The heart of the capital. The height of luxury.
( 2 minute walk )
PUBLISHER’S LETTER The Chao Phraya has been Bangkok’s lifeblood for centuries, long before the capital moved from the west banks to the east. Now the riverside is hotter than ever, with new restaurants, bars, and attractions adding to the area’s rich heritage. This month, we’re keyed in on the River of Kings. In Hot Plates, renowned food writer John Krich checks out Err, the latest offering from Dylan and Bo of Bo.lan, primed to become a dining destination along the Chao Phraya. He also navigates the narrow canals to Khlong Bang Luang, where he visits the beguiling Artist’s House. From there, we ride the river to Rattanakosin, sharing an itinerary of top museums accessible with the Muse Pass. Find all this and more about the past, present, and future of the riverside in City Pulse. October also marks World Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In support of the cause, Bangkok 101 again teams up with The Peninsula Bangkok for EAT-DRINKPINK, a culinary event sending proceeds directly to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer. Read more about the foundation in Making Merit. And, as always, stoke your wanderlust with travel features on Kuching and Phuket, and work up an appetite with our full slate of restaurant and nightlife reviews. All this, as well as our 101 archive and extras, can be found online at bangkok101.com. A couple of clicks are all it takes to keep in touch with what’s happening. If there’s something you feel we’re not covering, but should be, please drop us a line at info@talisman.asia.
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WHAT IS BANGKOK 101 Independent and unbiased, Bangkok 101 caters to savvy travellers who yearn for more than what they find in guidebooks. It brings together an authoritative who’s who of city residents, writers, photographers and cultural commentators. The result is a compact and intelligent hybrid of monthly travel guide and city magazine that takes you on and off the well-worn tourist track. Bangkok 101 employs the highest editorial standards, with no fluff, and no smut. Our editorial content cannot be bought. We rigorously maintain the focus on our readers, and our ongoing mission is to ensure they enjoy this great city as much as we love living in it.
Enjoy.
Mason Florence Publisher
B A NGKOK 101 PA R T N E R S
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OCTOBER 2015 | 3
Join us for the ultimate challenge, a race up 1,093 steps to the 61st f loor - Vertigo restaurant at Banyan Tree Bangkok The registration fee of Baht 400.- includes the official marathon t-shirt and a medal if you make it to the top! Winners will receive trophies presented by HRH Princess Soamsawala, as well as luxurious accommodation and gift certificates. Proceeds from the event will be donate to the Thai Red Cross “HIV Formula Feeding� Fund Registration online from now until 4th November 2015 Online Register: www.gotorace.com Race Date : Sunday 8th November 2015 Chip Timing Pick Up : 6.00am - 7.00am Race Starts : 8.00am For more information call 0 2679 1200 or visit www.gotorace.com
8th November 2015
21/100 South Sathon Road, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand Tel: +66 2 679 1200 Fax: +66 2 679 1199 banyantree.com
publisher
Mason Florence
CONTRIBUTORS
editor-in-chief
Dr Jesda M. Tivayanond associate publisher
Parinya Krit-Hat managing editor
Craig Sauers food editor
John Krich associate editor
Pawika Jansamakao editor-at-large
Bangkok-born but internationally bred, DR TOM VITAYAKUL has a background in communication and branding but now runs his family’s boutique hotel and Thai restaurant. An avid traveller and a bon vivant, he has contributed to magazines including Lips, Lips Luxe and the Bangkok Post ’s the Magazine, and has also helped edit several books on Thai subjects.
Award-winning writer JOE CUMMINGS was born in New Orleans and grew up in France, California and Washington, DC. Joe became one of Lonely Planet’s first guidebook authors, creating the seminal Lonely Planet Thailand guide. Joe has also written illustrated reference books such as Buddhist Stupas in Asia; Sacred Tattoos of Thailand; Muay Thai; World Food Thailand; Buddhist Temples of Thailand; Chiang Mai Style and Lanna Renaissance.
GABY DOMAN is a Bangkokbased writer with a serious social media habit. When she’s not at the gym, she can be found undoing all her good work in a bakery or a bar. A brownie or Dirty Martini (respectively), if you’re buying.
Joe Cummings editorial coordinator
Pongphop Songsiriarcha art director
Narong Srisaiya graphic designer
Thanakrit Skulchartchai strategists
Nathinee Chen Sebastien Berger contributing writers
Rachel Kwok, Nads Willow, Nan Tohchoodee, Adam O’Keefe, Jim Algie, Marco Ferrarese, Laurence Civil, Nicola Jones-Crossley, Matt Wilde contributing photographers
Willem Deenik, Greg Powell, Jatuporn Rutnin, Paul Lefevre, Ludovic Cazeba, Randy Travis, Niran Choonhachat general manager
A Brit with three decades of Bangkok living, KEITH MUNDY has been a freelance travel writer and photographer for 26 years. Trained in languages and literature (English, French, Spanish), he has been a traveller since the age of 14, visited 96 countries so far and been kicked out of a couple. His work has appeared in travel and lifestyle magazines worldwide, including the inflight magazines of several major airlines, and he is the author of guidebooks to Thailand and Mexico, plus Thai corporate and cultural histories.
AVAILABLE AT:
Native-Bangkok writer, photographer and incurable travel addict, KORAKOT (NYM) PUNLOPRUKSA believes in experiencing the world through food. She can usually be found canvassing the city for the best eats. Nym has been a host for music and film programmes, a radio DJ, a creative consultant for TV and a documentary scriptwriter. Her work appears in magazines, including Elle, Elle Decoration and GM .
Paris native LUC CITRINOT has lived in Southeast Asia for the past 12 years, first in Kuala Lumpur and more recently in Bangkok. A seasoned traveller, he writes about tourism, culture, and architecture. He was instrumental on a recent EU-endorsed project to establish the European Heritage Map of Bangkok and subsequent app covering all of Thailand. Luc still travels extensively in Southeast Asia, looking particularly for new architectural gems related to colonial and European history.
Jhone El’Mamuwaldi director sales and marketing
Itsareeya Chatkitwaroon account executive
Orawan Ratanapratum circulation
Phichet Reangchit published by
Talisman Media Group Co., Ltd. 54 Naradhivas Rajanagarinda Soi 4, Sathorn Tai Rd, Yannawa, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120 T 0 2286 7821 | F 0 2286 7829 info@talisman.asia © Copyright Talisman Media Group Co., Ltd 2015. 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. SEP T EM BER 2014 | 5
CONTENTS 20
24 52
16
CITY PULSE
TRAVEL
93 eat like nym
8 metro beat
48 upcountry now
94 food for thought:
12 my bangkok: noom
50 hotel review:
sloane’s
14 hot plates: err
u sathorn
16 best of bkk: muse
52 upcountry escape:
pass
phuket
20 out & about: plying
60 over the border:
the chao phraya
kuching
112
24 feature: khlong crazy
ART & CULTURE
28 feature: a talk with
68 exhibition highlights
david robinson
70 interview: kevin
30 feature: cry me a
hallinan
river
72 cheat notes: the last
32 on the block: soi
reel
NIGHTLIFE
nana (yaowarat)
74 photo feature:
102 nightlife news
84
34 making merit: eat-
wu jin
104 review: le cafe des
106
drink-pink/qscbc
stagiaires, bamboo bar
FOOD & DRINK SNAPSHOTS
80 food & drink news
SHOPPING
36 tom’s two satang
82 meal deals
112 new collection: asv
38 joe’s bangkok
83 restaurant reviews:
114 unique boutique:
40 bizarre thailand
scruffy apron, coconut
qualy
42 very thai
terrace, azzurro, bai
44 heritage: 10
yun, steve cafe, trisara
WELLNESS
riverside sites
seafood
117 kiriya spa
92 in the kitchen: kevin kristensen
REFERENCE 118 sightseeing
ON THE COVER Chao Phraya at Night
6 | OCTOBER 2015
bangkok101.com
EARLY BIRD CHRISTMAS BOOKINGS
EARLY BIRD NEW YEAR'S BOOKINGS
Book Now till 10th November 2015 and receive a 15% Discount
Book Now till 10th November 2015 and receive a 10% Discount
*Subject to availability *Conditions apply
*Subject to availability *Conditions apply
CHRISTMAS EVE Thursday 24th December 2015
NEW YEAR’S EVE Thursday 31st December 2015
The World & Ginger Traditional Christmas Eve Buffet Baht 1,999++ per person / 18.30 - 22.30 hrs Free flow of selected wines and egg nog
The World & Ginger Grand Deluxe New Year’s Eve Buffet Baht 2,999++ per person / 18.30 - 23.00 hrs Free flow wines & sparkling wine
UNO MAS A la Carte Dinner Menu & Christmas Specials Wine Cellar : 16.00 hrs onwards Tapas & Raw Bar : 16.00 hrs onwards Dining Deck : 18.00 hrs onwards (Bookings essential)
UNO MAS Mediterranean Surf & Turf Party with free flow of Champagne Bruno Paillard • Seafood on Ice Counter • Gourmet Tapas Counter • Made to Order “ALL YOU CAN EAT” Gourmet Main Courses • 2016 Gourmet Dessert Platter to Share • Petits fours trolley • 19.00 hrs onwards (Bookings essential) Baht 9,555++ per person Complimentary entry to Red Sky bar, to enjoy the big band and fireworks, for the first 100 bookings
Red Sky A la Carte Dinner Menu & Christmas Specials 18.00 hrs onwards (Bookings essential)
CHRISTMAS DAY Friday 25th December 2015 The World & Ginger Deluxe Christmas Day Lunch and Dinner Buffets Baht 1,699++ per person / 11.30 - 15.00 hrs and 18.30 - 22.00 hrs Baht 2,199++ per person with selected wines UNO MAS A la Carte Dinner Menu & Christmas Specials Wine Cellar : 16.00 hrs onwards Tapas & Raw Bar : 16.00 hrs onwards Dining Deck : 18.00 hrs onwards (Bookings essential) Red Sky A la Carte Dinner Menu & Christmas Specials 18.00 hrs onwards (Bookings essential)
Red Sky 7-Course Gala Dinner A complimentary bottle of Perrier-Jouët Champagne per couple Party favours, live music, fireworks Baht 15,555++ per person / 19.00 - 02.00 hrs Red Sky Bar Grand Count Down Party Live Big Band & DJ Baht 3,000 net per person including a glass of Champagne & party favors. This is a standing / dancing party (no seats) 19.00 – 02.00 hrs / prepaid tickets only (book early)
NEW YEAR’S DAY Friday 1st January 2016 The World & Ginger New Year’s Day Brunch Baht 1,999++ per person / 11.30 - 15.00 hrs Free flow of wine, beer, soft drinks & juices. Kids entertainment provided.
