchit 02-168-5464 | www.cafetartine.net 8 am – 8 pm, Sun brunch 8 am – 8 pm | $ Café Tartine’s old world-style interior and pithy menu of no-fuss French baked fare –
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croissants, quiches, salads, sandwiches etc – has won over everyone from pram-pushing expat wives and office workers to ravenous journos like ourselves. Tuck into their cheesy French onion soup served in crock-pot before hunkering down on an assertively-flavoured sandwich, each one a whole fresh-baked baguette served with green salad. Our pick: the Poulet Chevre (marinated chicken with strong goat’s cheese and black olives). The café also offers aperitifs and, if you’re in a rush, everything is available to-go (though the hot, runny croque monsiers don’t travel well). Café Tartine is also open for Sunday brunch, when the lone long pine table, perfect for accommodating a Ricard-sipping family and friends, really comes into its own. ROAST map 4 / Q2 2nd F Seenspace | Sukhumvit 55 (Thong Lor), แอทธินี เรสสิเดนซ์ ซ.ร่วมฤดี Soi 13 | BTS Thong Lo 02-185-2866 | www.roastbkk.com Mon – Thu 10 am – 11 pm, Sat 9 am – 00:30 am, INTERNATIONAL Sun 9 am – 11 pm The American feel of Roast is a deliberate attempt by co-owner Varatt Vichit-Vadakhan to replicate the chilled vibe of the east coast cafes he used to visit when living stateside. This theme carries though to the theme of the menu, which has been put together under a banner of ‘New American’. There have been a number of places touting this style of cuisine, and this one hits the mark. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, Roast is attracting a largely expatriate clientele for its brunch menu, including the Roast Breakfast (B350) of eggs any style, crispy bacon, roast potato, homemade sausage patties and duck hash. They try to make as much as possible in-house, a policy that extends to roasting their own coffee, hence the name. That retrolooking piece of machinery in the corner is the Polka Dot Café map 8 / J7 430kg Giesen W6, a Dutch made roaster that 1st F, Aree Garden, Aree Samphan 11 (Paholyotin Soi 5, opposite The Ministry Of equates to heaven for hipster coffee hounds. Finance) | 02-617-3204 | BTS Ari โรสต์ คอฟฟี่ แอนด์ อีทเทอรี่ ทองหล่อ ซ.13 Mon – Fri 3 pm – midnight, SatSun 11am-midnight | $$ Polka Dot Café dwells in a cosy glass rectangle bridge spanning the entrance into slick community mall, Aree Garden. Baby-faced waitstaff whisk plates from the eponymous polka-dot bar to seven close-nit tables as tunes picked by the owner (a female drum'n'bass DJ no less) drift through the pipes. Though their inexperience shows, everything from the wedges with sour cream and mentaiko mayo to all-day brunch fare like the poached eggs with asparagus and smoked salmon comes out looking tasty and well-crafted. And proves to be just that… we hunkered down on a pan roasted duck breast with mash and savoured every comforting morsel. Is it worth slogging across town for? Not really; but if in TANYAMAMA map 8 / J7 the vicinity – and Ari’s hip cachet dictates that 10/27 Soi Ratchakru (Phaholyothin 5) you should be – Polka Dot’s a satisfying dinner BTS Ari | 02-6173950 stop. Kudos too for the decadent dessert and Mon – Sat 11 am – 10.30 pm | $$ cocktail menu, both among the best we’ve As swish new condos continue to thrust up in encountered in this price bracket. the Soi Ari area, so do slick standalone restauอารีย์ การ์เด้น อารีย์สัมพันธ์ 11 rants catering to the young professionals that
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F o o d & Dri n k s | R e s t a ur a n t s
Jim
Restaurant
Open Nightly 7 pm until 11 pm Jim Thompson House and Museum
6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road, Bangkok, Thailand Tel 66 2612 3601 www.jimthompson.com
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FOOD & DRINKS fill them. One of the latest, Tanyamama, is a townhouse conversion helmed by Londontrained fashion designer, Tanya Tansaringkan, and featuring food by hip female fusion cook Chef Nokweed. She’s crafted an organicproduce only menu featuring cold, warm and hot starters, rice bowl and pasta mains, as well as grilled dishes like duck treasure with orange sauce and sirloin steak with sticky rice and jeaw sauce. Though they call it fusion, nothing is as odd as many of the dish names suggest – not that we’re complaining. The ‘Blackcat’ is a big bowl of steamed mussels, tossed in spicy tomatoes and pepper, dusted with garlic and cheese – comfort food, plain and simple. ‘Magic Mushrooms’ is a casserole dish of baked pappardelle and squid ink pasta thick with mushrooms and an odd, mildly spicy cheese sauce. To accompany, there are sodas and smoothies, whites and reds by the glass, plus one of the smarter settings in the Ari area. Situated down a cul de sac lined with neo-classical pillared townhouses, Tanyamama’s leafy terrace exterior is thick with potted tropical plants and hanging foliage. The downstairs has a modern bistro feel, featuring cheque floors, red brick walls, banquettes and tangled light bulbs dangling overhead, like leftovers from an art-installation. And upstairs there’s a more private dining space, as well as a boutique stocking Tanya’s female clothing designs. ธัญยามาม่า ซ.ราชครู (พหลโยธิน 5)
ITALIAN
CONCERTO map 5 / E5 661 Silom Rd, between Soi 17 and 19 02-266-5333 | www.niusonsilom.com 5 pm – 1 am | $$$ Concerto, the upstairs part of jazz-blues complex Niu’s on Silom, was Thailand’s first independent restaurant to gain the SGS international standard for food and service. Eating there, it’s easy to see how they reached a distinction normally in the realm of posh hotels. Chef Marco Cammarata plates up fantastic dishes like pumpkin and lentil soup flavoured with salted cod and a drizzle of basil oil; or warm sea scallops, the sweet flesh bristling with the dark acidity
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of balsamic reduction and the juicy pop of fresh grapes. The good, mainly Italian wine list has some 300 labels, with several by the glass, from B280.The modern classical room includes a mural of da Vinci’s Justice on one wall; there’s a jazz trio tripping light improvisations in the corner, and windows that overlook an evocative European-style plaza, complete with fountain and fairy lights. A classy joint, with plenty of parking, and well placed for river hotels. คอนแชร์โต้ ถ.สีลม
Japanese
IMOYA map 4 / m7 3rd F Terminal Shop Cabin, 2/17-19 Sukhumvit 24 | BTS Phrom Phong 02-663-5185 | 5pm – midnight | $$ Located upstairs in a low-key little building just yards from Emporium mall, this izakaya (Japanese drinking joint) resembles a gritty Tokyo joint from a noir 1970s gangster flick – and comes off all the more memorable for it. Tatty old Japanese B-movie and beer posters adorn the corrugated iron walls, while the staff flit up and down the skuzzy, oddly alley-like corridors, serving cures for homesickness to sake-guzzling salarymen. Lone diners sit up at the sushi bar while groups grab a table or cubicle with tatami mats, and those allergic to Imoya’s tobacco tang (erm, hello, smoking ban?) grab the smoke-free seats. Reasonable prices and bags of variety on the plastic-backed menu make this a good place for impulse ordering. Tuck into the sanma yaki fish or kimuchi nabe (vegetable hotpot) and don’t be surprised if you find yourself demanding another – we did. Not that everything’s great. The sashimi here is ok, for example, but not a patch on the stuff you find in the best hotels, while the maguro don (tuna over rice) just left us shrugging our shoulders. Well worth seeking out then (where else in Bangkok can you sink glasses of sake while pretending you’re a yakuza boss with nothing to lose?) but do beware the odd duff dish. อิโมย่า สุขุมวิท 24
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F o o d & Dri n k s | R e s t a ur a n t s
the mutton kabuli raan, which the restaurant tells you with a straight face, is the best lamb dish you’ll ever have. The soft and tender shredded spiced meat that falls right off the bone makes it hard to argue with them. อินเดียนโฮส สุขุมวิท ซ.22 ใกล้กับ
indian
รร.แกรนด์เมอเคียวร์
Indian Host map 4 / L8 Sukhumvit Soi 22 (near Grand Mercure Park Avenue Hotel) | BTS Phrom Phong 02-260-1115-6 | www.indian-host.com 11:30 am – 11:30 pm | $$ This white tablecloth, glass-encased restaurant offers fine North Indian cuisine, which features milder flavours and less spice than other regional parts of the sub-continental nation. While their mixed tandoori platter and aromatic Chicken biriyani were undeniably delicious, it’s their less recognizable offerings that will truly heat up your tastebuds, like the mouth-watering “Mutton Authority”, featuring both minced and boneless lamb chunks cooked in a range of spices resulting in an invigorating and fiery dish that we guarantee will have you reaching for some naan bread to wipe your plate clean. If that’s not enough lamb for you, don’t even think about skipping
Saras map 4 / J7 Sukhumvit Soi 20 (near Windsor Hotel) 02-401-8484 | www.saras.co.th | (home delivery via ChefsXP: 02-204-2001) Mon – Fri 8 am –10:30 pm, Sat – Sun 8 am – 11 pm | $ Somehow Saras and its delicious Indian fast food, all of it 100% vegetarian, managed to elude our attention since opening back in early 2010. Secreted away down a little driveway on Sukhumvit 20, it’s a utilitarian canteen with solid wood furniture and a food court-like ordering system. The upside of this stripped down set-up are the prices. Roughly 350 plus dishes of pan-Indian – sit on the menu
and nearly all come in well under B150. Even more intriguingly, the majority are the sorts of authentic down-home delicacies that sell in the tens of millions each day in their homeland but rarely seem to make it on to the menu of curryhouses either here in Bangkok or in the West. To name but a few, the dahi puchka are little cuplets of crispy puri (bread) filled with a potato and pea mixture, drenched in a cool and slightly tart curd, and topped off with herbs and a mild tamarind sauce; the chupa rustam kebabs tandoor-cooked little culets of heavily spiced potato with a surprise – mozzarella – waiting inside; and the mushroom momos, from the Indian-Chinese section, moreish gyoza-like dumplings served with a pickled tomato dip. More treats await, no doubt. If knowing what to plump for off the text menu proves tricky, then opt for one of their five thali sets. Available in Rajasthani, Gujarati and North India variations, these come served with their own unique array of vegetable and lentil dishes and different breads. Speaking of breads, one to try here is the kulcha, a more fragrant alternative to the usual naan. It’s also worth finding room for Saras’ freshly made sweets, all handsomely displayed in glass display cases. Only adding to the appeal of this no-frills shrine to authentic Indian vegetarian food – a detour-worthy must for the herbivores and intrepid food explorers among you – are the Jain menu and delivery, through www.chefsxp. com, options. ซาราส สุขุมวิท ซ.20
ALL YOU CAN EAT HOMEMADE ITALIAN PASTAS AND ASIAN NOODLES + INTERNATIONAL BUFFET FAVORITES
450TB ...COME 2 PAY 1... NE
Daily 11.30 - 14.30 Validity: Now - 31st March 2012
Ramada Encore Bangkok - 21 Sukhumvit Soi 10 Tel: 02 615 0999 www.ramadaencorebangkok.com bangkok101.com
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FOOD & DRINKS
Isaan/Laos
HAI SOMTUM map 5 / I6 2/4-5 Soi Convent (off Silom Rd) BTS Sala Daeng, MRT Silom 02-631-0216 | Mon – Fri 10:30 am – 9 pm, Sat 10:30 am – 8 pm | $ What this drab temple to sticky rice lacks in sophistication, it makes up for with plates of gai yang (crispy-skinned grilled chicken), tart laabs (minced meat salads) and other Northeastern staples, all briskly served by efficient staff for just a smidge more than streetfood prices. The real star of the show, though, is the green papaya salad, or somtum. The kitchen-cart here, piled high with shredded green papaya, knocks up almost every known variation of the spicy-sour-sweet cult dish. If you’re a somtum newbie, try the somtum thai – speckled with peanuts and dried shrimp, this sweet rendition lacks the fermented crab that has many a rookie rushing for the nearest toilet a few hours later. Our personal favorite, though, is the somtum khai khem (salted egg), though others swear by the carrot or pla raa (smelly fermented fish) renditions. Worried about being met by blank stares from the staff? Don’t be. Though not a tourist joint, the place has a foolproof menu and some staff who speak passable English. Deliveries also available. ไฮ้ ส้มตำ�คอนแวนต์ ซ.คอนแวนต์
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MIDDLE EASTERN
VIETNAMESE
Beirut map 4 / B7 Basement, Ploenchit Centre Sukhumvit Soi 2 | BTS Phloen Chit / Nana 02-656-7377 | 10 am – 10 pm | $ Located near the enclave of tasty Middle Eastern restaurants on Sukhumvit 3/1, Beirut provides a bit more comfort, quiet, and care in the kitchen than its tasty but shisha smoky brethren do. The mall atmosphere is not much to look at, and the service a little curt at times, but you’ll be too busy scarfing down lemon-fresh salads, creamy hummus and beautifully marinated chicken kebabs to even glance around. Beirut does excellent set menus of its small plates – come with a gang of friends and fight over every forkful. Fried eggplant is simple and fantastic, served up without a trace of oil and bitterness, and Beirut’s cauliflower got us – confirmed haters of that pasty-white vegetable – to chase every last morsel. Pita is not up to this standard, but serviceable – more room in your stomach for the good stuff. Finish up with strong mint tea, perfume-y sweet custards and rice puddings. Unpretentious and perfect for that falafel fix. เบรุท สขุมวิท ซอย 2
VT Naem Nueang Pradit Manutham Rd (behind Palm Street Shopping Row) 02-935-6524 | 10 am – 10 pm | $ With its crystal chandeliers and plastic tablecloths, the décor may appear slightly confused (an oddly-eclectic soundtrack, which includes Christmas carols, only magnifies the effect) but the brightly-lit dining room at VT Naem Nueang is still a convivial spot in which to sample an extensive menu of hard to find – but reasonably priced – Vietnamese delicacies. Not everything at this Bangkok offshoot of the famous branches up in the Northeast is a must-try (the goong pan oi – minced shrimp encasing a sugar cane and served with noodle balls and a pickled carrot relish – has, perhaps unsurprisingly, an overriding sweetness). But for most of VT’s clientele of mainly well-to-do Thais its naem nueang is the main draw. These grilled pork rolls are provided with sliced banana, chillis, garlic and mango, together with fresh vegetables and a sweet fermented bean sauce; wrapped in rice paper, these brilliant bite-sized parcels alone are enough to justify a rush-hour slog to this somewhat awkwardlylocated restaurant. วีทีแหนมเนือง ถ.ประดิษฐ์มนูธรรม
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F o o d & Dri n k s | B ru n c h i n g T a ble s
brunching tables The Grand Hyatt’s Tables is the dim and ritzy, Tony-Chi designed setting for one of the most lavish new brunch offerings in a long while: an unabashed romp through classical European cuisine held every Sunday.