ALL PRICES ARE QUOTED IN THAI BAHT AND SUBJECT TO 10% SERVICE CHARGE AND 7% GOVERNMENT TAX.
999/99 Rama 1 Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok, Thailand 10330 FOR RESERVATION PLEASE CONTACT centarahotelsresorts.com 02-100-6255 Email : diningcgcw@chr.co.th
CITY PU LSE
metro beat
FOOD & DRINK
MARKETS
Mikkeller Madness Go ahead and call off work on October 15, because on Wednesday, October 14, the beer luminaries at Mikkeller invite one and all to Mikkeller Madness at the tasting room (26 Soi Ekamai 10, Yaek 2). The team will tap 30 Mikkeller kegs, which they call “the craziest” they can find, starting at 3pm. In light of the bar opening earlier than usual, the staff has decided to offer its very own “breakfast of champions” in the form of Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast, an oatmeal stout. Expect the tunes and great beer to flow long into the night. For more information, visit mikkellerbangkok.com.
WORKSHOPS
Play It Art The State Railway of Thailand (Hua Lamphong) plays host to a brand-new art market. Play It Art offers two days workshops, live music, and art to peruse on October 31 and November 1. Expect lots of artisanal food, too, including grilled cheese from Cheese & More and rainbowcoloured drinks, which are de rigeur for Instagram nowadays, from outlets like Jem Beverage. Get involved with the action on LINE and Instagram at playitart, and visit facebook.com/playitart for more information. Foodies and fashionistas should flock to Bangkok’s latest shopping mecca, EmQuartier, for Irvine Market on October 17 and 18. Top Thai brands Pomelo and Playhound Greyhound will man booths, making this something greater than the standard flea market, but down-to-earth collaborations between Irvine Studio and different celebrities on humble t-shirts should temper the haute couture vibe. Leading food brands will make the market a full-day activity for those who love to shop. Learn more about the event at facebook.com/irvinemarket.bkk or on Instagram at irvinemarket.bkk. 8 | OCTOBER 2015
Hands Down, Feet Up On October 10, open your chakras at the Hands Down, Feet Up yoga workshop, led by renowned instructor Rachel Berryman. There will be two classes, both held at the Yogatique studio (Sukhumvit Soi 23), one from 10am-noon and the other after lunch from 2pm-4pm. The first focuses on core stability and bandhas in action, including handstand preparation, before closing with an hour of Vinyasa flow. The second centres on stability and ease in arm balances and also finishes with Vinyasa flow. The workshop investigates the movement from building a foundation and finding strength to creating lightness and ease in yoga postures. The price is B1200 per class. For more information, visit yogatiquebangkok.com. bangkok101.com
metro beat
CITY PU LSE
EVENTS ALONG THE RIVER
The Annual Asian Organic Gourmet Festival@Riva Surya From October 2-4, Riva Surya Bangkok (23 Phra Arthit Rd) plays host to The Annual Asian Organic Gourmet Festival, a celebration of organic produce and modern Asian cuisine. This year, the event will be headlined by high-profile chefs Sompong, Satawat Kunarasai, and Surasing Viratsakul, who will lead cooking demonstrations and prepare three- and four-course dinners comprised of organic ingredients. The festival also incorporates the rotating farmers market on Saturday and Sunday. The cost to take part in the cooking demonstrations, which include lunch, coffee and tea, soft drinks, an apron, and a recipe book, is B1950 per person. Dinners, including welcome drinks, soft drinks, and free-flow wine, coffee, and tea, cost B2500. Afternoon activities and the farmers market are free of charge. A portion of the proceeds go to the FOOD4GOOD programme, which assists malnourished children living in Thailand. For more details, visit facebook.com/rivasuryabangkok. On October 26, over 30 restaurants and leading brands in beer, wine, and cocktails unite for a cause when EAT-DRINK-PINK returns to The Peninsula Bangkok. The event combines fine dining with charity during the international Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As in past events, 100 per cent of the proceeds go to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer (QSCBC), which is leading research efforts to eradicate the disease and supporting needy patients in Thailand. Tickets are limited to 300 guests and cost B3000. This year, the goal is to raise B1 million. TFor tickets to EAT-DRINK-PINK, call or email the Food and Beverage Department at The Peninsula at 0 2861 2888 or diningpbk@peninsula.com.
EAT-DRINK-PINK
Grab your lederhosen, because it’s time for Oktoberfest. The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce is once again bringing its annual bash to the Grand Ballroom of the Millennium Hilton (123 Charoen Nakorn Rd), this year on October 30 from 6.30pm until 1am. Enjoy live entertainment from Germany in a highly decorated setting that even includes the long, wooden benches called Festzelt, an emblematic import from the Bavarian celebration. Tickets to the festival cost B2000 for non-members and include one complimentary Paulaner beer, a buffet of German fare, and a souvenir beer mug. Paulaner’s Oktoberfest beer will be available throughout the night at B200 per .5 litre pour. For more details, call 0 2670 0600 ext. 2003-4 or email communications@gtcc.org. bangkok101.com
OCTOBER 2015 | 9
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metro beat
FILM
shnit Short Film Festival From October 7-18, cinephiles can enjoy the fruits of the transnational shnit Short Film Festival. The festival simultaneously takes place in multiple cities on five continents. Bangkok, for its part, is considered a shnit “PLAYGROUND,” and so it metes out national jury and audience awards to top short films. Over 12 days, thousands of shorts will screen across the world, representing over 100 nations, and the best of the best will be in contention to earn over 100 thousand US dollars in cash prizes. Participating venues have not yet been named; in previous years, House RCA and the FrieseGreene Club, among others, have joined the fun. For more information, visit shnit.foundation.
SPORTS On October 17, join thousands of tired and wired runners under cover of darkness at the annual Charity Midnight Run, organized by Amari Watergate (847 Petchaburi Rd). The first race to navigate Bangkok in the late night hours, the midnight run is now in its eighteenth year and once again raising funds for Thai-based charities. Runners can sign up for the 6k or 12k. Both courses run down Petchaburi Road and loop back to the hotel. Proceeds go to Chalerm Prakiat School in Lampoon, which provides education to children whose parents have passed away due to HIV-related complications; Baht for a Better Life, a foundation helping underprivileged children in Bangkok; and Baan Gerda Lopburi, a home that supports orphaned and HIV-inflicted children. There are various prizes for top finishers and everyone gets a shirt. To sign up, visit gotorace.com. Head to Harrow International School (45 Kosumruamchai 14) on October 17 to watch the 2015 Asian Championships of Australian Rules Football. Though still a peripheral sport in Bangkok, Aussie Rules Football has steadily gained traction since the Thailand Tigers got started in 1996, thanks to a dedicated group of expats and locals leading the charge. The team plays against clubs from Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, among other nations, and this event should be a big one. Prior to the championships, the Tigers invite all footy fans to Amari Watergate for an epic viewing party of the AFL Grand Final on October 3. For more details about both events, visit thailand-tigers.com. 10 | OCTOBER 2015
The Color Run After a few false starts, The Color Run finally arrives in Bangkok on October 31 and November 1. Called the “happiest 5k on the planet,” the event that started an international sensation nominally involves running. More than anything, it’s the most vivid celebration this side of Holi. Runners wear white, because they’re showered with brightly coloured powder at every kilometre. The finish involves music, dancing, and even more colour throwing. It will be held on consecutive days at Suan Rod Fai (Chatuchak), starting at 8am each day. Entry costs B900, netting you a limited-edition t-shirt, bib, headband, tattoo, and packet of colour powder. For more information, visit thecolorrun.co.th.
ROCK & POP
Hugo Singer-songwriter Hugo Chulachak Chakrabongse — the first Thai artist signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label — makes his long-awaited return to Thailand on October 10 and 11 at Aksra Theatre King Power (Rangnam Rd, Phaya Thai), bringing his unique voice and style with him. Expect hit singles “99 Problems,” “Bread & Butter,” “Born,” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Delight” during this, the Hugo under City Lights show. Special guests Jay Montonn Jira, Pae Arak, and Palmy will take the stage in support. This show is billed as one of the top rock concerts in Thailand this year. Tickets are available at ThaiTicketMajor outlets, as well as online at thaiticketmajor.com, and priced at B1000, B1500, and B2000. bangkok101.com
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my bangkok
Worasit “Noom” KEMAWAT
Worasit “Noom” Kemawat has sold daikon radishes at Pak Khlong Talad for over 30 years. The vendor, who has watched the riverside evolve from its quiet and humble roots, talked with Bangkok 101 about his life and the changes he sees happening along the Chao Phraya.
What is a normal day for you? At 4pm, I drive to Si Mum Muang Market [in Rangsit] to buy fresh radishes from the farmers and middlemen. My pick-up is always full, just brimming with radishes. When I go back to my shop, I sort out the goods and grade my radishes. Then I cut some leaves from the tops of the radishes to make them look more beautiful for certain customers— the hospitals and restaurants and whatnot. My main clients are from restaurants, prisons, hospitals, and factories that make Chinese-style salted radishes. I usually sell in large quantities, but if you only want one or two radishes, it’s no big deal. My income depends on supply and demand, but I earn quite a lot each month. What’s the future of your trade? The demand will keep growing, since Japanese restaurants are popping up like mushrooms in the city. And can you picture a Japanese meal without daikon? But I am concerned about the future of my business. If I’m too old to work, who will work instead of me? I actually want my daughter and son to continue doing this job, because it’s our family business and they will earn a lot of money from it. But, you know, kids are impatient nowadays, and they have their own dreams. Being a vendor is tiring work, too. You have to do it every day or you won’t have any money. When my family goes on 12 | OCTOBER 2015
holiday, I still have work. I don’t have a weekend. I rarely have time for my family, but at least we stay together at night—my kids don’t like to sleep in their own rooms. How has life on the river changed since you first started working here? I’ve worked here since 1982. Back then, water transport was the main way to get around Bangkok. People would use poles to row their boats down canals. Very few had motorboats then. Vegetables, fruits, and flowers were delivered by boat directly from farmers and plantation owners in nearby provinces, like Ayutthaya and Chainat. The canals were so clean I would swim in them each day with my friends. We used to jump in at Memorial Bridge and hitch a ride to the middle of the river, grabbing the sides of passing boats. I’m sure this doesn’t really happen anymore. The market next to river is now a huge community mall [Yod Phi Man]. The canals were filled with dirt and concrete and turned into roads. Cars are the main way to travel, row boats don’t exist, and the water is not clean at all. If it were this dirty when I was young, I wouldn’t want to touch it. How has the new community mall changed your life? Our shop was right next to Chao Phraya, but we had to move to the centre of the market, because the
new owners [from the private sector] wanted to build a mall. The worst thing is that rental has dramatically increased—five times what it was. Our income remains the same, but our expenses have skyrocketed. We really have no choice but to pay the money. I even have to pay to use the street in the market to transfer my radishes to the shop. The lifestyle here has gradually changed, too, so visitors are experiencing a completely different perspective of Pak Khlong Talad. But the new owners have also improved the quality of the place. The market used to flood during rainy season. Now, it never does, thanks to structural changes. It even stayed safe during the flood in 2011. Still, once the MRT construction is complete, the market will become much more “civilized,” I guess you could say. We’ll see a lot of tourists and fancy cars. Luckily, I bought my house before the mall and MRT arrived, because land prices have gone berserk. How can we preserve the Chao Phraya and riverside communities as the city develops? I just want people to take care of the river. Teach children the value of water. We don’t have many water resources left. We can’t let civilization change us. If we’re selfish and thoughtless and we litter and pour concrete over the Chao Phraya, all the beautiful things we have will disappear forever. bangkok101.com
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hot plates
ERR By John Krich
L
ess is more. Throughout the world, chefs are moving away from the big production of complex set meals and packing their attention to detail into small dishes. Err is the latest local eatery to apply minimalist principles and gain maximum flavour profiles. The newest venture of the Thai-Aussie couple behind Bo.Lan, the most highlyrealized expression of David Thompson’s more-authentic-than-thou cooking, Err is obviously a labour of love—a declaration of freedom from the pressures and restrictions of the fine dining world. “The place was inspired by all the amazing artisanal spirits coming up in Thailand. ‘Great snacks to go with cool drinks,’” explains Dylan Jones, the “Lan” after Bo and main conceptualizer. Dare we call them Thai tapas, pinchos, cichetti? “It’s part of a world trend. This way we can keep the high quality, but it’s more fun and less pretentious. And, here, we don’t have to explain to people how to eat.” Where Bo.Lan’s menu can read like a gastronomic dictionary, this one is quickly perused—with a small selection of specialties divided into handy categories like “Preserved, crunchy, charcoal, etc. “ And each small plate seems to condense some essence of tropical influences. Call it turning the ordinary unique. Or doing what Thailand does best, just one notch better. Take crunchy watermelon seeds, elevated with bits of kaffir lime leaves. A chicken “movie” (B150)—pun on the Thai word for skin—turns out to be the crispy outside of an entire small bird, served in a straining spoon to catching drips from a tiny bottle of homemade, and much more subtle, Sriracha sauce. Pla som (B260), coated hunks of rice-fermented ocean, goes from mere stinky oddity to the ultimate bar food. Yet there’s no smell at all to Err’s meaty mussels (B360)—from Australia, Jones confesses—with just the right amount of chilli clinging to them. All the sausages are made from scratch, too. “It’s not like you’re eating the same stuff that comes from one factory,” Jones points out with pride. Yet, he adds, “We’re mirroring the Thai experience of finding good food in low-key surroundings.” That’s not exactly the case, as an old shop house down an alley between the river and the Wat Pho—perfectly placed to become an obligatory lunch stop on the tourist circuit once listed in Lonely Planet—has been beautifully restored. And Err is crammed with the funkiest of tasteful trimmings: from retro movie posters and souvenir Bangkok pillows to wild graffiti and a bar counter studded with coloured temple glass. “Urban rustic,” they brand it: a spot to feel instantly at home, helping yourself to silverware and cold water from silver teapots. And don’t forget the gastropub’s original raison d’être: local rum drinks (B250-280) with whimsical titles such as “Flower Market,” “Tha Tien Today,” and “Kmere Rouge.” In Err’s unerring hands, even the humble yum kai dao (B95), or fried egg salad, becomes a sculptural tribute, the eggs turned into streaking meteors, landed in just the right hint of fish, lime, and shallots. The culinary miniaturizing is akin to a lens going close focus. Suddenly, the best attributes of a dish become sharper insight— and get sharper on the tongue, as well. In keeping with its workaday spirit, the restaurant takes its name from that most common Thai form of assent. And it would be hard to say anything but a hearty “Yes” to its tempting array. To Err is human, to eat here divine.
ERR 394/35 Maharaj Rd | 0 2622 2291-2 | errbkk.com Tues-Sun 11am-midnight
14 | OCTOBER 2015
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J U N E 2014 | 15
Khon masks on display at Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, just one place you can visit with the Muse Pass 16 | OCTOBER 2015
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best of bkk
CITY PU LSE
Bangkok’s Muse A Riverside Guide to Making the Most of Your Muse Pass
F
or all the attractions the Chao Phraya has to offer, from the verdant Bang Krachiao to the isolated Koh Kret in Nonthaburi, the beating heart of the riverside remains Rattanakosin. Technically an island, although one made by design, this chunk of land contains almost all of the city’s most important temples and cultural attractions—the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, the Royal Theatre, two old forts, the bustling Chinatown. On the other side of the river lies Bangkok’s predecessor as capital, Thonburi, where a litany of communities come together to form a region rich with heritage. Considering the sheer volume of sites to see in this relatively condensed area, it comes as no surprise that visitors tend to flock here—tourists, locals, and long-time expats alike. Yet even the tightest itineraries and least restricted schedules tend to omit the many museums in Rattanakosin. To draw attention to Thailand’s lesservisited treasures, The National Discovery Museum Institute has introduced the Muse Pass. The booklet includes tickets to 32 museums, 24 of which are found in Bangkok, for only B199. Considering that entrance to just one museum usually costs B200-300 for a foreigner and B50100 for a Thai citizen, the Muse Pass is a steal. The location of many participating museums in Rattanakosin makes one-, two-, or three-day cultural tours quite convenient. Start at Museum Siam, where the Muse Pass is available until the end of October. Exhibitions here, inside a colonial heritage building that
3 Silapa Rattanakosin in Dusit bangkok101.com
once housed the Ministry of Commerce, tend to be interactive and multi-faceted. Video, photography, and sound installations are designed to keep kids—and kids at heart—engaged while learning about Thai history. Temporary exhibitions include such topics as the secret stories of Siamese headwear and Thai food culture while permanent fixtures include the story of the nation, from Suvarnabhumi to Siam and Thailand. Around the corner from Museum Siam is the Department of Lands Museum, sheltered within a quaint wooden building. The museum charts the history of the Department of Lands, showing objects and information about map-making and land development from the early days of Rama V. Be sure to check out Thailand’s first copy of a land deed, which marked a new era of management. A small place, it makes for a decent warm-up before hiking toward Chinatown and the Krungthai Art Gallery. Part bank, part gallery, part meeting space, the old Yaowarat Branch of KTB opened in 2008, displaying top Thai artwork in the hopes of boosting art education and appreciation in Chinatown. After a swing through the gallery, hop on the boat at Rajchawongse Pier and ride the waves upriver to one of Bangkok’s weirdest museums, the Siriraj Medical Museum. On display is an array of preserved foetuses and serial killers that blurs the lines between macabre and mysterious. The museum also houses a variety of used murder weapons, as well as copious preserved snakes.