Soon enough, you’re focus is drawn to the aromas (despite the ventilation there is some leakage, though it’s more tantalising than overpowering) emanating from the cooking stations dotted through the dining room. There’s a table dishing up portions of three different kinds of risotto: mushroom, seafood Occupying the mezzanine above the hotel’s airy, orchids-inand a sumptuous, black-truffle studded champagne version. vases lobby, Tables is a chic update of the turn-of-the-century dining room, where miniature half-size models of waiters hang Yards away, a ‘surf ’ stations prepares selected fruits of the from the walls, bamboo dividers create a sense of intimacy, deep; on our visit scallops sautéed with tomatoes, olives and and Swiss Chef de Cuisine, Michel Eschmann, occasionally capers, or in a vegetable broth-based stew. And a few paces works the tables. If the main space is fully booked, the spillover more is the turf station, with its chef waiting to cut you a hunk is accommodated in two, heavily mirrored private chambers. of wonderfully flavourful imported beef, veal or pork saltimbocca, and then load your plate with a mountain of trimmings. Table-side cooking, on fancy stove-equipped stations, is the To keep things interesting for the regulars, and there are quite heavily touted signature here, but before the eager sous chefs a few, the line-up changes each week. get to show off their skills the brunch kicks off with a mighty onslaught of mini-appetisers, all arranged on stations that back Still not had your fill yet? The dessert spread includes clason to the long, neo-classical balcony. sic tarts, cheeses, mille feuilles, seasonal fruits and praline and truffles, plus two signatures prepared à la minute. Like so One groans with cold cuts sliced on the spot, as well as shot much of the food here, both the Peach Melba with raspberries glasses of steak tartar (instead of new fangled, the emphaand almonds, and the hot and tangy Cherry Jubilee, served sis here is on resurrecting old ones that fell out of favour). with kirsch and dollops of cooling vanilla ice cream, are throwAnother comes loaded with mini portions of gorgeously rich backs done well … and all the more enjoyable for their not duck liver terrine, port-wine fig, boiled beef salad, superlative being available everywhere else. Caesar salad, plus a selection of home-made breads. Seafood also gets the mini-taster treatment, with seasonal oysters on ice, along with mignonette and other condiments, smoked Scottish and poached salmon, Tiger prawn cocktails and poached black mussels. Two soups, both rustled up on the spot, include lobster bisque – subtle yet rich, studded with morsels of tender meat – and a clear mushroom soup with croutons and Pernod. bangkok101.com
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getting there
Tables at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangok map 3/ G5 494 Rajdamri Road | 02-254-1234 | www.hyatt.com Sun 12 – 2:30 pm | B1,400++ incl. iced tea, water, coffee and tea / B800++ for children aged 6 – 12 / add B580++ for free-flow Prosecco, rose, wine, beer, orange juice and soft drinks JA N UA RY 2012 | 69
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FOOD & DRINKS
OPUS Wine review
Tucked down a quiet soi connecting Silom and Sathorn Road, this Italian wine bar oozes elegance, intimacy and good taste. Early evening groups of snappily-dressed businesspeople from Silom and Sathorn descend to chat over fine wine and share plates of mozzarella salad and pasta, both classic and creative. Then, as the night wears on, the gently-lit bar area welcomes a sophisticated crowd of wine-lovers and trysting couples who commandeer corner tables. Like all good wine bars, Opus takes tremendous pride in its cellar, a glass-walled walk-in affair that is home to 400 almost exclusively Italian labels. Nestled in amongst the showpiece Sassicaias and such are bottles that offer great value, like a Livio Felluga pinot grigio at B2,100 and a 2003 Barolo at less than B4,000. Opus also offers half a dozen wines by the glass. The food menu is comparatively compact but elegant, with contemporary Italian fare designed for picking at through the course of an evening (or, starting this month, weekday lunch). We enjoyed a wonderful carpaccio of salmon drizzled with a subtly tangy pink peppercorn and orange sauce and an exquisitely tender Australian tenderloin steak served with balsamic and shards of parmesan. โอพุส ถ.ปั้น สีลม
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getting there
OPUS map 5 / E6 64 Pan Road (Soi Wat Kaek) | Silom | BTS Surasak 02-637-9899 | www.wbopus.com 6 pm – midnight / starting this month they will also open for weekday lunch – call for details bangkok101.com
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F o o d & Dri n k s | W i n e
diVino Food & Wine Penny’s Balcony Thonglor 16, Sukhumvit 55 Bangkok 10110 Thailand Tel: 027 148 723 www.divinobkk.com
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KOOL CATS AT Q Bar 72 | JA N UA RY 2012
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one night in Bang kok
Nig h t life | xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Nightlife After the festive excesses of December, January is always a bit of a comedown, nightlife-wise. Still, there are still parties to be had, and new experiences on the horizon for 2012. Following the success of last month’s trance-tastic EditionBangkok dance festival over at Moonstar Studios, the organisers, OP Worldwide, are working on the launch of their very own club lounge on Sukhumvit Soi 11. Details are scant: all they’re saying right now is that Levels should be opening its doors around February, while the digital mockups are all dark, sleek and sexy. Watch this space, and see Facebook: Levels for updates. Continuing with Soi 11 news, the seemingly immortal (in nightclub terms) Q Bar celebrated its 12 birthday in January with a loud military themed party and even louder new look. Completely overhauled, the downstairs now has a funky outside lounge area and puts the DJ at the centre of things. The décor is now all glam neo-Victorian furniture, mood lighting and faux-leopard and snakeskin; and upstairs, there’s another, more intimate outdoor bar with banquette seating. A top-to-bottom review is on its way. More into your fine liquors and Cuban cigars? If nightcrawling isn’t for you, a more refined venue has just opened on the roof at Hotel Muse, the striking Old Siam period themed property that recently opened up on Lang Suan Road. Taking its cue from prohibition-era dens of pleasure, The Speakeasy has a spacious terrace bar for outdoor mingling, as well as two distinct venues-withina-venue: ultra-private lounge, The Blind Pig, and an exclusive area, The Lawn, set aside for elegant rooftop events. Mood music wise, they promise “1920s thrill, plenty of Jazz-era swing along with the hippest contemporary electro beats.” For more, see Facebook: Hotel Muse, Bangkok
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clubs
BED SUPPERCLUB Map 4 / C4 26 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 02-651-3537 www.bedsupperclub.com | 7:30 pm – 1 am With its uber-modern oval spaceship design, Bed Supperclub is a hugely successful hybrid, and a Bangkok icon: fine dining on what may be the world’s largest sofas on one side, and an adjoining bar on the other. For the past eight years, Bed has attracted a fashionable crowd, and with its à-la-page white interior is definitely a place to see and be seen. The food is world-class on the cosy restaurant side, and the sleek design extends to an allwhite bar on the club side. Bed has talented resident DJs and brings over top-notch talent (including some very eclectic art) for special events. Big-name DJs tend to spin on Thursdays, house and mash-up hip-hop rules on Friday, and Sunday mixes 1980 ’s pop hits with house music. เบด ซัปเปอร์คลับ สุขุมวิท ซ. 11
DEMO Map 4 / R1 Thong Lor Soi 10 (next to Funky Villa) BTS Thong Lo | 02-711-6970 8 pm – 1 am | free. Easily the grittiest discoteca in the swish Thong Lor area is Demo – a former tenement building turned graffiti daubed brick warehouse. Featuring a terrace and bar outside, and lots of dark corners inside, not only does it look like a venue you’d find in East London or some other hipster-ville. It sounds like one, too: instead of the usual mainstream hip-hop and live-bands, Demo’s DJs blast zeitgeisty nu-disco, house and electro through a kicking sound-system. เดโม ทองหล่อ ซ. 10
GLOW Map 4 / G5 96/4-5 Sukhumvit Soi 23 | BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit | 02-261-3007 www. glowbkk.com | 6 pm – 1 am This boutique club / bar challenges Bangkok’s biggies when it comes to delivering innovative music from the world of underground electronic pleasures. An intimate, stylish cave is decked out in dark walls, funky seating, innoCLUB CULTURE Map 7 / J6 vative lighting and a dramatic bar. The music Ratchadamnoen Klang Rd palette changes night-tonight but always (behind Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall) 089- 497-8422 | www.club-culture-bkk.com excludes hip-hop (hurrah!). For details and regular updates, check Glow’s cool website. Wed – Sat 8 pm – late โกลว์ สุขุมวิท ซ. 23 Club Culture comes from the same brains behind the city’s annual dance music festival, Culture One. After being evicted from its original home, a former Thai theatre on Phaya INSOMNIA Map 4 / F7 Thai Road, it relocated to this gritty four-sto- Sukhumvit Soi 12 (between Times Sq and rey warehouse hidden away in the Old City in Soi 12) | www.clubinsomniagroup.com early 2010, much to the relief of its regulars – In this busy after-hours joints, LED lasers twirl a cross-cultural mix of hipster Thais and dis- around a huge main room with a giant disco cerning expats. Like the old days they pro- ball at its centre, while DJs spin electro house mote new talent, while still bringing in the big out of a throbbing mounted speaker system. guns, ensuring an eclectic roster of indie rock, Some shady ladies and their hangers-on do drum’n’bass and house music of all genres. head here (do we need to spell it out?), but unlike most of the competition, Insomnia is คลับ คัลเจอร์ ถ.ราชดำ�เนินกลาง not overrun with them. (หลังนิทรรศ์รัตนโกสินทร์) อินซอมเนีย ซ. สุขุมวิท 12 74 | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2
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Q BAR Map 4 / C4 34 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | BTS Nana 02-252-3274 | www.qbarbangkok.com 8 pm – 1 am 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 international DJs leading the way. Q Bar raised the ‘bar’ for Bangkok nightlife twelve years ago and is still going strong, with a flirty crowd every night and big name guest DJs. Best nights: Sunday’s Gin Q Bar & Juice hip-hop party, Wednesday’s Block Party with hiphop & funk classics (ladies enter free), and Friday’s Houseduction. Upstairs at Q a chic, remarkably different vibe resounds in the bar/ lounge, which like the venue has just been given a sexy makeover. Some relative solitude and a choice pick’n’mix of the expat and jetset scene can usually be found here and on the outdoor terrace, which is perfect for a breather, people watching and a late evening snack (including tasty shawarmas). คิว บาร์ ถ.สุขุมวิท ซ. 11
ROUTE 66 Map 8 / Q12 29/33-48 Royal City Avenue www.route66club.com | B 200 foreigners incl. two drinks / free for Thais Rammed with dressed-to-kill young Thais on weekends, ‘Route’, as its affectionately known, is RCA’s longest surviving superclub. There are three zones to explore (four if you count the toilets – probably the ritziest in town), each with its own bar, unique look and music policy. ‘The Level’ is the huge, all-lasers-blazing hip-hop room; ‘The Classic’ spins house and techno; and Thai bands play in ‘The Novel’. It’s not a good place to lose your mates but can be a blast if you all get crazy around a table, be it inside or out on the big outdoors area. One sore point: foreigners are charged a B200 entry fee (but get a free drink). รูท 66 อาร์ ซี เอ bangkok101.com
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Nig h t life | H o t el b a r s & C lub s
hotel bars & clubs
TAPAS Map 5 / I5 Silom Soi 4 | BTS Sala Daeng, MRT Silom 02-632-7982 | www.tapasroom.net 8 pm – 2am On the groovy little enclave of Silom Soi 4, Tapas is a party institution and one of the few mixed hang-outs on a heavily gay strip of lively bars and clubs. For more than 10 years it’s been pumping out excellent house music and live, bongo-bangin’ percussion sets as well. Multi-levelled, with a dark, Moroccan feel, it’s easy to chill here, whether lounging or dancing your tail off! Like Soi 4 in general, weeknights can be hit-or-miss, but weekends are always hopping from about midnights onwards. And if it’s not, grab a table on the outside terrace to enjoy a few cocktails and some of the best people watching in town. The tipples are mixed strong, and watching this soi’s comings and goings an, erm, eyeopening experience to say the least. ทาปาส สีลม ซ. 4
THE CLUB Map 7 / F4 123 Khaosan Rd, Taladyod | Phranakorn 02-629-1010 | www.theclubkhaosan.com 6 pm – 2am | B 100 (incl. one drink) The walk-in crowd of young Thais and backpackers must surely be amazed to find they’ve entered a techno castle on Khao San Road. The sky-high windows and raised central DJ turret lend a fairy-tale vibe, while the lasers, visuals and UV lighting hark back to the halcyon days of trippy psy-trance. Music-wise, it’s a loud, banging house serving up the full range of 4/4 beats, usually cranium-rattling electro house and techno. Dancers entertain on Friday and Saturday nights. The drink prices are kind to your wallet and UV glowsticks handed out for free. Along with a couple of other well-done joints in the vicinity, this is one of the places the backpackers throng to when the night is stepping up a notch and the whisky buckets have kicked in เดอะคลับ ข้าวสาร bangkok101.com
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BARSU Map 4 / F6,7 Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit 250 Sukhumvit Rd | 02-649-8358 www.barsubangkok.com | 6 pm – 2 am The informal yet sleek and minimally styled 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, house, hip hop and techno are banned; in house DJs spin soul, funk, rock, vintage 70 s, 80 s and world music. An audacious dining concept features a menu of sophisticated bar snacks created by a Belgian two-star Michelin chef. Joining this premium finger food is a menu of creative cocktails priced at B 400 net, live music every Friday and Saturday from 10 pm, plus a slew of specials. Drinks between 5:30 – 8:30 pm on weekdays go for B 250 and include free hors d’oeuvres, and ladies enjoy drinks for just B150 net per glass each Wednesday from 9 pm. รร.เชอราตัน แกรนด์ สุขุมวิท ระหว่างสุขุมวิท 12 และ 14
BEERVAULT Map 4 / E6 Four Points by Sheraton 4 Sukhumvit, Soi 15 | BTS Asok | 02-304-3200 www.fourpoints.com | 11:30 am – 12 pm Only 80 count ’em paces from Sukhumvit Road, this snazzy glass and brick box with a colour-changing LED column dangling over its central bar, serves 48 bottled brews and six on tap (as well as wines to keep the ladies happy). Most hail from Belgium, making the BeerVault the first serious downtown alternative to the ever popular Belgium beer bar, Hobbs, over on Thonglor. Thanks to its streetfront location, it feels more approachable than your usual bleak hotel bar; and as well as decent happy hours between 5:30 – 7:30 pm, there’s a free salad bar. รร.โฟร์พอยท์ส บาย เชอราตัน ถ.สุขุมวิท 15