The weird, wild, and wonderful Siriraj Medical Museum OCTOBER 2015 | 17
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best of bkk
The Police Museum at Parutsakawan Palace
The curious architecture of Phya Thai Palace At this stage of the self-guided tour, it might be time to call it a day, perhaps picking up a coffee or beer while ruminating on the bizarre sequence of events that led you to the medical museum. The next day—or the same afternoon, depending on your schedule—swing by the Queen’s Gallery on Ratchadamnoen Klang Avenue. This multi-floor gallery regularly shows leading visual art in the Kingdom, including paintings and sculptures. It takes at least an hour to see it all. Before leaving, check out the gift shop, where books, shirts, posters, and other miscellaneous souvenirs are for sale. Within a city block around the Queen’s Gallery stand a handful of museums, the newest being the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall and the Ratchadamnoen Contemporary Art Center (RCAC). The former is quite an experience. An interactive learning centre, the exhibition hall tells the history of Thailand through music, film, and computer displays that form the backbone of a mandatory two-hour group tour. Two hours may sound like a lot of time, but it’s worth it—the English-speaking guides are full of anecdotes and lesser-known details. The nearby art centre is as billed: a three-story venue showcasing top Thai and foreign art, from paintings and sculptures to mixed media, that can easily consume a couple of hours of your perusing time. It plays host to the occasional event, as well. After getting your fill of modern art, walk a couple hundred metres to the spearmint-coloured heritage house on the corner of Lan Luang. This is the King Prajadhipok Museum. Spread across three floors, exhibitions detail the life and rule of Rama VII, the last absolute monarch of Thailand, providing historical context to the revolution and subsequent coup that led to the modern-day system of 18 | OCTOBER 2015
Gold light bathes Museum Siam governance. For history buffs, this will be one of the more fascinating museums in Bangkok, and worth the price of admission alone. From Lan Luang, shuttle over to Dusit, stopping first at the Police Museum at Parutsakawan Palace. With its striking Art Nouveau façade, the palace itself is probably more interesting than the museum, but exhibitions are special, too. They show the social and political transformation of the Thai police since the 16th century— including centuries-old uniforms and weaponry behind glass cases. Be sure to wander the palace grounds, as these two European mansions share snapshots of bygone days. Around the corner at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University is 3 Silapa Rattanakosin, located in the Sai Suddha Nobhadol Building. Explore the life of old noblemen through a series of displays showing turn-ofthe-century fittings and fixtures inside a heritage house. Also in the neighbourhood is Phya Thai Palace, a former home to royalty, hotel, and, curiously, a military hospital in its later days. With its jarring architectural contrasts, the palace could keep you occupied for an entire afternoon. This loose riverside itinerary provides a mere snippet of what the Muse Pass has to offer. It buys access to a handful of other places in town (some in Rangsit), as well as upcountry, including the Phuket Thaihua Museum and the Sub-Jumpa Museum in Lopburi. Plus, it’s a gift that keeps giving. The pass also gives discounts at stores, cafés, and restaurants associated with the museums. Purchases can be made until the end of October, but the pass is good through the end of the year. For anyone with an interest in Thai culture and history, or simply with a thirst for knowledge, the Muse Pass is a must-have. bangkok101.com
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out & about
A long-tail chugs along the Chao Phraya before Wat Arun
Plying the Chao Phraya Despite Decades of Growth,
the Chao Phraya River Remains a Bangkok Gem – One Best Explored by Boat BY NICOLA JONES-CROSSLEY
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t’s early Saturday morning and the boat is packed. Children bounce on parents’ laps, standing passengers cling to ropes strung from the roof, and startled tourists drink in the local experience. Commuters line the benches, their faces expressionless. The khlong boat pulls away from the pier while those on the outermost benches duck hurriedly beneath a plastic curtain to repel the smelly water. Life is different on the river. While Bangkok is known for its hedonistic lifestyle and luxury establishments, there still exist simple waterway communities that line the banks of local canals, familiarly known as khlong. This dichotomy is vastly apparent from the seat of Bangkok’s colourful khlong boats, as the corrugated iron structures speeding
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past are overshadowed by luxury condominiums and consumerist complexes. Once touted as the “Venice of the East,” Bangkok’s waterways have played a pivotal role in the city’s past. While many of the khlong have been filled in to make way for cars, traditionally transportation was easiest by boat. The network of khlong increased as the city grew, expanding from the original canal built as a moat around Rattanakosin Island to protect the royal capital. Not only were Bangkok’s waterways essential for everyday transportation, but the Chao Phraya also facilitated some of the earliest connections between Thailand and the rest of the world. The beautiful Venetian facade of the East Asiatic Company built in 1884 still stands on the banks bangkok101.com
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Hard to beat the view from Sala Rattanakosin
The colourful garlands that dangle from boats of the Chao Phraya as a testament to Thailand’s trading history with Europe. While Bangkok has grown up and the city is now home to glittering modern high-rises, the Chao Phraya River is considered the cultural heart of the city. An iconic symbol of Bangkok, its banks have inevitably fallen prey to real estate moguls. Yet tradition still exists in art spaces celebrating local talent, modern restaurants serving old recipes, and local community markets. These are dotted along the water, often metres away from new shopping malls and boutique hotels. CHOMP The Comfort Cafe, nestled on the corner of Samsen Soi 1, straddles this divide between old and new and is a hub of local creative energy. Set in a carefully renovated teak house, owner Gili Back tried to preserve as much of the original structure as possible. CHOMP offers comforting food downstairs while the second floor is a space for community gatherings, art exhibitions, film screenings, and more. A powerhouse in the local community, Gili has made CHOMP a welcoming space for modern thinkers in a traditional setting. This juxtaposition epitomises Bangkok life, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the old quarters of Rattanakosin. An attraction steeped in faith is found in the Amulet Market near Thammasat University. Simple stalls are laid out on the pavement for passersby while more elaborate sellers showcase depictions of Buddha beneath glass cabinets. An addition to the amulet market can be found next door at the newly opened Tha Maharaj. bangkok101.com
A dizzying array of amulets offering good luck The air-conditioned market is found on the second floor, yet remains lifeless. Young students prefer the shiny new cafes that line the ground floor. Starbucks makes its presence known with long queues while sellers in the adjacent amulet market drink cha yen from plastic bags. Rattanakosin, with its gilded temples and Grand Palace, is revered. Buildings cannot be built higher than four stories and new developments are limited. Yet it has a commercial past. Warehouses along the waterfront where Chinese merchants sold wholesale goods remain. While some still function, others have been transformed. It’s here that Sala Rattanakosin is located. A boutique hotel and restaurant, Sala is situated on the water’s edge, where guests are treated to a 24-hour panorama of Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn. Best viewed at sunset, Sala’s sky bar is popular as the clouds turn pink and the sun disappears. When it comes to food, Bangkok is awash with options from street food to high-end, Michelin-inspired dining. Wanting to return to Bangkok’s beginnings, Bo.lan’s sister restaurant, Err, has found its home by the River of Kings. Serving up Thai street food using produce from local farmers, Err offers urban rustic dishes to the local community. The concept of bringing simple, rural Thai food to modern city living hints at the complexity of nostalgia, begging the question—is simplicity what people crave from tradition? As Bangkok becomes increasingly modern, yearning for the simple practices of the old days is becoming prevalent. OCTOBER 2015 | 21
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out & about
Inside the stately Mandarin Oriental
The golden dome of Lebua Sky Bar Historically, traditional practices were centred on community. Markets flourished as stalls were passed down through generations, creating a tight-knit community. These types of community markets still exist in Bangkok. Pak Khlong Talad is Bangkok’s much loved fresh market. Colourful blooms line Chak Phet Road and a big marketplace houses hundreds of self-taught florists. In stark contrast, Yodpiman River Walk is a new shopping mall built directly on the river behind the market. It offers a “high-end” alternative, with international brands such as Starbucks and KFC alongside elite local labels. These two worlds could not be more different—Yodpiman with its international flavour, and the local Pak Khlong Talad community with its decades of blue-collar breadwinning. With “return to community” experiences gaining traction, Bangkok’s art scene has flourished. From riverside compound to minimalist collective hub, The Jam Factory has transformed an old complex into a modern space. With a bookshop café, art gallery, creative offices, and chic dining, the concept has become a hangout for the educated art crowd. Another art space can be found in the Soy Sauce Factory, a self-proclaimed “white canvas for all forms of artistic expression.” This artsy hub regularly holds creative events for well-heeled collectors and art enthusiasts, including a recent workshop discussing the burgeoning art district along Charoenkrung Road, a place with a long history. Charoenkrung was arguably the first road built in Bangkok. Running parallel to the river from the Grand 22 | OCTOBER 2015
Outside CHOMP Cafe Palace to Rama III Bridge in the south, Charoenkrung is home to an array of traditional communities and new establishments. It runs through Khlong Thom Market; parts are considered Chinatown; and it’s home to the State Tower, with the famous sky bar Lebua, as well as riverside complex Asiatique. Accessed also by ferry from Saphan Taksin, Asiatique provides a fun, casual place for dinner on the water. While the river holds hidden historical gems, it also boasts Bangkok’s top hotels along its banks. Steeped in history, the Mandarin Oriental is consistently named the number one hotel in Bangkok. Originally built in 1876, guests have included W. Somerset Maugham, Princess Diana, and Elizabeth Taylor among others. Equally luxurious, The Peninsula is located at the end of Charoennakorn Road and, due to its design, each of the 370 rooms has a view of the river. With its array of community markets, glitzy hotels, and traditional shophouses, the Chao Praya remains central to Bangkok. Those that live and work along its banks have seen it transform from transportation necessity to national icon and witnessed the modern developments this has brought. However, locals also know that, scattered along the river, simplicity and tradition can be found in authentic street food, local art exhibitions, or the act of buying produce from the fresh market. It’s both the luxury complexes and local offerings that make a journey along the Chao Phraya so unique. So hop on board and start exploring! bangkok101.com
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KHLONG
CRAZY
When Bangkok Forgets the River, it Forgets Itself BY JOHN KRICH
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orn on the water, grown from the water, and perhaps soon enough drowning in water, this is a city that turns its back and grows away from its riverfront at its own risk. By world standards, the Chao Phraya, snaking its way through the metropolis, clogged with clunky barges and flashy tourist cruisers, churned up with lurking catfish and bits of mangrove, is neither especially wide nor grand, scenic nor epic. Never mind that it was named with a noble court title and has been referred to ever since as “River of Kings.” (History tells us Bangkok only came into full flower when the royals
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decided to decamp from the far bank to the near.) Only the Grand Palace’s glinting spires and the occasional dusting off of royal barges give hint that it was ever so. As in many other Asian cities, planners have let much along the Chao Phraya’s banks sprout or rot haphazardly. Where this might be an occasion for promenades and parks, only a grotesque cavalcade of bone-white, ziggurat-slanted hotels interrupt the waterway’s long-time utilitarian purpose. Even the bridges are confused and miscellaneous, without unifying design. Warehouses and abandoned churches, decrepit piers, and ramshackle bangkok101.com
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Boats for hire travel through the canals
Beguiling sunsets over the water beg for photographs
A slice of the old way of life
tenements alternate with neo-classical oddities and luxury condos. Where most Thais consider this an inconvenient place to live, too far from malls and amenities, its tributary khlong (canals) squatted upon by the poor, foreigners grab most available balconies with a view, still clinging to the exoticism of bygone days that only the river can conjure. And yet, even for the locals, the Chao Phraya is more than that. Look it up: its non-Nile-like length of a mere 372 kilometres, redirected endlessly by human intervention, engenders a watershed area of more a third of the nation. Because Thailand is a country defined by fecund wetness—incessant rains, waterfalls, paddies, annual Songkran splashing—the river is like a tether, keeping the capital’s highest-flying urban conceits attached to something more eternal. Bangkok’s roots, like shafts of rice, are all in the muck of this river. While hardly a native myself, it’s only when I take time to travel the Chao Phraya that I feel that clutch in the throat, that urge to take snapshots incessantly, which means I have come to somewhere unlike anywhere else on the planet—that I am confronted, confounded, and mostly comforted by that indefinable sensation of experiencing something called “sense of place.” Besides, to be on the water, near the water, and close to the people who through love or circumstance still cling to it, is about as peaceful an escape as is possible, as relaxing as a hundred of the best foot massages rolled into one.
Every time I have an excuse to take one of Chao Phraya speedboats, I am reminded that public transport can indeed turn mythic: the rhythmic whistle-tooting of the crew helping to steer boats to dock, the old-fashioned canisters for ticket dispensing. This used to be my route for taking my daughter to dance lessons at Patravadi, the wonderful arts centre that unfortunately has fled to Hua Hin (founded by a famed actress with a family fortune earned by forebears who owned the river’s ferry lines). Even when I brought my ninety-year-old mother to Bangkok on what would prove a painful, last visit, she fell for the charms of river watching from the patio of the Oriental—by far her favourite experience in the city and probably the only spot she found more merry than menacing. Among my best memories of water world meanderings is a Sunday afternoon spent along Khlong Bang Luang. Like most foreigners, I had only recently heard of this quaint stretch of Thonburi, so easily reached by BTS to Wongwian Yai and short taxi, yet so entirely removed from all modern bustle. And I might not have ever heard about it but for the draw of a curious landmark called The Artist’s House, or Baan Silapin. The place is found across a single, steep stone bridge over a canal plied by numerous longtail boats hired at exorbitant rates. A shaded boardwalk on the far side is now crammed with makeshift restaurants, massage dens, bric-a-brac purveyors, and groceries,
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The landmark statue welcomes visitors to the Artist’s House at Khlong Bang Luang taking advantage of the pedestrian traffic and festooned with rainbow-colored bags of feed, resembling packing peanuts, for the surprisingly thick and thriving populace of fish (that I took as a positive sign of the khlong’s ongoing habitability). Having brought my eleven-year-old daughter to see how the other half lives on this less developed side of the river, she found her main delight in tossing treats into the water, stimulating sudden feeding frenzies. Complaining all the while about the heat, she nonetheless led me through narrow back alleys where kids got old-fashioned crew cuts in sumptuous, old-fashioned barber chairs, to the tiny, tumbledown chapel of the neighbourhood temple to throw joss sticks and pick out paper fortunes telling us to “tread carefully, avoid new business endeavours.” She also delighted in watching two old ladies demonstrate their step-by-step recipe for pad thai in a giant wok mounted before their miniature shop front. We took our noodles down to the river to a table provided by a pony-tailed leather craftsman named Naimoo, who told us he paid less than a hundred dollars rent and largely slept outdoors beside the canal, while his favourite oldies from the Sixties blasted through tinny speakers. Except for the rumbling boats, his Beatles’ selection was all that broke the restful silence. As for the Artist’s House, it seemed more a bunch of interconnected wood shacks circled around a courtyard filled with extravagant foliage, a pet monitor lizard, and an ancient stone chedi. Some humble fried fish was served in tables by the river, and, of course, the place was crammed with postcards and souvenirs. There were supposed to be art classes, but in the linked galleries upstairs, exhibiting canvasses predictably picaresque, the only instruction was an introduction to tarot card reading. Still, for B100 there were papier-mâché piggy banks we could decorate ourselves with the paints and brushes provided. And the 26 | OCTOBER 2015
courtyard soon filled for a show with traditional puppets— performed every day except Wednesdays—which turned out to be more about two emcees making endless Thai banter into microphones, interrupted occasionally by a team of masked kids getting their marionettes to strike humorous poses. Now angry, now haughty, now happy. The day was enervating—our four aimless hours in the Bang Luang ‘hood seemed more like ten. And yet neither my daughter nor I wanted to head back to our lives across the river. Why can’t we all leave the Sukhumvits, the Ramkamhaengs, and the inhuman boulevards of continual noise and night, forsake our security gates and air con, for our very own rickety pier where we can see and smell the river through the floorboards? For the sake of the Chao Phraya’s future, perhaps it’s best if we don’t.
Khlong Bang Luang is located in Thonburi, deep inside a long, winding canal whose mouth reaches the river beside Wat Arun. Getting there is neither hard nor easy—all tour boat operators offer trips, but these are often uncomfortable affairs, and the operators can be cut-throat. To best explore the community, check out Klong Guru. Run by the Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa, Klong Guru invites guests to explore Bangkok’s network of riverside neighbourhoods under the guidance of hotel concierge and river expert Waiyawit “Diamond” Thongserm. The four-hour excursion showcases the city’s hidden cultural gems, revealing unique glimpses of local life. The journey includes visits to a floating plant farm and glittering temples from the Ayutthaya Era, as well as a local lunch at the Artist’s House in Khlong Bang Luang. For information about joining Klong Guru, see our Sightseeing listings on p119. bangkok101.com
The Shape of
The River To Come David Robinson Talks about Bangkok River Partners and the Effort to Buoy Sustainable Development BY CRAIG SAUERS
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bangkok101.com
interview
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What is surprising everyone—including me—is the momentum,” says David Robinson, director of Bangkok River Partners (BRP). “That’s also our biggest challenge. There’s a long way left to go, so we have to keep the hype under control.” The even-keeled Robinson is referring to the incredible volume of attention he and his partners have earned in their efforts to promote and, more importantly, support the riverside in its current and future development. The group has just embarked on a ten-year project. At hand is the task of keeping the river clean, supporting the growth of a creative scene, kick-starting events to attract local crowds, and ensuring that the centuries-old communities retain their heart and heritage as the region transforms into one of the city’s greatest assets. “Not a job for the fainthearted,” he says. Despite the scope of the project, the BRP has acted with aplomb since Robinson joined in January. The group has launched river clean-up projects, food fairs, and cultural events, like the recent Big Fish, a world music festival held across ten nights at eight hotels: Anantara Bangkok Riverside, Chatrium Hotel Riverside, the Millennium Hilton, Royal Orchid Sheraton, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, The Peninsula Bangkok, Shangri-La Hotel, and Ramada Plaza Bangkok Menam Riverside—the same eight that first collaborated three years ago to lasso local attention and steer it back to the Chao Phraya. BEC TERO and the TAT have helped spread the word through their channels, as well. “It’s a community movement,” explains Robinson, whose diverse background in media, NGO work, and environmentalism makes him uniquely qualified to lead the charge of marketing the sustainable development of the riverside. “There can be great opportunities in finding an old shophouse and turning it into a restaurant, or turning a warehouse into a cinema, [but] we have to understand what the community wants. After we hold committee meetings, we go back to them to get feedback.” As the luxury of space dwindles in the city, attention has again turned to the river, where property developers ogle rows of shophouses and patches of green space with dreams of high-rises and shopping centres. At risk are some of the city’s oldest communities. Not to mention heritage buildings lying vacant or in states of disrepair, nevertheless graced by the passage of time. “The oldest cinema in Bangkok, the Prince, is here on Charoen Krung. There’s a congee shop that’s over 100-years-old,” says Robinson of the history of the area. “Development is going to happen. We need to have bangkok101.com
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dialogue to make sure it doesn’t happen everywhere, and that it’s done right.” To that end, the BRP has held numerous workshops and discussions designed to exchange ideas and knowledge. One of its most successful saw Joshua David—the man who spearheaded the movement to repurpose the decaying New York City Highline into what is now highly valued green space—visit Bangkok to discuss urban planning. Dozens of key figures, including members of the Bangkok Metropolitan Association (BMA), attended the talks, which, according to Robinson, urged decisionmakers to wonder what lessons could be learned from similar projects initiated around the world. Crucial to these events—and the movement on the whole—have been members of the riverside arts and design community, such as Duangrit Bunnag of The Jam Factory, Thomas Menard of Soy Sauce Factory, and two professors from Thammasat University: Yongtanit Pimonsathean, who advises the Crown Property Bureau and the BMA, and Peeradorn Kaewlai, who advises the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC). In fact, art ranks high among the BRP’s tracks of focus, which also include urban planning, property, and food. Empowered by existing venues, including the galleries at OP Garden, and the future arrival of the TCDC to the riverside, the BRP and its steering committee developed the Bangrak Klongsan Creative District. In January, it will play host to the second edition of Buk Ruk, a popular street art party that will this time include concerts on top of live installations. “For a country that’s moved from agriculture to industry to design and innovation, the Creative District will be very important,” says Robinson, noting that another objective is to create accommodation for the creative industry—offices, apartments, space for architects and designers. Whether achieved through arts or activities, the end goal remains re-directing the flow of locals to the Chao Phraya, historically the lifeblood of Bangkok. “Even business travellers want authentic experiences, the kind they can’t have anywhere else. You want to go where the locals go. The movement will be made through locals,” explains Robinson. “In the future, I see the city moving past shopping centres. People will crave authenticity. As long as that 160-year-old chicken rice shop is there, as long as you can visit House No. 1 Bush Lane [a heritage site], you’ll come back to the river,” says the congenial director of Bangkok River Partners, pausing, as if to judge the weight of his next words. “I hold out hope for that.” OCTOBER 2015 | 29
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Cry me a River LUC CITRINOT Examines the Murky Future of the Chao Phraya Riverside
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he hesitates before she speaks, as if scanning the room for microphones and spies. She holds an important position at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and is close to Governor ML Sukhumband. After a long silence, she whispers, “Most of us at the BMA don’t like this riverside project. But I don’t think we can really go against political will.” Like many locals and visitors, curiosity led her to a special exhibition at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre. Computer-enhanced images shared a glimpse of one of Bangkok’s most ambitious projects to date: the development of a 14-kilometre river walk along the Chao Phraya—seven kilometres on each side—between the Phra Pinklao and Rama VII Bridges. Re-launched in 2015 by the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, the project now appeared in the public forum, allowing viewers to leave their opinions on post-it notes. They were unanimously negative. “Who stands behind the project:
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the people or the government?” read one. “I want to see a future for my river” read another. Viewed from the outside, the idea of offering space along the river earmarked for pedestrians and cyclists only seems a rather positive development. So why has there been so much hostility toward it? This project is not a novel idea. Over the last two decades, politicians have sketched numerous plans for implementing a promenade along the history-rich river, but they have run into roadblocks every time. One of the issues bogging down the process is that land owners have felt reluctant to give up a parcel of their properties for a public walkway. And now the exclusion of local communities in the planning and discussion of the riverside development has fomented anger and distrust. “We must understand that the project is complete nonsense as it is conceived,” says Yossapon Boonsom, a landscape architect and Director of Shma Designs. “In bangkok101.com
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What will become of a vista like this in the future? reality, this project is just recycled from an older one that was being developed by the Chuan Leekpai government 25 years ago. In the 1990s, the government had envisioned building a highway along the river. This is exactly the same project, just restricted to pedestrians and cyclists.” The draft of the project shows a walkway erected on concrete pylons that rise from the river waters. This elevated path has a width of 19.5 metres and a height of 3.25 metres and it is surrounded by barriers, impeding the view of the river from houses and historical buildings. Computer-generated images more or less confirm that communities along the river really would be living beneath a highway. “We are not against the idea of having a walkway, but the planning needs to involve the local communities,” says Boonsom. “I also wonder why there isn’t an open contest in which the best architects in the world are invited to present their own plans for a riverside promenade.” Boonsom also fears the height of the walkway would combine with the elevation of the riverbanks and the sunken concrete pylons to exacerbate the fragile river ecosystem. “We forecast a change in the flow of the water. It would run more quickly and generate more frequent flooding,” says the young architect. The Chao Phraya riverfront has fast become a coveted location among Bangkok’s real estate developers. Neglected for decades as the city progressively concentrated its trade activity along newly developed highways, the lifeblood of Bangkok only recently came back into favour. Giant shopping malls, condos, and new hotels are now being built, certain to re-shape the bangkok101.com