CM2 Map 3 / D5 Basement Novotel Siam Square 392/44 Siam Square Soi 6 | BTS Siam 02-209-8888 | www.cm2bkk. com 10 pm – 2 am The Novotel Siam Square Hotel’s subterranean party cave still packs them in fourteen years after it first opened, especially on weekends when it heaves with tourists and nocturnal beauties. The big and quite 1980s disco looking (black and metal and neon lighting rule) complex has lots of lounging space facing the dancefloor, plus a sports bar with pool tables, smoking room, and an Absolut Vodka Lounge. It’s mainstream all the way. DJ s play what the crowd wants, when they want it, usually the latest electro, funky house or hip-grinding R&B tune, while the rotating line-up of live bands from Canada, Europe and Asia perform as if every song is a potentially life-changing audition. International / Thai food and a huge cocktail list is served, as is what they claim is Bangkok’s biggest pour – all drinks feature double shots for no extra charge. Check out their Facebook page for news of their popular monthly theme parties and drinks promotions. รร.โนโวเทลสยามสแควร์ สยามสแควร์ ซ. 6
ST. REGIS BAR Map 3 / G7 12th F, St. Regis Bangkok Hotel 159 Rajadamri Rd | BTS Ratchadamri 02-207-7777 | www.stregis.com Mo – Fr 10 am – 1 am, Sat + Sun 10 am – 2 am At 6:30 pm each day a butler struts out onto the terrace of The St. Regis Bar, a saber in one hand, a bottle of Moet & Chandon in the other. He then flicks at the collar until ‘pop!’, the cork flies off and bubbly spurts gently out onto the terrace. Come for this, and stay for the view. Stretching along a plate glass window, the rectangle venue – with its suave masculine vibe, long bar, clubby sofas and high-ceilings – eyeballs the city’s Royal Bangkok Sports Club. It’s a lovely spot at sunset, even better on every second Sunday afternoon, when you can spy on the horse-racing with a fine malt whisky in hand. รร. เดอะ เซนต์ รีจิส กรุงเทพฯ ถ.ราชดำ�ริ JA N UA RY 2012 | 75
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Bars with views Fed up with Bangkok’s fume-filled streets? Fancy a breather? Take to the skies. Bangkok offers a clutch of dramatic highaltitude bars (both indoor and outdoor) from where to survey the glittering skyline below …
AMOROSA Map 7 / C11 3rd F Arun Residence Hotel 36-38 Soi Pratoo Nok Young, Maharat Road (near Wat Po temple) | 02-221-9158 www.arunresidence.com | 6 pm – 1 am Romantic Amorosa is a sultry, Moroccan-style open-air bar featuring balmy river breezes, whisper-soft Latin Jazz, sour-sweet cocktails and a so-so wine list. The show-stopper though is the view: perched on the roof of a four-storey boutique hotel, guests gaze out from its balcony terrace onto the Chao Phraya River and, on the far banks beyond, Wat Arun, the stunning Temple of Dawn. Go before sundown and enjoy watching the sun sink slowly behind it. Or come later, when amber floodlights make it glow against the night sky. อรุณเรสสิเดนซ์ ซ.ประตูนกยูง ถ.มหาราช
BALCO Map 5 / C2 5th F River City Shopping Complex Yota Road, Charoen Krung 30 | Si Phaya Pier 084-928-6161 | Tue – Sun 6 pm – late If coasting along the Chaophraya River on a dinner cruiser leaves you wanting, after disembarking the boat at the River City Shopping Complex, pop up to Balco Bar on its rooftop. This airy alfresco hangout offers farreaching views of all the action on this busy waterway, a good mix of friendly locals and tourists, and soothing music from bossa nova tunes to house beats as the night rolls on. Reasonably priced drinks (beer B80, cocktails B180, whiskey B1, 200) include interesting cocktail choices created by the bar’s owner. If your favorite drink is off the menu, request it and they’ll be happy to mix it for you. A good place for lovebirds and flocks of friends 76 | JA N UA RY 2012
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to sit back on the funky nest-shape chairs or couches, catch a breeze and that memorable Bangkok riverscape. บัลโค ศูนย์การค้า ริเวอร์ซิตี้
wee hours, nibble on sophisticated snacks, take in the light jazz – and never ever forget your camera. รร.บันยันทรี ถ.สาทรใต้
LONG TABLE Map 4 / H8 25th F 48 Column Bldg, Sukhumvit Soi 16 BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit 02-302-2557-9 | www.longtablebangkok.com 11 am – 2:00am Top-end Thai food isn’t the only thing drawing Bangkok’s nouveau riche to this impossibly swish restaurant-cum-bar in droves. There’s also the trend-setting twist: a sleek communal dining table so long it makes a 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 fine new latitude wines with the best of high-flying Bangkok: a glitzy hotchpotch of celebrities, models and power players; hairtousling breezes; and – best of all – widescreen city vistas. A Sukhumvit high point. อาคารคอลัมน์ สุขุมวิท ซ. 16
NEST Map 4 / C4 Rooftop Le Fenix 33/33 Sukhumvit Soi 11 BTS Nana | 02-305-4000 www.lefenixsukhumvit.com | 5 pm – 2 am Nest is the rooftop bar of choice for Sukhumvit’s international party crowd. An urbane open-air oasis on the ninth floor of the sleek Le Fenix Hotel, it’s a loungey and laid-back spot on weekdays and early evenings, with couples enjoying signature martinis and upmarket bar food from the comfort of Thai-style swing beds and Nest-shaped rattan chairs. But on weekends, a more up-for-it crowd ascends, especially during special party nights. These include MODE , a shindig every second Saturday of the month that pumps hip-hop and house beats rather than the usual smooth Balearic sounds. What are the views alike, you ask? With buildings looming above you, not below you, here you feel part of the cityscape rather than detached from it. เลอฟินิกซ์ สุขุมวิท ซ. 11
MOON BAR Map 5 / K8 61st F Banyan Tree Bangkok 21/100 South Sathorn Rd | 02-679-1200 www.banyantree.com | 5 pm – 1 am As the name suggests, 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. Banyan Tree’s Moon Bar is a romantic hideaway. With stunning 360° views, the hotel’s rooftop has been turned into a slick grill restaurant; one end is occupied by the bar. Nothing obstructs your view here, almost 200 metres high up. It’s the perfect spot for honeymooners – take a seat on the smart sofa stations, sip on a classy Martini or a yummy signature cocktail and feel romance welling up. For voyeurs, the telescope and binoculars come in handy. Glamour girls and unwinding business guys feel right at home here, too. Stay until the
PANORAMA Map 5 / J4 23rd F Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park Rama 4 Rd | BTS Saladaeng 02-632-9000 | www.panoramabangkok.com 11:30 am – 2:30 pm, 6 pm – 10:30 pm Ideal for rainy nights, the Deck Bar is a lowslung little bar counter located indoors, in the partitioned area at the rear of the Crowne Plaza’s upmarket Panorama restaurant. Perfect for pre-dinner, the wine-list here is a facsimile of the restaurants (i. e. expansive and top-notch), and on cool nights the windows are open to the night air and a 23 rd floor view across Bangkok. Plonk yourself on one of its stools, order in a scotch and some fancy tapas, and let your eyes wander across the grounds of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club and downtown’s thrusting skyscrapers. The views are impressive rather than mind-blowing. รร.คราวน์ พลาซ่า ถ.พระราม 4
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PHRANAKORN BAR Map 7 / G6 Soi Damnoen Klang Tai, Ratchadamnoen Rd. | 02-622-0282 | 6pm-1am When Khao San Road wears thin – and it does – flee in search of this multi-level boozer tucked just off Ratchadamnoen Road. It’s an old favourite of local art students, mostly for its indie/80s/90s worshipping playlist and mellow trestle-and-vine rooftop offering splendid views, over rickety old-city rooftops, towards the floodlit Golden Mount temple. The booze and Thai food is also cheap as chips, as is most of the modern art hanging on the second floor. Tried to find it before but failed? You wouldn’t be the first. From the Burger King end of Khao San Road, turn right onto Ratchadamnoen, right again and it’s down the first soi on your left hand-side. In the evenings there’s usually at least one vintage VW beetle parked outside. พระนครบาร์ ซ.ดำ�เนินกลางใต้ ถ.ราชดำ�เนิน
RED SKY Map 3 / F3 56th F Centara Grand at CentralWorld Rama 1 Rd | BTS Chit Lom / Siam
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02-100-1234 | www.centarahotelresorts.com 5 pm – 1 am Circling the 56 th floor turret of CentralWorld’s adjoining Centara Grand Hotel, the al fresco Red Sky offers city 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 to black, 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 roam the scenery. Daily happy hours (50 % off selected wines, beers and cocktails between 5 – 7 pm) and prompt, smooth service make the experience all the more enjoyable. รร.เซ็นทาร่าแกรนด์ แอท เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์ ถ.พระราม 1
SKY BAR / DISTIL Map 5 / C5 63rd F State Tower | 1055 Silom Rd 02-624-9555 | www.thedomebkk.com 6 pm – 1 am High fliers hankering after a taste for the dramatic can head over to The Dome at State Tower. Among the world’s highest outdoor bars, Sky bar – attached to Med restaurant Sirocco – offers panoramic views of the city and river below, earning its popularity with visitors new to the City of Angels and those intent on rediscovering it. Indoor-outdoor
Distil boasts a roomful of comfy sofas, beyond-premium liquor and The Dome’s signature breathtaking view. Adjacent to Asian seafood eatery Breeze, Ocean 52 sports yet another stunning view from the 51st – 52 nd floors. These places are definitely not spots for the casual beach bum; so be sure to leave your flip-flops and shopping bags at home – a strict smart casual dress code is enforced. สเตททาวเวอร์ สีลม
THREESIXTY Map 8/ F17 32 nd F Millennium Hilton Hotel 123 Charoennakorn Rd | BTS Saphan Taksin 02-442-2000 | 5 pm – 1 am A beacon over Bangkok’s night sky is ablaze. Picture a gorgeously moody, sexy place with world-class jazz, awesome cocktails and heart-stopping views. Sprinkle this with the fact that you’ll be part of the international trendsetter scene just because you’ve managed to cross the Chao Phraya. Sound inviting? Head over to the Millennium Hilton and take the glass elevator up to the 32 nd floor. Housed in a glassed-in, UFO -like construction 130 metres high, Three Sixty perfects a circle. Soft couches and smooth cocktails, not to mention some of the best husky-toned jazz singers in town, enhance a dizzying view: Bangkok’s downtown and a row of riverside hotels spread out in front of you. Good thing this place doesn’t revolve. รร.มิลเลเนี่ยม ฮิลตัน ถ.เจริญนคร
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BARS
BARLEY BISTRO Map 5 / H5 4/F Food Channel, Silom Road | BTS Sala Daeng | 087-033-3919 | daily 5pm-late | www.barleybistro.com This multi-level resto-bar, hidden up some stairs at the Food Channel, an enclave of franchise-like restaurants, is one very slick, snazzy spot. The design is chic (blacks and greys, white-on-black stencil art); the drinks funky (lychee mojitos, testtube cocktails etc); the food newfangled (spaghetti kimchi etc); and the clientele wholesome (Thai office workers mostly). Do check out the open-air rooftop. Though not quite worthy of our ‘Bars with a View’ section – it’s boxed in by buildings – it’s littered with cooling fans, huge bean bags and funky barley-stalk sculptures and perfect for postwork/ pre-club cocktails. Live bands play in the bar most nights. บาร์ลี่ย์บิสโทร ฟู้ดชาแนล ถ.สีลม CAFÉ TRIO Map 3 / H6 36/11-12 Soi Lang Suan | BTS Chit Lom 02-252- 6572 | 6 pm – 1 am, closed on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month Tucked into a narrow alley off Soi Lang Suan, this cozy jazz bar & art gallery is a welcome alternative to Bangkok’s raucous pubs and haughty lounge bars – a true neighbourhood place. Cafe Trio overflows with plush couches, the lighting delightfully soft, the music always subdued. The vivacious owner and bartender Patti holds court nightly and the walls plastered with her Modigliani-esque, Vietnamese inspired paintings – have a few drinks and don’t be surprised to find yourself taking one home. To find it, look for the Chinese restaurant across from Starbucks and 50 m down the road. คาเฟ่ทริโอ ซ.หลังสวน
CHEAP CHARLIE’S Map 4 / D5 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | BTS Nana
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02- 253-4648 | Mon – Sat 5 pm – midnight This joint is a Bangkok institution, bringing the charm of a rickety hole-in-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 pocket-change 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 Subsoi (first on the left as you walk down from Sukhumvit) packed with restaurants and a short walk from hallowed Bangkok gin-palaces Q Bar and Bed Supperclub. ชีพ ชาร์ลีย์ ถ.สุขุมวิท 11 (ซอยแรก)
sleek saloon is packed nightly with a crowd of beautiful people, there to listen to live blues, indulge in carefully crafted drinks, and, perhaps, catch a glimpse of its in-demand owner, Ashley Sutton, the Australian behind the already legendary Iron Fairies. Unlike his first bar, Fat Gut’z displays a less obvious sense of whimsy – here, the random fittings and industrial decor are replaced by straight lines and black-coloured, modern furnishings. It all feels rather serious, until you open the drinks menu. Sutton brought in master New York mixologist Joseph Boroski to create 16 unique cocktails (B285 each), all named – and here’s the rub – after famous WWII shipwrecks. This nautical theme loosely ties in with the short menu, from which the most popular order is, of course, the fish ‘n’ chips (B320 for one person, B600 for two). Made from an old family recipe, it comes served in a wooden tub, turning a takeaway staple into finger food. Tucking in as we listened to the blues band play on the tiny stage, and observed the hi-so crowd sipping politely on their aquatic-inspired cocktails, it was obvious that this bar is an unusual, albeit successful blend of ingredients. แฟท กัซ สุขุมวิท ซ.55
CLOUDS Map 4 / Q2 GF SeenSpace, Thong Lor Soi 13, Sukhumvit Soi 55 | BTS Thong Lo 02-185-2365 Evoking a future where ‘there are no more natural resources’, this slim concrete shell at the rear of Thong Lor’s SeenSpace has a living tree encased in glass in one corner, and concrete blocks, topped with lumps of translucent leafencasing acrylic, for tables. Vodka-based cocktails (B 280) by New York mixultant Joseph Boroski are prepped by ‘ NASA technicians’ in white overalls, and later on a DJ spins acid jazz while a female dancer sits atop one of the blocks, calmly polishing her gun and blowing bubbles. It’s not yet a big crowd-puller, but the result is enjoyably bizarre, part ultramodern mausoleum to nature, part space-station drinking hole. คลาวด์ โครงการการซีนสเปซ ซ.ทองหล่อ 13
HYDE & SEEK Map 3 / K5 65/1 Athenée Residence, Soi Ruamrudee BTS Phloen Chit | 02-168-5152 www.hydeandseek.com | 11 am – 1 am Two bright lights of Thailand’s F&B scene opened this stylish downtown gastro bar: a dead-ringer for one of those chic London haunts that draw the after-work crowd for pick-me-up 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 glazed with chocolate and chilli go well with fancy, custom-made cocktails or Belgian ales. Outside, there’s a spacious terrace with swing seats and a minimaze of tea plants to partition dining areas. In FAT GUT’Z Map 4 / Q2 sum, Hyde & Seek is a rare entry into the still 264, Soi 12, Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Thong Lor) huge market for high quality drinks and food 027-149-832 | www.fatgutz.com at middle prices. It's busy with the rich and 6 pm – 2 am | $$$ Food delivery available Don’t let the fish ‘n’ powerful looking most nights, so best book chips fool you; Fat Gut’z is not about the ahead. food. Already a place to see and be seen, this แอนธินีเรซซิเดนซ์ ซ.ร่วมฤดี bangkok101.com
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Nig h t life | b a r review
Viva Aviv Bar review by Max Crosbie-Jones
getting there
VIVA AVIV Map 5 / C2 River City – Unit 118 | 23 Trok Rongnamkhaeng, Charoen Krung Soi 30 | 0-2-639-6305 www.vivaaviv.com | 11 am – midnight, later on weekends
Bangkok may be the (unofficial) bar capital of Southeast Asia but when it comes to watching the sun setting over the river with a cocktail in hand the offerings are pathetic, close to zero in fact. Viva Aviv, with its location on the edge of antique mall River City, yards from the river’s edge, aims to change that.