landscape in the next five years. The walkway could mark a nail in the coffin of the historical riverfront as visitors and locals know it today. In an effort to save the river from its uncertain fate, Boonsom created the “Friends of the River” association, whose aim is to revise the project by including Chao Phraya communities in future discussions. Friends of the River has raised awareness among local groups, getting the public to participate in the design of the walkway and calling for proper environmental impact studies as well as the opening of future projects to international architects. “We’ve taken inspiration from riverfront redevelopments done in Europe and Australia,” says Boonsom, while adding a word of regret for the absence of urban planning in Bangkok. “Only private commercial interests seem to be considered. And these are rarely compatible with aesthetics, environmental protection, or the respect for the local communities.” Still, hope for a brighter future exists. Despite having pressured the BMA in the past to start as quickly as possible, the government finally agreed to be more transparent and ask locals for their opinions. A study of the walkway’s environmental impact has been launched. Urban planners have looked at developing alternatives to integrate the walkway into the landscape, creating green spaces, gardens, and terraces that respect historical structures. Will Friends of the River succeed in its quest? While the odds may have once looked stacked against them, like David against the Goliath, these small steps suggest compromise in the future. As hopelessly romantic as it may sound, perhaps, for once, everyone can win. OCTOBER 2015 | 31
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on the block
Soi Nana
On The Craft And Jumble Trail BY GABY DOMAN
You’d be forgiven for thinking the only Soi Nana in town was the one lined with seedy bars, aging farang, and outdated pulsating dance tunes, but, thanks to a spate of new openings and the launch of the semi-regular Soi Nana Craft & Jumble Fair, the city’s booze and art enthusiasts have discovered this eminently cooler street, next door to Hua Lamphong and a stone’s throw from River City. Just be warned—taxi drivers will try to take you to the former without firm direction otherwise. 32 | OCTOBER 2015
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Cho Why
Nahim Café
from its Britpop roots and the drinks are similarly simple. However, the big change is that there’s now regular art exhibitions held upstairs. The area’s best art gallery, however, remains the three-story Cho Why, which also happens to be one of the city’s most relaxed. If it all starts to get a bit too much like your student days, and you need a little hit of Instagram-friendly white walls and cute cuisine, Nahim Café is a handicraft store with a big focus on adorable food and drink; think latte art, cold-brewed teas—flavours include caramel popcorn—in cartoon bottles, and, yes, food served on wooden boards and drinks in mason jars. This is Bangkok, after all—there was bound to be a little serving of sugary cuteness. For more photos to fill out your Instagram feed, don’t miss Pure Luck Bangkok, an all-natural kombucha brewery based out of a shophouse that was overhauled and revitalised with greenery. There aren’t many full-on restaurants on the soi, although Tep serves great Thai food and the very charming El Chiringuito dishes up Spanish tapas in a small shophouse. No reason to complain here. So Restaurant
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The Yaowarat Soi Nana has become a playground for Bangkok’s creative entrepreneurs on a budget who want to offer something a bit more inspired than the usual Gatsby-themed bars or Williamsburg-influenced cafés. And we couldn’t be happier for it. The location is an unexpected one for a new hangout destination. It’s a bit of a pain to get to, and, when you do, it’s lined with aging shophouses that make you wonder if you’ve taken a wrong turn into a sleepy Chinatown residential neighbourhood. But that’s the charm. There are no celebs in fedoras taking photos of piles of waffles they won’t eat, no Korean snack franchises, and no mile-long queues for the latest food craze. A little off the beaten track, this narrow soi is a destination in itself. Tep Bar is, perhaps, its best-known offering, thanks to its fresh approach to a few Thai traditions. A live band, Samniang Tep, plays traditional Thai instruments, including the xylophone-like ranat thum and a taphon drum, every night from 7.30pm. The venue is also known for its ya dong (Thai moonshine) infusions, which are said to have health-giving properties. Tep Bar’s versions include a honeycomb brew among several others given presumably non-traditional names, like “lion king” and “pussy whipped.” The latest bar to heat up the area is Teens of Thailand. A deliberately provocative name, this shabby but oh-so-cool venue was set up by a team comprising a mixologist, a rock star, a photographer, and a nightlife event organiser. The cool credentials are all in place. Adding to the venue’s off-the-charts hipness are mismatched vintage furniture, raunchy photos, and a drink list that changes each day. Also worth checking out is 23 Bar & Gallery. The venue picked up its sticks from Soi 16 and moved over to Soi Nana. Those who remember the old dive bar will be glad to know the soundtrack is more or less unchanged
Tep Bar
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making merit
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making merit
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Rally for a Reason EAT-DRINK-PINK Pitches in to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation’s “Prevent, Cure, and Care” Campaign
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reast cancer is an insidious disease. In fact, it’s the number-one cause of death among women in Thailand. Every day, twelve women lose their lives to it, and often prematurely, due to a lack of professional care, which more than half of the country’s patients do not receive. Our world relies on its mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives. To lose the ones we love is the greatest tragedy of all. In an effort to search for a cure, raise awareness, and provide fast and professional care to women in need, Dr Kris Chatamra established the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation (QSCBC) in 2007. “Breast cancer patients in Thailand now have access to the advances made in medical technology, which has really made a difference,” says the doctor. “We can say that progress is being made every six months and with a variety of treatment approaches.” Through its “Prevent, Cure, and Care” approach, the QSCBC aims to save more lives of those suffering from the disease. The “prevent” angle encourages people of all stripes to get involved in pink campaigns and events, such as the Get Pink project, which urges women to get annual check-ups in case the cancer can be detected at an early stage. Concerning the “cure,” the foundation supports Chulalongkorn Hospital, providing equipment necessary to scope out and combat the disease. The foundation has also set up a “home” within the hospital, providing hospice and convalescence to patients who don’t have the financial means to pay for cancer care. The Pink Park Village project, a future plan for QSCBC, covers the “care” approach. The foundation will build convalescence homes and give proper care for breast cancer patients at all stages of the disease. Dr Kris says it will be a place where patients can truly feel at home. To that end, there will also be hospice homes for terminal patients in the late stages of the disease so that they will not have to spend their final time on Earth in dire straits. The village will blend into the surrounding environment naturally—rice fields and organic farms will create jobs bangkok101.com
for local villagers, as well as supply quality food products, making the entire project self-sustaining and holistic. Professional therapists and volunteers will staff a learning, training, and activities centre, as well. While QSCBC has undoubtedly led the charge, many groups and individuals have gotten involved with the cause on their own accord. Renowned lingerie branded Wacoal gave customers vouchers to receive mammograms at participating hospitals. Sabina, another lingerie brand, organizes a workshop in cooperation with Singer, in which volunteers sew thousands of breast prostheses. All these are then donated to cancer patients in need and partner hospitals nationwide. Every October, Chef Nooror Somany Steppe creates special menus with herbs, fruits, and vegetables known to be rich in anti-oxidants and anticancer qualities. She and her staff don pink throughout the month, and encourage all women to be proactive in keeping healthy. Recently, The Peninsula Bangkok and Bangkok 101 have teamed up for EAT-DRINK-PINK. This year, the event will be held 6pm to 10pm on October 26 at The Peninsula’s beautiful riverside garden. The gastronomic charity event offers a veritable smorgasbord of signature food and drinks from 35 of the city’s top restaurateurs and beverage providers. There will also be live music, free-flow wine, champagne, and specialty cocktails. Tickets cost B3000 and are limited to 300. All proceeds from the event go directly to the QSCBC, meaning that everyone can get involved in this crucial campaign.
Last year, money raised from EAT-DRINK-PINK sent B500,000 to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foudnation. This year, the goal is even greater: B1,000,000. For more information about the QSCBC, visit qscbcfoundation.org. For tickets to EAT-DRINK-PINK, call or email the Food and Beverage Department at The Peninsula at 0 2861 2888 or diningpbk@peninsula.com.
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IN THAILAND, ELABORATE CEREMONIES PAVE THE WAY INTO THE NEXT LIFE
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bangkok101.com
insight
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Tom’s Two Satang Join Bangkok-born but internationally bred aesthete Dr. Tom Vitayakul as he gives his own unique take on Thailand and its capital. Each month he tackles a different aspect of the local culture – from art and festivals to 21st-century trends – in a lighthearted yet learned manner
ON DEATH
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abloids, TV news, and blockbuster movies so savagely saturate the media with graphic depictions of death that I sometimes wonder if we Thais have become desensitized to it. Our society seems equally intrigued and blasé about death. Perhaps we are simply fatalistic, owing to the Buddhist belief in the four stages of Samsara: birth, aging, ailing, and death. But how do we really feel about it? What do we do when death comes? For many, bidding adieu to the dearly departed is not such a sad affair. We accept that death is a part of life. While wailing relatives and weeping loved ones are a common sight at funerals, we also treat this time as an opportunity to honour the departed’s life through sombre yet elaborate ceremonies. When the final curtain falls, the journey to the next life should begin with some pomp and circumstance. So it’s important we follow the right rituals. In Thailand, funereal rites vary depending on religious practice and the status of the deceased. At a royal funeral, an elaborate procession of golden chariots circumnavigates Sanam Luang, the Royal Field, carrying a Buddha image, a monk, and a golden urn, which is then placed on a grand crematorium specially built for the occasion. At a Chinese funeral, paper objects, such as houses, cars, and clothing, symbolic items the deceased will need in the next life, are burnt. At a cremation for a high-ranking Buddhist monk, in the Lanna tradition, the cremation pyre is styled as nok hassadeeling, an elephant-headed bird—in fact, a gigantic elephant-eating bird from myth—which represents a vehicle to Heaven. At most Theravada Buddhist funerals, the process begins with a ritual washing of the body in scented water During the ceremony, guests pour lustrous water over the deceased’s right hand to pay respects, make blessings, or ask forgiveness for past misdeeds. The undertaker ties the corpse’s wrists and ankles with a sacred white thread called sai sinn, connecting the body to the earthly chanting taking place. As a last prayer, the hands are placed in a wai gesture, clasping a lotus flower and incense sticks. A coin or banknote is set in the mouth, similar to the coins given to Charon, the ferryman on the River Styx. Then the body is sealed in a coffin—traditionally filled with son ghlin, or tuberoses, to mask the smell—and placed on a pedestal, surrounded by floral wreaths. If the bangkok101.com
deceased is of a high socio-political position, the body will be placed in a large urn called a ghote. Funeral services usually last an odd number of days: three, five, or seven, depending on the number of hosts (the bereaved, including extended family, friends, and colleagues, are invited to serve as host for a day). Monks chant all the while. Customarily, the body is kept for 50 to 100 days, with wakes each week before the cremation and a merit-making ceremony held at the temple on the 50th or 100th day, marking the anniversary of the death. Although some families may keep the body up to a year, nowadays most cremations take place after seven days. When the time comes for cremation, a procession led by monks makes three counter-clockwise turns around the pyre. The family then invites senior guests to give alms of monk robes. Once the bell rings, guests line up to perform a fake lighting of the fire, placing dok mai chan—a little bouquet made from wood shavings or paper, originally sandalwood—under the coffin. The sweet-smelling flowers will mix with the ashes. Stemming from an old custom, cremations do not take place on Friday, because the day sounds like the word “happiness” in Thai. After fire consumes the body, the ashes and remains are collected and brought home. They’re either buried or kept as relics. Most families now take the ashes for loi angkarn, a ceremony adapted from the Hindu practice of scattering ashes in the Ganges. Spreading ashes with flowers into a river or the sea washes away our sins for the very last time. For the family, it is time to let go. Most Thais stay in mourning for 100 days, wearing black clothing and black crepe over the left sleeve, a custom adopted at the end of 19th century. Siamese used to wear white for mourning and shave their heads if a major royal family member passed. Other acceptable colours were deep purple, midnight blue, and very dark brown, according to one’s relation to the deceased. So what happens in the afterlife? Many believe that if we neglect religious rituals, spirits may linger, becoming ghosts or sambhawaysee, souls doomed to wander for eternity, unable to enter the next realm. In Buddhism, death ultimately teaches us about the truth: suffering, non-self, and impermanence. Karma is the real key to our legacies. Immortality lies in the good deeds we have done. OCTOBER 2015 | 37
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Joe’s Bangkok Award-winning writer Joe Cummings was born in New Orleans but became one of Lonely Planet’s first guidebook authors, creating the seminal Lonely Planet Thailand guide, as well as several other titles and updates for the region. Each month, he picks out his favourite cultural gems throughout Bangkok.
ARS ET PATRIA
A TYCOON’S DREAM BRINGS TOGETHER THE COUNTRY’S BEST CONTEMPORARY THAI ART IN A WORLD-CLASS SPACE.
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n an out-of-the-way, hard-to-reach spot facing a freeway ramp in northern Bangkok stands Thailand’s greatest treasure trove of art. Forget about the National Gallery, or what is contained in all of the capital’s private galleries put together. If you want to understand classic contemporary Thai art, there is only one place to go: the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Back in the 1970s, as a young student in the US, Boonchai Bencharongkul studied management to satisfy his father’s ambitions while passionately pursuing painting on the side. He always assumed he would someday become an artist, but when his father called him back to
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Thailand to help with the family business, Boonchai’s life took a 35-year detour. After his father passed away, Boonchai expanded the family fortunes until DTAC became Thailand’s secondlargest mobile phone service provider after AIS. In 2005, he and his siblings sold most of the company, and Boonchai finally had time to fulfil his dream of creating a proper showcase for Thai art. Built at a cost of USD 30 million, the six-story MOCA almost appears to have been carved from a single piece of granite. Abstract floral motifs cascade down either side of the facade, pocketed with gaps which allow natural light bangkok101.com
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to project onto the atrium inside. Once construction of the 20,000-square-metre space was complete, the former tycoon filled the displays with more than 400 works of art, representing 30 per cent of his own personal collection. After Boonchai spent millions more in art acquisition, the total reached more than 800 artworks by the time MOCA officially opened in 2012. Today it is one of the largest and most significant contemporary art museums in all of Asia, according to Andrew J. West, a Bangkok art critic and author of Thai Neo-Traditional Art. “Boonchai has been involved in the Thai art scene, collecting and becoming personally acquainted with artists, for a long time,” says West. All of Thailand’s National Artist award recipients—20 as of 2015—have pieces on display, a feat no other gallery or museum has achieved. Four rooms are devoted to Boonchai’s favourite Thai artist, the late Thawan Duchanee. Two more rooms display Chalood Nimsamer’s detailed paintings of Thai rural life and customs. Several paintings by Chalermchai Kositpipat, designer of the famous all-white Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, explore Thai Buddhist themes in a rococo style. MOCA is fortunate to have these works on permanent display. Meanwhile, Preecha Pun-Klum boasts three massive pointillist paintings depicting Heaven, Earth, and Hell from Thai Buddhist cosmology on the fourth floor. MOCA’s second floor features the bronze sculpture of Khien Yimsiri, in a unique style that could be described as Henry Moore meets Sukhothai folk art. bangkok101.com
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The third floor explores Thai surrealism, including the otherworldly sci-fi landscapes of Sompong Adusarabhan, a reclusive artist who lives off the grid near the River Kwai and rarely sells or shows his paintings. The fifth floor contains a wing dedicated to European painters of the Victorian era, along with a collection of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese artworks. Throughout the building, abundant space and natural light ensure a world-class experience, and a café on the ground floor serves coffee and tea for good measure. MOCA also publishes large-format art books in Thai and English. Highly recommended are Thai Neo-Traditional Art by Pimphan Hansrisakul and Andrew West and Khon Mask, the definitive book on Thailand’s classical dance-drama masks, which double as magical altar-pieces, by Jack Marion Clontz (available in a separate Thai-language edition as Hua Khon). MOCA is easy to spot from Vibhavadi Road, but your taxi must go past the museum and make a U-turn on Chaengwattana Road to reach the museum via a small access street alongside the railway tracks. The closest BTS station is Mo Chit, but you’ll still need to taxi from there. Admission: B180 adults; children under 15 accompanied by a parent or guardian free; monks, as well as visitors over 60 (with ID), get in free.
MOCA 3 Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd, Chatuchak | 0 2953 1005 mocabangkok.com | Tues-Fri 10am-5pm; Sat-Sun 11am-6pm
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Bizarre
Thailand
A long-term resident of Thailand, Jim Algie has compiled some of his strangest trips, weirdest experiences and funniest stories into the nonfiction compilation ‘Bizarre Thailand’ (Marshall Cavendish 2010). More bytes and pixels at www.jimalgie.com.
THE DISQUIETING AMERICAN
Once a spook, then a silk trader and now an enigma, Jim Thompson is the most infamous farang in the history of the kingdom. In this excerpt from the new book Americans in Thailand (Editions Didier Millet, 2014, Jim Algie disentangles some of the colorfully embroidered yarns and misunderstandings about him. Edited by Nicholas Grossman, the book also features contributions by Nick, Denis Gray, Wesley Hsu, Jeff Hodson, and Robert Horn.
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ames Harrison Wilson Thompson was named after his maternal grandfather, General Wilson, who rose through the ranks to become a major general at the age of 27 and a friend of General Ulysses Grant who became the 18th president of the US after leading the Union Army to victory during the American Civil War. Once the clamor and cannons of the war died down, General Wilson travelled through China for a year to see about putting his engineering skills to the test by building a railway—a journey he chronicled in a book called Travels in the Middle Kingdom which would have served as his grandson’s introduction to Asia. The young boy was also mesmerized by the photos he saw of the Siamese royal later crowned as King Rama VI visiting his family home. (General Wilson had befriended Crown Prince Vajiravudh while attending the coronation of King Edward VII as
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a military representative of the US, while Thompson’s sister and life-long friend, Elinor, also became close to the prince.) In spite of these influences, his biographers have noted that there were few hints in Thompson’s early life which suggested a career in the military or that he would one day become famous as the titan of Thai textiles, although his first career as an architect, smitten with painting and enchanted by the ballets he saw in New York (especially the sets and costumes) gave him both an eye for color and an appreciation for the exotic and extravagant. At an age when most men are settling into their careers and settling down with wives and children, Thompson, then in his late thirties, grew disillusioned with his work and spinning his wheels in the same social circles, writes one of his most prominent biographers, William Warren, in Jim bangkok101.com
highlight Thompson: The Unsolved Mystery (reprinted by EDM in 2014). Warren reckons that it was his belief that America would soon be involved in the war, and that he needed to do something about it, that helped to catalyze this change. Now a Democrat not a Republican as he had been before, Thompson enlisted as a private in the Delaware National Guard Regiment. The trajectory of his career in the military flew neither high nor fast. But a friendship with Second Lieutenant Edwin F. Black, who encouraged him to join the OSS, was the turning point. In Washington he trained at the same camp as The Bangkok Post founder, Alexander MacDonald who said the drills were brutal. “We were taught to lie and steal, kill, maim, spy, deceive, terrify and destroy. It was the Ten Commandments in reverse. There, for example, the class in personal combat was led by a former police colonel from Shanghai. He taught a gutter type of karate. He demonstrated how to chop with the hand at an adversary’s windpipe, how to grip an arm so that the finger bones could be crushed, how to immobilize a rival by pressing a certain nerve in the neck. ‘And don’t ever hesitate,’ he urged, ‘to go after the balls.’” During World War II, Thompson was decorated for bravery while serving with the OSS in Europe. Transferred to Asia, he and MacDonald were about to parachute into northern Thailand to help the Free Thai movement when they heard over the radio that Japan had surrendered in August 1945. Like MacDonald, Jim Thompson also elected to leave the service and stay in Bangkok. That was where he first kindled his passion for Thai arts, crafts and curios, buying a selection of them to take home to his wife, only to find she had left him for a friend of his. Those betrayals only strengthened his resolve to return to Bangkok. First he tried to renovate and relaunch the Oriental Hotel, then a dilapidated mess where he lived. After that joint venture with the Frenchwoman Germaine Krull ended in failure and they parted on acrimonious terms, Thompson, divorced and disheartened, looked for another line of work. In any chronicle of his rise from that of an ardent admirer of Thai silk to a global magnate, the figure of James Scott, a commercial attaché at the American embassy in Bangkok, looms large. It was Scott who told him about his experiences working in Syria where silk brocade underwent a radical transformation from cottage-industry curiosity to a full-fledged commodity in the export market. As Warren mentions, Scott was also a fan of Thompson’s growing collection of local silks and thought that the success he’d seen in Syria boded well for a Thai spinoff. No matter how much help and advice he received, Thompson’s industriousness cannot be overlooked or his skill as a silver-tongued salesman. At the time, the silk trade was hanging by a thread in Thailand, both literally and metaphorically. Even in the traditional cradle of this art, the northeastern region of Isaan, the country’s largest, poorest and most infertile area, production had tapered off. Many saw silk as an unfashionable relic with no hope for a rebirth. Thompson thought otherwise. As an aspiring businessman with a deep affection for local artisans, he explored the northeast with his Laotian friends, absorbing all he could about the mulberry tree whose leaves nurture the silkworm, the vegetable dyes used to bangkok101.com
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give the fabric color, along with the warp and weft of local customs related to silk. What he witnessed was a dying craft at risk of extinction thanks to machine-made textiles and the fickleness of fashion. (Premier Pibul’s attempt to modernize Thailand in the late 1930s included issuing edicts that urged Thais to wear Western-style hats, shoes, shirts, and give up other traditional habits like chewing betel nuts.) Thompson’s background in intelligence paid off in other ways, as he tracked down traditional weavers in the Muslim community of Bankrua in Bangkok. He then took some of these swatches to New York where a friend put him in touch with the influential editor, Edna Chase Woolman, of the fashion trendsetter Vogue. As Warren notes, “According to his account, she took one look at the pile of glowing material, stepped back, and announced to her secretary that none of the staff was to leave the offices that day without seeing this magnificent new discovery.” Her encouragement was crucial to the founding of the Thai Silk Company in 1948, as was the buying of shares by George Barrie, a maverick entrepreneur from California. Capitalized at 25,000 dollars, the company’s start-up fund came from 500 shares which sold for 50 dollars each. But Thompson was never in it for the money. By the year of his disappearance in 1967, when he was a figure of world renown credited for reviving and popularizing the textile, he was making US$33,000 dollars a year. He still worked six days a week and, for the most part, he shunned air-conditioning and other modern conveniences. At his sprawling Thai-style home in Bangkok, later transformed into a first-class museum that remains one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions, he even refused to put screens on the windows. Much of his money was spent on his house and his collections of artworks, fabrics and antiques. Otherwise he did not live large. What Thompson aimed to do, writes Warren, a friend of his fond of attending the lavish dinner parties he gave for famous guests like Robert Kennedy and Truman Capote, was to make a positive contribution to the lives of these poor yet talented artists, and ensure that they received their fair share of the profits. In doing so, he kept many of these traditional practices from unraveling and preserved the fabric of many rural communities, steadfastly refusing to modernize the business by relegating the weavers to factories and denigrating their art through the use of assembly-line processes. In the next and final instalment, we examine Jim Thompson’s mysterious disappearance in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia in 1967, which has been blamed on everything from his espionage work to a tiger attack and a jealously murderous husband. Americans in Thailand, a lavishly illustrated hardcover history book, is on sale at Asia Books and Kinokuniya in Bangkok.