Their ‘Rough Cut’ Signatures, many of them underpinned with rum (tequila is so last year, apparently), come in slightly cheaper than over at Hyde & Seek, B 250, and include blends like the smooth and delicious Young Guns and Old Grenades. A fetching salmon pink, it came in a tall, fat glass and with the well-balanced fruit-burst flavours of lychee, ginger and fresh pomegranate. Lovely stuff. Every week they also offer a special A breezy collaboration between furniture and cocktail dethat goes for B199, along with wine by the glass, during the signers, it reminds us of one of the hipper bars along Singadaily 4 – 8 pm happy hours. pore’s Clarke Quay. Not only does it have the bar tables and Beers, including excellent local brew Phuket stools jutting across a pleasant riverside beer, are available, and food comes courtesy promenade, inside there’s also a designer of Aaron, a young chef whose food impressed interior in full effect. Think tropical marius over at Thonglor’s Serenade just over a year time chic meets dashes of outright whimsy. ago. Here, his focus is on snacky fare such as In the main room, pulleys hang over the risotto-filled croquet balls with yoghurt dip (a central bar made of salvaged wood, yards must) and misshapen pizzas slathered in topfrom a huge mounted Moose’s head. The pings like sirloin steak and blue cheese. Comother, with its leather sofas beside rusting pleting the relaxed, low-lit atmosphere are anchors and other nautical knick-knacks, tunes spun by a roster of DJs. Not the usual could pass for Jack Sparrow’s living room, bossa nova or Pitbull but a worldly hotchpotch if he had one. of everything from ambient (think Boards of While the owner, Wipassara SiriratmanaCanada) to jazz, Studio One reggae, Cuban wong, or Khun Ae for short, is responsible joints and disco-y house. for this rustic look (she also owns a cool We likes, a lot, but do the punters? Business furniture-strewn bar at JJ Weekend Market, Viva), the bar is being looked after by some of the best clearly isn’t as busy as they’d like (the flooding can’t have cocktail geeks in the business, the boys behind trailblazing helped, and the owner estimates that only 1% of tourists disgastrobar Hyde & Seek no less. A couple of years back these embarking from the adjacent river dinner pier pop in for a three, gallingly good-looking Scandinavians were running one drink), but once word spreads we can see Viva Aviv doing well of the region’s most popular cocktail consultancy firms, Flow, among both expats and Thais, especially those who crave river but they’ve since shifted their focus to bars. And thank god breezes instead of the throb of downtown nightclubs. Keep for that – their audacious concoctions may not always come an eye on their Facebook page for news of their latest specials up trumps, but they’re always interesting, a refreshing change and shades-down, look-at-me Sunday barbeques. from the same old cliché line-ups you find at most joints. อาคารริเวอร์ซิติ้ เจริญกรุง ซ.30
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N ightlife one cocktail too many and you may leave with more than you bargained for. Another caveat that anti-smokers should bear in mind: punters are allowed to puff away at Tuba, and many seem to come here to do just that. ทูบา ถ.สุขุมวิท 63 (เอกมัย 21)
ROLLING BAR Map 7 / I4 Wanchat Rd | 081-867-6568 Mon – Sat 6 pm – 2 am A big lit up marquee sign on Wanchat Road beckons you to find out what is going on below the street line. Descend a few stairs and in a quiet corner by the water you will find Rolling Bar, a small open space filled with a mixed assortment of retro decor and various model Cadillac cars. Here, every night you can hear familiar old folk and rock covers unplugged. The bar draws a mixed crowd all in the comfort of T-shirts and jeans and ready to throw back a couple of drinks. The menu’s got all the popular Thai favourites, but the bar offers you a little bit more. Owner Khun Sheeva has whipped up his own personal sweet rum, Sheeva Wop; a must try. โรลลิ่งบาร์ ริมสะพานเฉลิมวันชาติ
TUBA Map 8 / U14 34 Room 11 – 12A, Soi Cham Chun (Ekkamai Soi 21) | 02-711-5500 www.design-athome.com | 11 am – 2 am This sprawling two-storey furniture store could slot happily in our shopping, dining or nightlife sections. Some come here to snag a comfy sofa, vintage sign or goofy tchotchke. Others roll up for the big menu of Italian and Thai dishes tweaked for the local palate. But for us, Tuba works best as a bar, as the implausible setting and generous Happy Hour (5 – 8 pm daily; buy one get one free) mean there really are few cooler places in town to kick back after work with a sweet cocktail in hand (or two hands in some cases – the glassware can be that big!). Owned by the same hoarders behind Lad Phrao furniture warehouse Papaya, it features room upon room of haphazardly arranged eyecandy, all of which you’re free to skulk through at your leisure. If you grow attached to that 3 ft Yoda statue, Lucien Freud-esque nude or green gnome lamps, simply wave your plastic at the waiter and point. A word to the wise:
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THE IRON FAIRIES Map 4 / Q2 394 Thong Lor (Sukhumvit Soi 55), Thong Lor Soi 12 | BTS Thong Lo 084-520-2301 | www.theironfairies.com Bangkok’s most bizarre bar is a functioning iron foundry – yes, you can actually buy the eponymous iron fairies themselves – that just happens to serve booze. Drawing heavily from the steampunk genre, it has the labyrinthine otherworldliness of a Terry Gilliam film-set. Walls are daubed black, silent movies are projected on the walls upstairs, an in-house magician tours the tables, and Doris Day classics are belted out from the cast-iron spiral staircase. Beers start from B 120 a bottle, a well mixed dirty martini goes for B 280 and the burgers, served pinned to a wooden chopping board with a steak knife, divine. ดิไอรอนแฟรี่ส์แอนด์โค ซ.ทองหล่อ
SHADES OF RETRO Map 8 / U14 Soi Tararom 2, Thong Lor | BTS Thong Lo 081-824-8011 | 3 pm – 1 am | cash only Hipster attic, here we come – Shades of Retro is a hidden Thong Lor spot awash in neonostalgia and stuffed with vintage furniture, vinyl records, old rotary telephones. A combo furniture store-café, Shades provides a quiet hangout for the writer/designer/artiste crowd by day, fun people-watching at night, and nice jazz at all times. Curl up on a nubby couch, flip through a Wallpaper* magazine and soak up the atmosphere, which flirts with being too ironic for its pants. A cool, friendly crowd and bracing cocktails or coffee served up with popcorn humanizes the hip, thankfully. เฉดส์ ออฟ เรโทร ซ.ธารารมย์ 2 ทองหล่อ
WONG’S PLACE Map 8 / K17 27/3 Soi Sri Bumphen, Soi Ngam Duplee, near Malaysia Hotel | MRT Lumpini 02-286-1558 | Mon – Sat 10 pm – late It’s amazing how Wong’s Place stays in business. It’s not near any public transport; opens when it wants, closes when it wants; plays crackly videos from Top of the Pops in 1985; has a couple of serve-yourself beer fridges and is not much bigger than a living room. Yet it attracts a fiercely loyal crowd of expat journalists, English teachers, hipsters, creative Thais and professional barflies who have been coming here for years and regard owner Sam as a kind of benevolent dictator, knowing better than to take advantage of the beer fridges honour system. Come before midnight and it’s usually pretty dead (the Wong’s Place at the wong time?). Come after the other bars close – it’s a mere hop skip and a jump from Silom – and watch the night unfold. วองส์ เพลส ซ.งามดูพลี
WTF Map 4 / Q6 7 Sukhumvit Soi 51 | BTS Thong Lo 02- 626-6246 | www.wtfbangkok.com Tue – Sun 6 pm – 1 am / gallery from 3 pm 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 apparently salvaged from an old Czech café. It works. The Thaifarang 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, feta salad and pork friedrice steamed in lotus leaf. Expect occasional live gigs, edgy art exhibitions upstairs and, on busy nights, a mix of indie hipsters, journos and art-scensters to chew the fat with. ดับเบิลยู ทีเอฟ สุขุมวิท ซ. 51 bangkok101.com
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N ightlife
LIVE MUSIC Performances by top international bands might be thin on the ground here, but there are a clutch of venues where decent live music can be heard. Much, if not all of it, is world-class.
ADHERE the 13TH Map 7 / G2 13 Samsen Rd | Bang Lamphu 089- 769-4613 | 5 pm – midnight Funky, jammy, bare – one of Bangkok’s coolest hangouts is nothing more than an aisle packed with five tables, a tiny bar and instruments. It’s a joint you’d expect to find on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, except for the Chang beer. North of Khao San Road (ask for ‘Ad Here’, once in the quarter), this down-to-earth, bohemian hang-out packs ’em in nightly. On weekends, young Thais, expats and tourists spill out on the sidewalk when the joint is jumpin’. The resident band churns out cool blues, Motown and Janis Joplin; Georgia, the city’s only true Blues Mama, has a voice and figure to match, and would never sing Hotel California. แอดเฮีย 13 ถ.สามเสน บางลำ�ภู
BRICK BAR Map 7 / G5 265 Khao San Rd, Taladyod | Phranakorn 02-629-4477 | www.brickbarkhaosan.com Mon-Sun 7 pm – 1am | Mon – Thu free, Fri – Sat B150 incl. one drink Found at the rear of the Buddy Lodge shopping arcade, this dark and airy redbrick vault features benches downstairs, an upstairs terrace for people or band watching and plenty of nooks and crannies to party in. A magnet for young live music lovers, it’s jumping most nights of the week with fresh-faced twentysomething Thais out to catch some of Thailand’s biggest ska, reggae, funk and blues bands, many of whom play their own material. Perfect for friends who’ve just hit town, come here and you can expect to be clinking whisky glasses with lots of new friends all night. บริคบาร์ ถ.ข้าวสาร
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17/22 Soi Maiyalap, Kaset-Navamin Highway, Bang Khen (pier 135-136 on left hand side) | BTS Mo Chit (then taxi) 02-907-2228 | 6 pm – 1am Inside this ex-garage out in the northern suburbs it’s pure sensory overload. Wall-to-wall retro furniture becomes instant eye-candy, while chairs without upholstery dangle from the ceiling. Here, there is a band for every COSMIC CAFE Map 8 / Q12 alternative music lover; in just one weekend RCA Block C, Rama 9 Rd | MRT Rama 9 night you can catch reggae root, electronic, The rebel in RCA’s ranks, Cosmic Café serves rockabilly, and metal. It’s a hike, and not exacta mixed diet of sonic eclecticism in a grungy, ly easy to find, but worth it. open-sided corner bar with outdoor seat- ปาร์คกิ้งทอย ซ.มัยลาภ เกษตรนวมินทร์ ing and a small dance floor. On one night you might the place jumping, as the Paradise Bangkok DJs host a rare live performance by mor lam legend Dao Bandon. On another a house band dishing out some surf guitar, ska, electronica or blues. The edgiest joint on the block, it draws a lively, musically discerning crowd, from skinny jeaned art-school hipster types to teddy boy expats. An insider’s must. คอสมิค คาเฟ่ อาร์ซีเอ SAXOPHONE PUB Map 8 / J10 3/8 Phaya Thai Rd | BTS Victory Monument 02-246-5472 | www.saxophonepub.com 6 pm – 2 am Just a stone’s throw from the Victory Monument Skytrain Station, this cozy, unpretentious place is a Bangkok landmark when it comes to solid live jazz and blues. Attracting youngish Thais and the odd foreigner, the spacious joint can pack up to 400 people on its RAINTREE PUB Map 8 / J10 homey, low-ceilinged, wood-fi lled fl oors. 116/63-34 Soi Ruamjit, Rang Nam Rd | Each night, two talented Thai bands belt out BTS Victory Monument | 02-245-7230, sincere jazz, jazzy funk and R&B while the 081-926-1604 | www.raintreepub.com crowd feasts on hearty Thai and Western 5 pm – 1 am fare. This rustic Thai ‘country’ bar is a sort of all- แซ๊กโซโฟนผับ ถ.พญาไท wooden, pre-consumerist age timecapsule. Raintree hosts musicians playing Pleng Peua Chiwit (Songs for Life), the once phenomenally popular 1970’s folk protest music and soundtrack for Thailand’s politically disaffected. On a stage decorated with the movement’s trademark buffalo skulls, two artists strum nightly: a long-haired singer croons plaintive songs at 8:30 pm, a grizzled band steps up at around 11pm. Owner Porn Pimon opened Raintree 19 years ago and has changed little TAWANDAENG GERMAN since. And why should she? The people are BREWERY map 2 / E11 friendly, the beer snacks cheap and tasty, and 462/61 Narathiwat Rama 3 Road the music, made famous by household names 02- 678-1114 | www.tawandang.co.th like Caravan and Caribou, soul-stirring The one place that every taxi driver knows, เรนทรีผับ ซ.ร่วมจิต ถ.รางน้ำ� this vast, barrel-shaped beer hall packs in the
PARKING TOYS map s / h4
revelers nightly. They come for the microbrewed beer, the Thai, Chinese and German grub, and, not least, the famous Fong Nam houseband. It’s laidback early on, but by 10pm, when the Thai/Western pop, luk krung and mor lam songs are at full pelt, everybody is on their feet and the place going bananas. Great for large groups, but reserve ahead for the best tables. โรงเบียร์เยอรมันตะวันแดง พระราม 3
bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:12
Nig h t life | live mu s ic & j a z z club s
Jazz clubs Click your fingers like a hepcat at one of the following respected live jazz venues. Some are all elegant and sultry, others as raw and gritty as that old crooner's voice.
BAMBOO BAR Map 5 / B4 The Oriental Bangkok | 48 Oriental Ave 02-659-9000 | www.mandarinoriental.com Sun – Thu 11 am – 1 am, Fri + Sat 11 am – 2 am This Bangkok landmark is a symbol of past glories of the East. Situated in one of the city’s most sophisticated hotels, the 50 -yearold bar oozes class, sophistication and style. Reminiscent of a tropical film noir-setting, it features a jungle theme – bamboo, palm fronds and furry patterns. Small and busy, it’s nevertheless romantic and intimate – balanced by the legendary Russian jazz band that’s been on the stage here for ages. Monday through Saturday nights catch the sultry sounds of their current resident songstress, Cynthia Utterbach. Everybody’s sipping on faultless cocktails, mixed by skilled old-school bartenders and served by a superb staff. Ideal for a boozy night on your honeymoon. A definite big Bangkok must. รร.โอเรียลเต็ล ถ.โอเรียลเต็ล
BROWN SUGAR Map 3 / G9 231/20 Sarasin Rd | BTS Ratchadamri 02-250-1826 | www brownsugarbangkok.com Mon – Sat 11 am – 1 am, Sun 5 pm – 1 am Sarasin Road, bordering Lumpini Park, hosts a strip of bars. The best one is definitely this long-standing, smoky jazz club. The joint evokes a jazz haunt of yesteryear with dark woods, tight benches and a tiny stage. Newsweek called it ‘Asia’s Number One Spot’ and to prove the point, it’s packed every night. If you care for seats, arrive early, before the brilliant band starts at 9 pm. Sunday nights are the best – it’s the night off for most hotel bar singers, who all congregate here to let their hair down and jam with local pros. บราวน์ ชูการ์ ถ. สารสิน
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DIPLOMAT BAR Map 3 / K7 Conrad Bangkok 87 Witthayu Rd | BTS Ploen Chit 02-690-9999 | www.conradbangkok.com Sun-Thu 6 pm – 1 am, Fri + Sat 6 pm – 2 am An architecturally striking hotel bar, mixing a funky, stylish décor with soft teak sofas and an arresting chandelier hanging over the massive round bar. Bronze silks and wood dominate this dark, contemporary, but always relaxed place. A boozy, high-profile crowd fills the Diplomat Bar nightly, especially during the elongated, buyone-get-one-free Happy Hour from 4 – 7 pm (standard drinks only). Very hip among the diplomatic corps (Witthayu is stuffed with embassies), trendy guys in suits and glitzy society ladies – ideal for peopleogling. But the main attraction here is more aural than visual and exceptional jazz acts are de rigueur. รร.คอนราด ถ.วิทยุ
THE LIVING ROOM Map 4 / F6 Sheraton Grande | 250 Sukhumvit Rd BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit | 02-649-8888 www.sheratongrandesukhumvit.com 10 am – 12:30 am Perhaps the cosiest of all Bangkok’s luxury hotel bars, the leather couches at The Living Room are so snug it’ll be hard to get up again once you’re seated. It’s still a stylish place, and the usually middle-aged patrons live it up on great wines, champagne and strong cocktails in a quiet way. The high-ceilinged foyer offers perfect acoustics for the fabulous jazz band. Be prepared to be well-entertained. Worldclass talents are booked in continuously, guaranteeing top-notch jazz and always a warm audience rapport. Throughout Jan, The Living Room plays host to Alice Day alongside the Shawn Kelley Trio, performing every Tuesday through Thursday nights from 9 to 11:45 pm, plus Friday and Saturday nights from 9:30 pm to 12:15 am. You can also catch them during the Sheraton Grande’s legendary Sunday Jazzy Brunch. รร. เชอราตันแกรนด์ สุขุมวิท
Niu ’s on Silom Map E / E5 2nd F, 661 Silom Rd | 02-266-5333 www.niusonsilom.com | 5pm-1am This New York-style lounge – with its hot jazz, old leather armchairs and roses on candlelit tables – has a house band with some of Bangkok’s better local talent. They provide the backbone for various international acts who perform regularly. There’s also a jazz jam every Sunday and occasional concerts featuring overseas visitors. Niu’s is a class act, but still casual, comfortable for beers or brandy; and you can eat bar snacks or dine formally in the impressive Concerto Italian restaurant upstairs. Outside seating also available. นิวส์ ออน สีลม บ้านสีลม
Tokyo Joe’s Map 4 / N8 25/9 Sukhumvit Soi 26 | BTS Phrom Phong 8 am – late / music Thu – Sun from 9 pm 02-661-0359, 087-925-4105 When Tokyo Joe’s closed at the end of 2009 it left a huge hole in the Sukhumvit blues scene, so there was much rejoicing when it reopened last October. Trouble is, when they moved, the furniture and fittings were ripped out – the faux brick walls, stage and bar, all gone – so now they’re starting from scratch on a shoestring budget. Currently the bands play on the floor by the entrance – not ideal – but the owners, who include Jeff Thompson, singer with the Soi Dog Blues Band, plan to build slowly and extend the building onto the forecourt, where there’s already a bar. Furnishings inside are sparse, with a few functional tables and, on the walls, posters of musicians and events Tokyo Joe’s hosted in the past, such as the annual Bangkok Blues Festival, which is also planned for a relaunch next year. The current line-up is ex-Blue on Blue band Yamin on Thursdays, a rotating headline on Fridays and the Soi Dog Blues Band on Saturdays. Sundays is a jam session. The bar is stocked with the usual suspects and the developing food menu for now focus on snacks like fries, sandwiches and Thai salads. Spartan but kicking, Tokyo Joe’s is back: a gritty bar that plays the blues. โตเกียว โจส์ สุขุมวิท ซ.26
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N ightlife
Balcony Humidor
cigar lounges Cigar lounges are slowly catching on in Bangkok, with a small handful of venues now providing outstanding facilities for lovers of quality Coronas and fine Figurados. As well as cigars from Cuba, Ecuador and beyond, the lounges feature luxurious leather sofas, rich wood accents, discreet staff and selections of wine and single malt whisky. Some, like Club Perdomo, operate on a members-only basis, with membership granting access to their worldwide network of lounges. Others, like the Balcony Humidor & Cigar Bar at the InterContinental hotel, are open to guests and the general public. The members-only Pacific Cigar Company opened its first lounge, La Casa del Habano, at The Oriental hotel in 1997, and now operates another four venues in Bangkok, as well as one in Pattaya. One of PCC’s more interesting venues is the P&L Club which incorporates a traditional barber shop and ‘Thailand’s largest collection of single barrel malt whiskies.’ Balcony Humidor & Cigar Bar Lobby level, InterContinental Bangkok 973 Ploenchit Rd | 02-656-0444 8 am – 1 am Club Perdomo Bangkok 3/1 Sukhumvit Soi 28 | 02-661-3220 www.clubperdomobangkok.com 6 pm – midnight La Casa del Habano The Oriental Bangkok, 48 Oriental Avenue | 02-267-1596 | Mon – Thu 10 am – 10 pm, Sat + Sun 10 am – 11 pm, Sun + public holidays noon – 6 pm | www.pacificcigar.com P&L Club GF Conrad Bangkok, All Seasons Place 87 Wireless Rd | 02-685-3898 Mon – Thu 10 am – 10 pm, Fri – Sat 10 am – 11 pm, Sun noon – 6 pm 84 | JA N UA RY 2012
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Black Swan Pub review
As soon as you walk through the door of this place, nestled in the shadow of Asoke BTS station, one thing is clear, this is not a concept pub, this is a proper British boozer. You won’t find any fauxIrish décor, happy hours, or live bands; but that’s what makes it so appealing. It’s a snug escape from the madness of Bangkok with its wood paneled walls, adorned with a collection of mementoes; you even get a classic wise-cracking landlord thrown in for good measure. Its small size and low ceilings give it a cozy atmosphere helped by the low-level lighting and small brick fireplace. On the ground floor there is a scattering of bench seats and tables or romantics can head upstairs with its candle-lit seating. Be warned though this will involve negotiating the metal spiral staircase, a challenge when you have had a drink or three. There is a good selection of beers, with Guinness, John Smith’s and Kilkenny on draught and a menu offering English style pub grub. Make sure you try the fish and chips - the haddock is imported direct from Scotland every Friday. แบล็คสวอน ถ.สุขุมวิท getting there
Black Swan map 4/ G6 326/8-9 Sukhumvit Rd | BTS Asok | 02-229-4542 www.blackswanbkk.com | 8 am – 1 pm bangkok101.com
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Nig h t life | Pub cr a wl
pubs 101 HANRAHANS Map 4 / C7 Sukhumvit Soi 4 l BTS Nana 02-255-0644-5 | 9 am – 1am
PUB Crawl
JAMESON’S Map 5 / D5 Gr. F Holiday Inn Silom981 Silom Rd BTS Surasak | 02-266-7703-5 10 am – 1 am MOLLY MALONE’S Map 5 / I6 Convent Rd | Silom | BTS Sala Daeng 02-266- 7160 | 9 am – 1 am O’REILLYS Map 5 / J5 62/1-4 Silom Rd | BTS Sala Daeng, MRT Silom l 02-632-7515 | 9 am – 2 am The BARBICAN Map 5 / J4 9/4-5 Soi Thaniya Rd BTS Sala Daeng, MRT Silom 02-234-3590 | 11:30 am – 1 am THE BLACK SWAN Map 4 / G6 326/8-9 Sukhumvit Rd BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit 02-229-4542 | 8 am – midnight THE Royal Oak Map 4 / L6 Sukhumvit Soi 33/1 BTS Phrom Phong | 02-259-4444 11:30 am – 1 am BULLY’S Map 4 / B7 Sukhumvit Rd (btw Sois 2 & 4) BTS Nana | 02-656-4609 | 11 am – 1am THE DUBLINER Map 4 / K7 440 Sukhumvit Rd BTS Phrom Phong | 02-204-1841/2 daily 9 am – 1 am THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON Map 5 / I5 323 Silom Rd | BTS Sala Daeng 02-234-2874 | 10 am – 1 am THE LONDONER Map 4 / L6 Basement, UBC II Bldg. Sukhumvit Soi 33 | BTS Phrom Phong 02-261-0238/9 | 11 am – 1am THE PICKLED LIVER Map 4 / C5 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | BTS Nana 02-254-3484 | 2 pm – 3 am THE ROBIN HOOD Map 4 / L6 Sukhumvit Soi 33/1 BTS Phrom Phong | 02-662-3390 daily 10 pm – midnight bangkok101.com
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SILOM AREA Hidden among the salacious delights of Silom Road, you will still find some of the “grand old men” of libation locales. O’Reilly’s [ Map 5 / J5 ] is a slightly dingy affair whose décor matches its demeanour – grizzled, but down-to-earth. Even so, it’s popular due to nightly drinks specials, live music, and an outdoor seating area to view the exotic sights of Silom. Just down the street is The Barbican [ Map 5 / J4] a multi-level contemporary concoction of granite and steel where the mixed crowds of expats and locals enjoy superior food and a wide choice of imported beers. With Kilkenny and Guinness on tap, Molly Malone’s [Map 5 / I6] offers a real taste of Ireland. Drop in during their extended happy hour (5 pm – 9 pm) for live music and multiple big screens for sport. Friendly staff and excellent food (especially their Sunday roast) means this place is always busy. Opposite the infamous Patpong stands The Duke of Wellington [Map 5 / I5] . Its open plan layout makes it a bit sterile, but it dose have good beer including John Smith’s, Beer Lao and Guinness, a daily happy hour 4 pm – 9 pm and uninterrupted views of the four screens for sport. Jameson’s [Map 5 / D5] sat under the Holiday Inn in the heart of the gem district is the newest kid on the block. It’s a cavernous place but sill packs in the punters thanks to fantastic happy hour, including ladies’ night on Tuesday featuring Margaritas for a ridiculously cheap B 29 a glass.
SUKHUMVIT AREA Sukhumvit Road, a haven for expats, is jammed with joints catering to ale aficionados. Beside BTS Phrom Phong station, The Robin Hood [Map 4 / L6] offers daily happy hour and drinks specials, including draught Kilkenny and Guinness, as well as live music and sports. Even so, it can sometimes seem a little sedate. Down a nearby alley is The Royal Oak [Map 4 / L6], whose oak-panelled walls and low ceilings give off a cosy feel. The Londoner [Map 4 / L6] is a vast subterranean hideaway that brews its own real ale and lager, has good food and a regular house hand. Opposite is the ever-popular Dubliner [Map 4 / K7], a three-storey edifice. Though slightly pricy, the superb food (try the sausages), live music and Guinness pull in the punters. Up the road in the shadow of Asok BTS, is The Black Swan [Map 4 / G6], a proper British booze abode. No bands. No happy hours. Just snug escape offering a warm atmosphere and a wise-cracking landlord. Tucked down a pedestrian sub-street of Soi 11 lined with international restaurants is The Pickled Liver [Map 4 / C5]. A shrine to soccer and suds, the décor is unfussy with a focus on big screen sports. But with friendly staff and daily happy hour it’s not just the sport that makes it worth a visit. Finally, Hanrahans [Map 4 / C7] offers a genuine reason to be seen in Nana. Light and airy it ticks all the right boxes with regular music, special drinks deals and daily happy hour. JA N UA RY 2012 | 85
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winter wonder field by the Oddyssee
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SHOPP I N G | xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
SHOP ’TIL YOU DROP. NEW COLLECTION: winter wonder field by the oddyssee Designer, Ms. Prin Sachakul, sees her label The Oddyssee as a sort of laboratory where disparate creative elements drawn from fashion, art, graphic, music and film are fused together to create exciting new clothes. It’s a wildly ambitious, fashion-meets-art concept that’s in full effect in her autumn/winter collection ‘Winter Wonder Field': a set of vintage casual wear inspired by lyrical rhyming couplets and “farmers planting their crops… singing farm songs with naughty dwarfs.”
yes, dwarfs. Layers of chiffon tartan and scotch plaid are one of the signature details; the hues rooted in an earthy, terrain-like palette of forest green, khaki, clay brown, concrete, brick orange, dark navy and misty blue. Employing heavy use of handicraft techniques, patchworks and cut out shapes, this collection for him and her is all about crazy suits, farmer’s ankle culottes, vintage bow necks, and cowboy shirts. Barmy, slightly, but also eminently wearable out in the field.
getting there End result: quirky country couture and farmer workwear; clothes all done up with harlequin patterns and cut 1st F CentralWorld (Beacon Zone) | BTS Chidlom out graphics of country roosters, corn, rice fields, and, 02-646-1018 | www.theoddyssee.com | B 900 – B 8500
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SHOPPING
Atmospheric Antiques Old pieces abound at Bangkok’s retro train market
by julia chinnock | Photos by w ynne cheng and Julia Chinnock 88 | JA N UA RY 2012
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SHOPP I N G | M a r k e t F o cu s
S
ince Bangkok’s Talad Rot Fai, or Railway Market, first opened a year ago, the city’s young, hip and fabulous have been bringing a certain chemistry, enthusiasm and dynamism to what might have been just another swap-meet. On any given Saturday or Sunday evening, Talat Rot Fai is a happening place to enjoy a cocktail, grab a bite to eat, and do some shopping. However, while the young and retro-chic are bargain hunting at boutique stalls, taking ukulele lessons, sipping rocket-sodas, or kicking back in the abandoned train carriages, there is also a brisk trade going on inside the market’s refurbished railway warehouses, which are piled high with antiques, collectables and nostalgia. Collectors, interior designers, landscape architects, movie set designers and exporters all delight in combing through the one-of-a-kind treasures – and so do we...
info Talat Rot Fai warehouse antique market is open daily from 10 am until 6 pm and much later on the weekends. For serious antiquehunters, the best shopping is between 2 – 6 pm on Fri, Sat or Sun (the shops are most likely to be open, the owners there, enough daylight to see everything well and no crowds). For those who are looking for a fantastic overall market atmosphere, come on the weekend after 7 pm.
Rod’s As Talat Rot Fai’s founder, Rod’s deserves the credit for setting the vintagehipster tone of the market. Rod’s showroom is super chill, large-scaled and colourful. There is a certain thrill in seeing restored collector cars, jute boxes from the 1950 ’s, velvet upholstered chaise lounges, and antique time pieces all under one roof. Rod’s impressive collection ranges from utilitarian, everyday objects like bicycles, scales and sewing machines to the fanciful – like the cinema-scale film projector and life-sized fiberglass Elvis Presley. Each piece tells a story. At the other end of the market, a second Rod’s, Rod’s Bar and Grill, is more focused on food and beverages and filled with even more novelty antiques.
Siam Art Run by Mr. Sum-Rong, Siam Art has an impressive display of unique decorative items. What sets Siam Art apart from others is its extensive collection of distinctly “Thai” items like powerful amulets and a nicely framed collection of rare photographs of the Royal Family. Mr. Sum Rong scours the Thai countryside in search of unique pieces with a story. He also has a team of friends and fam getting there ily who scout upcountry markets in search of hidden treasures, with many of his favorites If coming by subway, head for Kamphaeng coming from Chaing Mai and Suphan. His colPhet station, exit onto Kamphaeng Phet Road then walk in the opposite direction to lection reveals his appreciation of music, with the intersection (away from Jatuchak Market) several impeccably restored gramophones, as well as Thai instruments like the khim, a hamfor around 400 metres. After passing plant stores and several bars, you’ll find Talad Rot mered dulcimer, and the ranad ek, the Thai xylophone. 089-489-4872 | 082-2490-9798 Fai on your right. If coming by skytrain, we recommend getting off at Saphan Khwai Prop 89 is a two-story garden shop that and catching a tuk-tuk. Most drivers in the area know it (whereas many taxi drivers offers a wide selection of Grecian urns, planters, art, mirrors garden sculptures, marble don’t). bangkok101.com
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obelisks, cast cherubim, water-features and furniture. This large and lofty space is inspirational in its mix of greenery set amongst classically fashioned pediments, Lady Madonna sculptures and French Provincial cabinets. Here the lines between indoor living and outdoor living blur – and why not? Looking to create a more formal garden, or a greener, more tropical dining room? Then it’s worth the trip to Prop 89. Y50 has three locations in Bangkok and is the place to find Scandinavian teakwood treasures. Y50’s space at Talat Rot Fai, like its two other locales (Ram Intra Road, 24 and Ekamai Soi 21, or Soi Jamjon) is jampacked with retro finds from Denmark. The owner, Pramet Srithongkul, who also goes by Ek, spends his time traveling to auctions in Europe and studying up on furniture history. Every two to three months, new containers arrive from the Continent. Y50 has a great collection of oft-overlooked objects, like school desks, comic books and boats, as well as fine-art and high-end collector pieces. 081-373-0980 Bangkok Retro For being a small store, Bangkok Retro manages to pack in its share of charm and nostalgia. The owner, P’ On, is a graphic designer by day and an antique dealer when he’s not in the office. Bangkok Retro is heaven for those who share his two passions – retro-graphics and music – and his young daughter will happily help you flip through their neatly stacked record collection while Tracy Chapman plays on the hi-fi turntable. Open Fri-Sun 2pm-1am; 089-477-2988 JA N UA RY 2012 | 89
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SHOPPING
Jatujak Market
Forget designer malls. Jatujak weekend market is Bangkok’s true paragon of retail. This is shopping as survival of the fittest: only those with finely tuned consumer instincts shall persevere The rest can go and get lost – literally.
Taking a wrong turn’s almost a given in this sprawling, citysized marketplace, upon which thousands descend every weekend, to trade everything from Burmese antiques to pedigree livestock. Originally a fl ea market, Jatujak (also spelled as Chatuchak) quickly outgrew the confines of the insect world to become much more than the sum of its disparate parts. These days, young Thai designers take advantage of the low onsite rent to punt their creative wares; if you so desire, you can peruse piles of customised Zippos that once belonged to American GIs; and tasty pickings conveniently punctuate every which way. Additionally, the exotic pet section particularly supports the theory that Jatujak has evolved its own diverse eco-system (albeit one that periodically gets busted for obviously illegal activites). All this can be a bit overwhelming at first, but persevere and a semblance of order should begin to crystallise from the chaos. Go in the early morning or late afternoon to avoid the worst of the heat and the crowds. Or come for a leisurely browse on Friday before the real deluge hits; although only the weekend gig gives ardent shopaholics the fully-blown, unadulterated Jatujak fix they desire. ตลาดนัดจตุจักร 90 | JA N UA RY 2012
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The Jatujak market of Bangkok Amber House Books | hardcover B1,950 The Jatujak Market of Bangkok presents photo
grapher Simon Bonython’s visual interpre
tation of Bangkok’s world famous weekend market, giving particular emphasis on candid
snaps of the general public and the characters
who work there. In spite of the dark alleys and typically poorly lit stalls, Simon avoided
using a tripod or flash, making for spontane
ous, natural shots that capture the heat, buzz and colour of this labyrinthine treasure trove.
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SHOPP I N G | J J gem o f t h e m o n t h
TWENTYSECOND JJ Gem of the month by Max Crosbie-Jones
Casual street clobber and vintage may be what Jatuchak excels at, fashion wise, but the urbane modern man can also find some natty threads if he looks hard enough. One of the best places to do so is TwentySecond, a slick little shirt store (and it is more store than stall) hidden amid all the girly boutiques strung along Section 2. The shirts here are quite phaeng (expensive) in JJ terms – prices start at around B1,000 and peak at around B1,290 – but worth it, as they’re made from 100% Japanese or Egyptian cotton and the designs classic yet cool, ordinary yet sophisticated. Stripe, check and square pattern blends of two or three colours, as well as simple white, black and grey shirts with contrasting tapering are the most common designs. Examine them up close and slip one on and you’ll see the tailoring, for this part of town at least, is (twenty)second to none. Can’t make it to JJ? They also have a shop on Siam Square Soi 2. getting there
JJ Market Section 2, Soi 2 08-1896-8918 | Facebook: The Twentysecond
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Chatuchak
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SHOPPING
Markets While the fancy designer, air-conditioned malls of Siam grab much of the attention, when it comes to shopping in Bangkok, there’s no better way to discover the local retail experience than by heading to one of the city’s many interesting markets .
Khao San Road map 7 / F4 Khao San Rd, Bang Lamphu The legendary budget traveller's ghetto hosts an astounding variety of shops catering to the younger at heart. Stallholders do a sterling trade in ‘novelty’ T-shirts and cigarette papers, not to mention phoney degree certificates, driving licenses and press passes. And yes, if you must, you can still get your tie-dye and fisherman’s pants, your hair dreadlocked, or eat B 20 noodles from a polystyrene plate. However, these days post-millennial Khao San has been gentrified into somewhere bearing scant resemblance to its humble past as a tropical haven for wandering hippies. And you’ll find no better proof than night times here, when whole mounds, suitcases and racks of young-at-heart stuff (frayed T-shirts, handbags, polka dot dresses etc.) are dragged down and splayed on the street for sale by the city’s babyfaced entrepreneurs. Khao San also offers unbeatable people watching; makes an excellent refuelling pitstop from tours of the neighbouring royal districts; and offers a diverse menu of inexpensive, round-the-clock grazing. ถ.ข้าวสาร 92 | JA N UA RY 2012
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PAK KHLONG TALAD (Flower Market) map 7 / F13 Chakphet Rd, Phra Nakorn Wake up and smell the roses, as next to Saphan Phut (Memorial Bridge) lies Bangkok’s main flower market, a 24 -hour hive of floral activity bristling with blooms carted in from around the country. Horticulturalists and those with a well developed olfactory sense will enjoy strolling around these fragrant surrounds. ปากคลองตลาด
Ratchada Night Market map 8 / P2 parallel with Ratchadapisek-Ladprao intersection | MRT Ratchadapisek or Ladphrao | Fri + Sat Nights (busiest on Saturday) Vendors at this nighttime (and teen-thronged) flea market flog all sorts of retro and secondhand stuff, from art deco lamps and ghetto blasters to Polaroids and vintage clothing. Somewhat like a country fair, it’s open-air and most wares are laid out on the ground, so expect to squat a lot. Besides the used items, lots of handmade products, such as paintings and women’s accessories, also squeeze into this small-city sized market; as does a live band, lots of local food and a mini motor show of classic cars and bikes (nope, those VW vans and pastel-coloured Vespas aren’t for sale unfortunately). It's worth the schlep, but bring a flashlight and your bargaining skills. ตลาดนัดกลางคืนถนนรัชดา
Silom Road / Patpong map 5 / I,J 5 Silom Rd | BTS Saladaeng, MRT Silom Both sides of Silom Road, just off Sala Daeng BTS station, offer day and night time shopping, but it really gets going between 6 pm and 2 am, when stalls set up here and along the notorious strip of sleazy gogo bars known as Patpong. This is a bizarre but uniquely ripe set-up that sees vendors plying busy nightly trade on the doorsteps of the bars concurrently plying an open trade in flesh; and young families rubbing shoulders with a motley crew of pimps, johns and scantily clad strippers. Among the illicit booty of pirated DVDs and designer knockoffs, the market actually does offer some decent local crafts, t-shirts and souvenirs – although, with prices naturally tilted towards the tourist end of the scale, robust bargaining skills are essential here. One downers: the vendors aren't the friendliest here – a bit jaded (and who can blame them).
Pratunam map 3 / F1 Phetchaburi Rd, Ratchathewi | BTS Ratchathewi) A ten-minute walk from CentralWorld, this sidewalk is famed for its bulk clothing deals. Loaded with knockoffs, and crowded with tourists shopping for all things casual, you’ll find textiles, fabrics, fancy dress and great jeans at affordable prices. Everything is usualy available at discounted rates for bulk orders. Buy three or more and save yourself anyสีลม/พัฒน์พงษ์ where from B 150 – 300 per item. ประตูน้ำ�
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SHOPP I N G | M a r k e t s
this bustling stretch of waterway100km southwest of the capital is two hours by car or bus, plus a15-30 minute boat ride. Arrive before the horde of tourists descend upon the market at 9am – it closes up midday. For a lesscrowded option, head south to Talat Khun Phitak via water taxi from the pier on the east side of Khlong Thong Lang.
Sukhumvi t Road map 4 / D,e,f,g 6 Sukhumvit Rd (start around Sukhumvit Soi 4, Nana) | BTS Nana, MRT Sukhumvit The choices start around Soi 4 near BTS Nana station, on both sides of the major thoroughfare, and stretch nearly to Soi 20. In amidst the streetfood shacks and fortune tellers, you’ll find its mostly bogus tat all the way – polyester football shirts, DVDs, blown-up prints of long-tail boats moored on idyllic southern beaches. Although, right past Soi 6 is a group of deaf merchants who are always eager to find you something nice to remember beloved Thailand by. Velvet oil painting anyone? ถ.สุขุมวิท
TALAT ROT FAI (THE TRAIN MARKET) map 8 / K3 Kamphaeng Phet Road | MRT Kamphaeng Phet | Sat + Sun 6 pm – midnight This retro-inflected flea market just around the corner from Jatuchak Weekend Market is well worth the trip, for its hipster vibes and camera friendly setup as much as what’s sold there. Hundreds of antique hounds and retro-mad dek neaw (teen hipsters) flock to this plot of State Railway department land on Saturday and Sunday evenings to browse and bargain for vintage collectibles, reproductions and fashions. And yet, the chance to pick up a beat up old Michelin Tyre sign, a vintage BMX , or a smelly pair of old trainers is only part of the appeal – flanking Talad Rot Fai is a row of decommissioned train carriages. You can take a stroll through them at your leisure, even kick back on the dusty seats with a cold beer or rocket soda. Backing up the carboot side of things is Rod’s: a railway warehouse turned 20 th century antiques wonderland. And there are lots of snacks and drinks stalls (retroinflected, naturally), many of them operating out of customised VW vans. Hop aboard, while you can. ตลาดรถไฟ
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THEWET map 8 / D8 Samsen Rd, Phra Nakorn Not far north from the flower market is the riverside plant market. The street is lined with small shops selling a wide selection of tropical potted flora. It’s easiest and most scenic to access Thewet by river taxi, thus evoking the waterborne glories of the days when Bangkok was hailed as ‘Venice of the East’. เทเวศน์
TALING CHAN getting there by bus: take bus # 79 or # 83 to Taling Chan district 02-424-5448 or 02-424-1712 For a kinder, gentler introduction to the world of floating markets, Taling Chan is a destination often overlooked on most tourist itineraries. Built by former Bangkok governor Chamlong Srimuang in 1987 to honour HM the King’s 60th birthday, Taling Chan also offers live performances of traditional Thai music from11am-2pm. The market only opens on weekends from 9am-4pm, so make sure to plan accordingly.
AMPHAWA getting there by car: drive one hour south from Bangkok to Samut Songkhram. The market is nearby Floating markets offer an idyllic Wat Amphawan Jatiyaram. taste of the Bangkok of the days of Night owls can have a slice of floating maryore. The experience depends largely ket action too. This one – only open Friday to on which market you choose. Sunday – sets up at 4pm, allowing the luxury of a lie-in. This little-known treasure is not DAMNOEN SADUAK often on the itineraries of the tourists who getting there by bus: flock to more famous markets. Make sure to to Damnoen Saduak from the Southern take a boat down the canal after dusk, when Bus Terminal every 40 minutes from 6 am the lights from the riverhouses gleam and the 02-435-5031 or 434-5558 fireflies come out to play, especially during the Considered “the” floating market for visitors, rainy season.
Floating markets
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WELLNESS
Massage & Spa Bangkok probably offers more places to indulge in massage than any other city on earth. In each issue we help you find the best rub-down for your baht, there’s no need to break the bank in order to get a good treatment.
spa costs
$ under B600 $$ B600 – B1,000 $$$ B1,000-2,000 $$$$ B2,000+ payment
All credit cards accepted unless otherwise noted
Chivit Chiva Massages & Spa map 4 / F5
16/1-2, Sukhumvit Soi 19 | BTS Asok, MRT Sukhumvit | 02-253-0607-8 | www. chivitchivaspa.com | 10 am – 11 pm | $$$ Enter this soothing spa, close the door to Bangkok behind you and wave the chaos of the Asok intersection area goodbye. At this top-notch day spa, there are five spa rooms and four Thai rooms, all simple yet exotic, some with private shower. All 12 staff are expertly trained and the menu of available treatments is extensive, featuring facials, body, foot and oil massages, spa packages as well as more funky treatments such as stone massages. They also offer a variety of body scrubs with everything from coffee to seaweed, salt and apple. The B1,600 baht oil massage is splendid, your 90 minute professional massage including a choice of your favourite oil scent, a private massage room with a shower attached and a bathrobe. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than this. The spa also offers cheaper solutions that won't rip quite as big a hole in your wallet, a traditional Thai massage going for B600 baht for 1 hour. Yes, that’s more expensive than you pay at most, but it’s also more reverent. ชีวิตชีวามาสสาจแอนด์สปา สุขุมวิท ซ.19 94 | JA N UA RY 2012
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HEALTHLAND SPA & MASSAGE map 5 / G7 120 North Sathorn Rd | BTS Chong Nonsi 02-637-8883 | www.healthlandspa.com 9 am – 11 pm | $$ A former restaurant houses this downtown spa, a huge palace for the body. Despite almost 50 private rooms (175 customers can be treated simultaneously), a peaceful air permeates the place. You’ll get relaxing, muted colours, smart ornaments and expertly performed treatments, all for only a smidge more than a backpacker place. Traditional Thai massages (B450 for two hours) are done in quasi-public but thick curtains guarantee some privacy. Groups of up to eight friends can book themselves into comfy, spick-and-span private rooms. The Aromatherapy Massage is something for the hardy ones; your muscles will get that passive workout. The traditional Thai Herbal Compresses are a must-try. An on-site doctor will examine you before an Ayurvedic Massage – Healthland takes treatments pretty serious. There are several other, even bigger branches scattered around town. เฮลท์แลนด์ สาทรเหนือ
PIMMALAI map 2 / H11 2105/1 Sukhumvit Rd (between Soi 81 & 83 BTS On Nut | 02-742-6452 www.pimmalai.com | 10:30am–10 pm | $ This traditional Northern Thai house is almost a stereotype in its authenticity. Tropical foliage harbours a tall teak and red-brick Lanna structure, inviting in its combo of simplicity
and intricate trimming (translate that into high ceilings, pottery and bamboo). Refreshingly simple, airy rooms proffer a calming background for convincing treatments. The short menu contains the absolute classics (plus ear candling, which we love; other favourites are the Eye Treatment and the Scalp Massage). You’ll be hard-pressed to find lower prices even in the dingiest establishments around Nana – Pimmalai’s owners must be goodhearted souls not out for any profit. Plan to spend a whole day here, enjoying several treatments. In between, browse the spa shop, buy sarongs and the whole range of intriguing PIMM bath & body products. Fret not about the location – Pimmalai is minutes away from a BTS Station. An absolute must – one of our all-time favourites, in fact. พิมมาลัย ระหว่าง ถ.สุขุมวิท ซ.81 และ 83
THE PEARL SPA map 3 / L6 11/1 Soi Ruam Rudi, Ploenchit Rd BTS Ploen Chit | 02-255-2070-1 www.thepearlspasalon.com | 10 am – 9 pm | $$$$ Your eyes bulge on entering this compact 8-room spa with a Skytrain-friendly location. Twice in fact: first on walking into the sleek white reception area decked out in Boticellian murals, neo-Victorian furniture and faux-pearl motifs; second on spotting the exhaustive 15-page menu. Despite The Pearl’s chi-chi gloss, treatments are plausibly priced, whether you’re in for a brisk 45 min body scrub or a week-long head-to-toe rejuvenation. Do try the Pearl Signature, a reviving rub blending Asian schools, deep tissue work and rhythmic flow into a please-neverend 90 minutes. This is also the only place in town with an Ultratone: a state-of-the-art fat busting contraption. Macho-macho men may be put off by the glam girliness of it all (the place seems to have been purpose built for chiwawa-carrying spa divas – Mariah Carey, Joan Collins and Samantha from Sex in the City all come to mind), but the female contingent (and openly metrosexual boys) won’t be disappointed with its rigorous treatment range, facials, small yet spangly treatment rooms, top-rung beauty products and nail/hair salon. เดอะเพิร์ลสปา ซ.ร่วมฤดี
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W E L L N E SS | cl a s s e s
MASSAGE CLASSES
WAT PO THAI TRADITIONAL MEDICAL SCHOOL map 7 / D11 2 Sanamchai Rd | 02-622-3551, 02- 622-3533 www.watpomassage.com | 8 am – 5 pm B 8,500 / 30 hrs Any good traditional Thai masseuse will have undergone their training here. Constructed in a concealed building away from the touristinfested Wat Po temple grounds, the instruction area is more functional than stylish, but the efficient course run by competent instructors more than makes up for the missing luxury. Your co-students will mainly be Thai and Japanese, along with the odd Westerner. The 30 -hour course can be completed in five, six or ten days; a foot reflexology course and other instruction are available too. You can also get Bangkok’s best Thai massage in fancooled, open-sided salas for just B 360 / hour. โรงเรียนแพทย์แผนโบราณ วัดพระเชตุพน ถ.สนามชัย
MEDITATION CLASSES
CHIVA-SOM INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY map 4 / U5 Modern Town Building | 87/104 Ekamai Rd Sukhumvit Soi 63 | BTS Ekkamai 02-711-5270 | www.chivasomacademy.com from B 9,000 Asia’s premier training centre for spa and holistic therapies offers intensive courses covering all aspects of spa-ing, from anatomy and Thai massage to stress management. Held in peaceful surroundings and conducted by skilled international instructors, half the time is spent on theory and practice, the other half is filled with case studies. The academy takes its instruction seriously; all students receive internationally accepted accreditation on completion of courses. Prices range from B 9,000 (two-day reiki course) to B 59,000 (spa development course). Most courses are too long for a usual holiday (two to four weeks), but there are one-week courses in reflexology and shiatsu. ชีวาศรม อินเตอร์เนชันแนล อะคาเดมี โมเดิร์นทาวน์ 87/104 ถ.สุขุมวิท 63
INTERNATIONAL BUDDHIST MEDITATION CENTRE map 7 / C6 Wat Mahathat | Na Phra Lan Rd 02-222-6011 | www.mcu.ac.th/IBMC | free This is the most traditional, non-commercial meditation class, based on Vipassana (‘insight’) mindfulness. Close to Sanam Luang, the atmospheric temple complex is the teaching centre of Mahachulalongkorn Buddhist University, one of Thailand’s highest seats of Buddhist learning. Daily classes conducted in English (1 – 4 pm, 6 – 8 pm, 7 – 10 pm) are mixed; you’ll find monks, locals and tourists here. Participants can stay on the compound in simple, quiet rooms; complimentary meals are provided. Bring offerings of flowers, a candle and nine incense sticks for the opening ceremony. Donations are accepted. Retreats of three or more days are available as well. สำ�นักกองกลางวิปัสนา วัดมหาธาตุ ถ.หน้าพระลาน
MAKE A SPA AT YOUR HOME b o d h i c o s m e t i c s . c o m
100% natural Body Scrubs, Pure Essential Oils, Body Lotions, Natural Soap etc. Bodhi shop at G Floor in Big C Rajdamri, Bangkok.
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REFERENCE Map 1 – greater bangkok A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
I
K MYANMAR
Muang Uthai Thani
UTHAI THANI
1
Chiang Mai
CHAI NAT
2
SUPHAN BURI
Muang Kanchanaburi
LOP BURI
3
Muang Nakhon Ratchasima
Nakhon Ratchasima
SARABURI
Krabi
NAKHON NAYOK
M NON
PRACHIN BURI SA KAEO
BANGKOK f CHACHOENGSAO
SAMUT PRAKAN
SAMUT SONGKHRAM
7
VIETNAM
Gulf of Thailand
MALAYSIA
PATHUM THANI
SAMUT SAKHON
Andaman Sea Koh Samui
NAKHON PATHOM
RATCHABURI
Pattaya CAMBODIA Koh Samet Koh Chang
Phuket
AYUTTHAYA
6
Ubon
Bangkok
NAKHON RATCHASIMA
Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya
5
Udon Thani
Lop Buri
4
LAOS
THAILAND
SING BURI
ANG THONG
KANCHANABURI
L
CA M BODI A
Taling Chan
CHON BURI
Phetchaburi 8
Koh Sichang Pattaya
PHETCHABURI
RAYONG
Cha-am 9
CHANTHABURI
Pha Char
Rayong Hua Hin
M YA N M A R
Koh Samet
Muang Chantaburi
10
PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN
Gulf of Thailand
11
Trat Bang Bon
Koh Chang
Prachuap Khiri Khan
12
Koh Kut
N
B
International boundary Provincial boundary f Airport Town, Village
20 km 20 miles Country Border Province Border 1
N
River Ferry Canal Boat BTS Silom Line BTS Sukhumvit Line MRT Subway Line Railway
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refere n ce | B a n g k o k ci t y M a p 1 / 2 A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
F
Tanya Tanee 1
PAK KRET
Don Mueng 2
Don Mueng Int. Airport
Ko Kret
Sai Mai
F
3
Royal Irrigation Dept.
Lak Si
F
F
Rajpruek
The Legacy
F
Northpark
4
Bang Khen
F
Khlong Sam wa
Royal Thai Army Sport Center
F5
Thanont
MUENG NONTHABURI
F
Chatuchak Bang Sue
Phasi Charoen
Saphan Sung
Bang Kapi
F
Bangkok Yai Wongwian Yai
Bang Rak
Khlong San
Thon Buri
*
Bang Kholaem
Chom Thong Bang Bon
8
Huai Khwang
Pathumwan
Sathorn
60th Anniversary Queen Sirikit Park
Lat Krabang
F
Krungthep Unico Kreetha Grande
Watthana
Lumpini
7
Wang Thong lang
DinDaeng Ratchathewi
Mini Buri
F
Phayathat
Taling Chan
6
Navatanee
Mo Chit
Dusit
Bangkok Noi
Khan na Yao
Bueng Kum
Chatuchak
Bang Sue
Bang Phlat
Panya Indra
Lat Phrao
Suan Luang
Khlong Toei
9
10
Prawet Phra Khanong
Yan Nawa Phra Pradaeng
Rat Burana
11
Suan Luang Rama IX
Suvarnabhumi Int. Airport
Bang Na
11
F
Summit Windmill
Bearing
Bang Khun Thian
12
F
Mueang Kaew
Thung Khru
13
F
Green Valley 14
PHRA SAMUT CHEDI
SAMUT PRAKAN
15
16
F
Bangpoo
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there
REFERENCE
RAIL
SKYTRAIN (BTS) 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 B 40 ; special tourist passes allowing unlimited travel for one day (B120) is available. BTS also provides free shuttle buses which transit passengers to and from stations and nearby areas. www.bts.co.th
cost around B 9 to B19. Tickets are bought onboard. Note that the piers are a little hidden away, which makes them sometimes difficult to find. Pick up a handy route map from any pier.
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 B 9 to B 32 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 SUBWAY (MRT) 5:30 am and 6 pm. Cross-river services operBangkok’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT ) is anoth- ate throughout the day from each pier for just er fast and reliable way to get across town. B 3. 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 ROAD arriving every 5 – 7 minutes. The underground connects with the BTS at MRT Silom / BTS Sala BUS Daeng, MRT Sukhumvit / BTS Asok and MRT Bangkok has an extensive and inexpensive Chatuchak Park / BTS Mo Chit stations. Subway public bus service. Both open-air and air-confares range from about B15 to B 39. ditioned vehicles are available, respectively www.bangkokmetro.co.th for B 5 and B 7.50 – B 23. As most destinations are noted only in Thai, it is advisable to get a bus route map (available at hotels, TAT offices Air port Rail Link A 28 km long monorail links the city’s main and bookshops).
getting
international airport, Suvarnabhumi, with three stops in downtown Bangktok and four stops in the eastern suburbs. Trains run from 6 am 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 station Makkasan only and costs B150 (journey time: 15 minutes). Until the end of 2011, as part of a drive to increase passenger numbers, express trains will also whiz between the airport and the last stop, Phayathai, the only one that intersects with the Skytrain, at half hour intervals (journey time: 18 minutes). The price for this promotion is B 90 one-way, B150 for the roundtrip. Is the rail link worth using? That depends on where you’re coming from or heading to. Even if you’re staying centrally, you’ll find that an extra journey by taxi, tuk-tuk, skytrain or foot, and with luggage in tow, is probably necessary. http://airportraillink.railway.co.th
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RIVER
CANAL BOAT Khlong Saen Saep canal boats operate from Banglamphu across the city to Ramkhamhaeng University. However, you have to be quick to baord them as they don’t usuallt wait around. Canal (khlong) boats tend to be frequent and
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, motorbike taxi drivers gather in groups. As with tuk-tuks, 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 B 50 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 B 40, but always bargain before boarding. Beware: if a tuk-tuk driver offers to deliver you anywhere for B10, it’s part of a setup that will lead you to an overpriced souvenir or jewellery shop.
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refere n ce | B a n g k o k ci t y M a p 3
Map 3 – siam / chit lom area A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
4
5 Soi 3
Soi 31 Soi 33
Soi 25
Witthayu Bridge Chit Lom
12
Soi Nai Lert
DK
8
NZ
NL
13
uam
Soi 2 Soi 3
Royal Bangkok Sports Club
Soi 4
US
US
Soi 4 8
Soi 5
Soi 5
N
Hotels 1
Pathumwan Princess Novotel Siam 3 Siam Kempinski 4 Baiyoke Sky Hotel 5 Amari Watergate 6 Novotel Platinum 7 Grand Hyatt Erawan 8 The Four Seasons 9 The St. Regis 10 Intercontinental 11 Holiday Inn 12 Swissôtel Nai Lert Park 13 Conrad Bangkok 14 Centara Grande at CentralWorld 2
200 m 1 000 ft Canal Boat BTS Silom Line BTS Sukhumvit Line Railway Airwalk Market
KH
VN
Soi Ruam Rudi
9
Sarrasin
Sightseeing
malls
Embassies
a
1
MBK Siam Discovery 3 Siam Center 4 Siam Paragon 5 Panthip Plaza 6 Platinum Fashion Mall 7 Central World 8 Pratunam Center 9 Gaysorn 10 Erawan Plaza 11 The Peninsula Plaza 12 Amarin Plaza 14 All Seasons Place
CH Switzerland
2
BR Brazil
Jim Thomson House Museum of Imagery Technology c Queen Savang Vadhana Museum d Siam Ocean World e Ganesha and Trimurti Shrine f Erawan Shrine g Goddess Tubtim Shrine b
Arts & Culture 1
BACC – Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
a CM2
b
201201_bangkok101_56-104_RZ.indd 99
Soi 7
Lumphini Park
Nightlife
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BR
Sarrasin
Soi 6
Chulalongkorn University Area
7
i2
Ratchadamri
Soi 3
Rud
b
14
UA
QA
Soi Lang Suan1
6
Soi R
Soi Mahatlek Luang 3
9
Soi Ruam Rudi
Witthayu
Soi Tonson
Soi Lang Suan
11
Soi Mahatlek Luang 2
5
2
Henri Dunant
Soi Mahatlek Luang1
Phloen Chit
an
Ratchadamri
Soi 6
Soi 5
Soi 4
Soi11
Soi 3
Soi10
Soi 2
Soi 1 Soi 8
Phloen Chit
Chit Lom FI
mvit
Phaya Thai
12
hith
f 10 7
ukhu
Rajamangala University
2 c
ng P
15 Siam Square
Soi S
1
4
Dua
1
Soi 9
Siam
Soi 7
3
ay
Rama I National Stadium
Th. Witthayu
13
Soi Som Khit
10 11
9
UK
CH
w ress
3
e
Nai Lert Park
Exp
7
Wat Pathum Wanaram
4 d
Soi Chit Lom
c
Ratchaprarop
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2
2
Soi Sukhumvit 1
Prathunam
Soi 29
Soi 23
Soi 32
Soi 27
Soi 30
Soi 19
Soi 15
Soi 13
Soi 17 Soi 22
Sabe
8
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Soi Kaesem San1
6
1
lerm
Soi Kaesem San 2
5
3
Srapathum Palace
1
16
6
Khlong San
Hau Chang Bridge a
5
ID
Soi 20
Ratchathewi
uri
Cha
Phetchaburi Soi 18
Phetchab
17
Red Sky Bar
FI Finnland ID Indonesia KH Cambodia NL Netherlands NZ New
Zealand
QA Quatar UA Ukraine UK United
Kingdom
US USA VN Vietnam
Shopping 15 Siam
Square Market 17 Baiyoke Market
16 Pratunam
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REFERENCE Map 4 – sukhumvit road Soi um 13
So
vit
i4
9/
um
iP
i3
om hr
So 9
Si
Soi
2 om hr
Si
1
Soi 49/3
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Ch
S
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So
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nasan
Th
ha
Sa mr
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an
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Soi Met
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m
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t
Hotels 1
Conrad Bangkok Sheraton Grande 3 Seven 4 JW Marriot Hotel 5 Rembrandt Hotel 6 Marriott Executive Sukhumvit Park 7 Aloft Sukhumvit 11 8 Ramada Encore 9 The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel 10 The Westin Grande Sukhumvit
Railway
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Shopping 1 Robinsons Department Store 2 The Emporium
Arts & Culture 1
Japan Foundation TCDC – Thailand Creative & Design Centre 2
kids 1
Funarium
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r
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So
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Soi 26
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8
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IR
Soi Methi Niwet
5
2
1 000 ft
Soi
41
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39 Soi 7 ng - Soi 3
33
31
29
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refere n ce | B a n g k o k ci t y M a p 4
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Embassies CH Switzerland IN India IR Iran LK Sri
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REFERENCE Map 5 – silom / sathorn area D
E
F wang Soi Sa
t are akh
ha
ai Th
Chulalongkorn University
Royal Bangkok Sports Club
Ph
t nan Du
Sap
Sam Yan
nr y He
9
Chulalongkorn Hospital Thaniya
b
Soi 4
Phat-Pong 2
Phat-Pong 1
8 Than Tawan Soi 6
Surawong 10
BT
Lumpini Park
roen
Convent
Silom
Soi Phra Phinit
Suan Phlu Soi 1
Suan Phlu – Sathron Soi 3
Soi 5
Soi 7
anagarindra
CA
Ra
Sala Daeng 1/1
m
Sala Daeng 1
Soi 6
Soi 8
Soi 9
12
Sala Daeng
Soi 1
Soi 3
Soi 7
Soi 5
Soi 9
Soi 14
Soi 11 Yaek 3
Cha
9
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2
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Soi 13
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Sathorn Nuea Sathorn Tai Surasak King Mongkut’s University of Technology
Sala Daeng
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aI
V
Sathorn Nuea Sathorn Tai
MX
11
Suan Suan
c
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DE
Phlu 6 Phlu 8
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3
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chit
Soi 12
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8 Soi 16
Soi 2 Soi P2/2 – Prach radit um
6 28 Soi 2
aya
ong
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Soi 13 a t ho r n S o i 1 1
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an
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an
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1
4
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C N
Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra
B
Soi Wanit 2
A
AT
Soi Nantha
Immigration Office
N
Hotels 1
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200 m 1 000 ft 1
N
River Ferry River Cross Ferry BTS Silom Line Subway Line Market
102 | JA N UA RY 2012
201201_bangkok101_56-104_RZ.indd 102
nightlife a Sky
Bar
b Tapas c
Moon Bar
Shopping 1
Robinsons Department 2 River City Shopping 3 Jim Thompson Store
Sightseeing
Embassies
a Snake
AT Austria
BE Belgium
Farm (Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute)
AU Australia BT Bhutan CA Canada DE Germany FR France PT Portugal MM Myanmar MX Mexico
bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:13
refere n ce | B a n g k o k ci t y M a p 5 / 6
Map 6 – yaowarat / pahurat area (chinatown & little india) A
B
C
Ba n D ok
h1u li n
E
F
G
H
Ma
M ai
I
itri
Ch
J
K
L
it
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g wo n
it Na
na
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Hua Lamphong Central Railway Station
So
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aro
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i7
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h
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it Tr i M
at
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an 6
N
4
7
ut an P h Sa p h
t Phu han
g
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ae n
t Phu han
N
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S
Markets
Grand China Princess Bangkok Shanghai Mansion
Wat Ratburana School Wat Pra Phiren c Wat Bophit Phimuk d Wat Chakrawat e Wat Chaichana Songkhram f Wat Mangkon Kamalawat g Wat Samphanthawongsaram Worawiharn h Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha)
Sightseeing
Long Krasuang Market Ban Mo (Hi-Fi Market) 3 Pak Khlong Talat (Flower Market) 4 Yot Phimai Market 5 Pahurat –Indian Fabric Market 6 Sampeng Market 7 Woeng Nakhon Kasem (Thieves Market) 8 Khlong Tom Market 9 Talat Kao – Old Market 10 Talat Mai – New Market
j Chinatown Gate at the Odient Circle
Arts & Culture
a
b
1
201201_bangkok101_56-104_RZ.indd 103
N
1
2
2
bangkok101.com
9
a
Princess Mother Memorial Park
Th
e pir
8
Tha Din Daeng
Memorial Bridge
ha oi T
Em
4
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w Ta
Marine Dept.
Temples
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ang
5
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Du
Rajchawongse
Ba h
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a
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9
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10
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d
nt
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on M an gk
So i 19
Su ap a Ratch awon g
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Y Soi 21 Y Soi 19
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it 1
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200 m 1 000 ft 1
N
River Ferry River Cross Ferry Subway Line Railway Market
Chalermkrung Theatre Samphanthawong Museum
JA N UA RY 2012 | 103
22/12/2011 18:13
REFERENCE Map 7 – rattanakosin (oldtown) A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
Ra
ma
14
N
1
So
Rama VIII Bridge
I
J
K
L
Ph
its
VII
I
an ulo
et md
k
Wat Kanlayannamit
10 4 | JA N UA RY 2012
201201_bangkok101_56-104_RZ.indd 104
ata
Market Tot Phimai Market
N
6
Memorial Bridge
ok nN Dam cha Rat Boriphat
Chai ng
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t Soi
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14
Phra Phi Phit
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up het
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hon
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mran
Sara Chalermkrung Trok Phan Royal umat Theatre
t
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8 Wat Ratchabophit
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City Hall
Trok Sukha1
Trok Sukha 2
Trok W
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layana Maitri
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Wat Phra Kaew
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n awa nS kho a N Lan Luang
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Tri Ph e
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o
Democracy Monument
Ph ra Po kk lao
Wat Rakhang
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ei
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Bunsiri
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k Khro lonSgake L ot W at T
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lang Tai
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Sanam Luang
Ba
Bor iph at
noen K
Silpokaorn University N
noen Klan
noen
Soi Dam
an
Maharat
8
Soi Dam
a Dam
Na Ph
Amulet Market
Tro k
Dinso
an Ratch
a Ch
g
noe
i
ao
Wang Lang
on
hu
Bowonniwet ViHara 10
ttr
Kl
7
ap h
S
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Thammasart University Maharaj Ph r
i
Maha
p sa
Kh
in
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hr
National Arts Gallery
an T ula
10
Pra cha T
e Ch a Ka i Tr ok
ng ho
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ais
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tP
National Museum 11 6
iW or
Kr
m Ra
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de m So ge rid
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Thonburi N11 Thonburi Railway Railway
So
kr aP
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5
Bu
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am
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Khlong Bangkok Noi
i
ttr
Phra Atith
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ith
At
ra
Ph
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t
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N
asa tK isu
Phra Pin Klao Bridge
hip
W
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m
i
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ao
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Wat Saodung
se g an Ka Lu g k un Lu Kr
in aP
r Ph
2
N
5
Rajchawongse
bangkok101.com
22/12/2011 18:13