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very thai
LONGTAIL BOATS & BARGES WATER INSTINCTS GUIDE LIFE ON LAND
Photo: John Goss
PHILIP CORNWEL-SMITH
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Boat building was, and still is today, the best example of Thai carpentry which, in turn, must be one of the most precise crafts in the world,” writes architect Sumet Jumsai, showing nostalgia for the disappearing Siamese water culture. “The crafts are the product of the tranquil riverine condition and an expression of an organised society.” That tranquility now shatters when an outboard motor saws past. Pootling sampans wobble in their wake, though never seem to capsize. Waves that sloping natural banks once absorbed now rebound off vertical concrete anti-flood embankments… Just as hooking a motorbike to a rickshaw created the tuk-tuk, so bolting an Isuzu pick-up engine to a boat made the ruea hang yao. Named ‘long-tail’ after a trailing drive shaft that can turn through 270°, the long, sleek craft is tailored to cramped shallow waterways. Traditionally made of takian wood and lacquered with go-faster stripes, the hull tapers like a scimitar to a raised, needle-sharp prow. Its roof displays the telltale arc of all Siamese boat
> Very Thai
River Books by Philip Cornwel-Smith with photos by John Goss and Philip Cornwel-Smith B 995
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canopies, only made of deckchair-hued plastic rather than of bamboo, thatch or galvanised iron. The passengers shelter behind plastic sheeting to avoid spray as the unmuffled engine rips through turbid khlong or salty shoreline, scattering swimmers and rattling nerves as the sound reverberates off cliffs and buildings. “The Isuzu is more powerful and economic than other car engines. Plus it’s faster and quieter now we use a turbo,” hollers Piya through the din at a Bangkok pier, which all seems to be run with the mafia muscle of a motorcycle taxi rank and are notorious for tourist scams. Serving as bus or taxi, large and small longtails weave deftly between barges, which glide gently by. The humped carapace of a fully loaded barge resembles a giant beetle swimming, with eyes painted on the stubby bow, and water lapping at the gunwales. Handsomest among these cargo vessels are the twin-ruddered ruea iamchun (salt boat) and dumpier ruea kracheng (rice barge). Formerly inched along by a punt, and later by outboard longtail propeller, these takian-wood tubs got replaced by larger barges of steel.
Now out in an expanded, updated 2nd edition, “Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture” is a book that almost every foreign resident has on their reading table, a virtual bible on Thai pop culture. Now with four extra chapters, 64 more pages and a third of the 590 photographs being new, it guides you on a unconventional Technicolor tour of the quirky things that make Thailand truly Thai. From the 70 chapters, we present a different excerpt every month. Prepare yourself for the sideways logic in what seems exotic, and buy a copy of the new edition at any good bookshop.
bangkok101.com
just got a little wider Blue Sky, Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok’s beguiling rooftop Bar & Dining is re-opening this October with a celebration of the brand-new dining area, where you can sample the most delectable French bistro-style fare.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND RESERVATION PLEASE CONTACT KHUN YING (F&B RESERVATION COORDINATOR) T: 02 541 1234 EXT. 4151 | E: FB_OFFICE@CHR.CO.TH
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RIVER of PEARLS TEN ICONIC BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES TO VISIT ALONG THE CHAO PHRAYA RIVER BY LUC CITRINOT
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istorically, the Chao Phraya has been the cradle of life and prosperity in Bangkok. For almost 200 years, the river has served as the country’s commercial artery. Boats haul goods from the sea, up the wide flowing water, to the towns and villages that spread out from its banks. This helps explain why the first Europeans to settle in Bangkok established themselves along the Chao Phraya. Between 1900 and the late 1930s, Charoen Krung Road turned into the centre of European life. The area included all the symbols of modernity, such as paved roads, electricity, a public transport system, luxury Western-style hotels, hospitals, and department stores. Today, over 50 monuments and buildings here recall the influence of European heritage in the city—not to mention the glory days of the riverside. Here is a (very) small selection of emblematic buildings which tell a bit of Bangkok’s colourful history. 1 – The Protestant Cemetery Lost in the shuffle of massive development around Asiatique, the River Front, the Protestant Cemetery houses the remains of the first foreign Protestants to arrive in the early 19th century. Concessions for the location were granted by King Rama IV in 1853. The cemetery is purely European, with angels and vestals mourning the dead and graves protected by centenarian trees. Particularly attractive is the neo-gothic memorial that King Rama V dedicated to his advisor, Henry Alabaster. 2 – Former East Asiatic Trading Company and Banque d’Indochine Headquarters Next to the Mandarin Oriental, two bright white buildings evoke the ghost of colonial Europe. The first, built in Venetian Renaissance style, was the head office of Denmark’s East Asiatic Trading Company until 1995. Next to it was one of the first two foreign banks in Bangkok, the Banque d’Indochine, in neo-classical Palladian style. Fortunately, it was spared the fate of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation building, a Roman-style structure that was demolished in the late 70s to make way for a parking lot. 3 – The Customs House Nestled next to the residence of the French ambassador, the Customs House is in many ways the most symbolic building looking over the Chao Phraya. Designed by the Austrian architect Joachim Grassi—who was more Italian than Austrian, as he was born in the vicinity of Trieste—the structure was inspired by neo-classical Palladian villas. It was where King Rama V disembarked from long-haul travels in Europe, and it was where most travellers at the turn of the century had their first contact with Bangkok. Half abandoned, the building completed in 1888 is now home to a team of firemen and their families, but there are plans to renovate the structure. Museum, hotel, art gallery? Its future remains unclear. 4 – Residence of the Portuguese Ambassador Portugal was the first country to start a diplomatic mission in Bangkok, way back in 1820. The residence was built bangkok101.com
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in Sino-Portuguese style and served as the Consulate General from 1860 to 1875. Today, it’s the official residence of the Portuguese Ambassador, and the house is only visible from the river. 5 – Holy Rosary Church Though not the largest church in Bangkok, the Holy Rosary Church, built in 1898 in gothic style, is probably the most beautiful. The exquisite stained glass, the pastel colours of the nave, the delicate sculpted columns, and the holy wooden statue of Jesus dating back to the 16th or 17th century—only shown on special celebration days—make the church a must-visit. 6 – Memorial Bridge The metal structure was commissioned by King Rama VII in 1932 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Chakri Dynasty. The 230-metre-long bridge was designed by British steel company Dorman Long, which also built the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was the last structure of its kind designed and built by Europeans in old Siam. 7 – Post and Telegraph Building Next to Memorial Bridge, hidden by trees in a small park, the Post and Telegraph Building was Bangkok’s first postal facility, run in its early years by the British. With its long belfry, pilasters, and large windows, the building has a distinct Venetian style. It is, however, only a reproduction of the former Post Office, which was demolished in the 80s as the streets were widened. 8 – Royal Seminary, Rajini Secondary School Visible from the river, this is one of the most exquisite baroque buildings on the Chao Phraya. It was opened in 1880 by King Rama V in memory of Queen Sunandha and her daughter who drowned in the vicinity of Bang Pa-In Palace. It stands on the grounds of one of the most prestigious schools in Bangkok. 9 – Bank of Thailand, Wang Bang Khun Phrom Entering Wang Bang Khun Phrom is like getting transported to Vienna. There’s an abundance of painted frescoes, golden frames, and crystal chandeliers. The Italian architect Mario Tamagno was inspired by the baroque movement, whose air of opulence becomes evident upon entering the palace. Next door is Tamnak Somdej, designed by German Karl Döring in the German art nouveau style, “Jugendstil.” Built in 1913, the imposing structure is the only example of German architecture along the river today. 10 – Praya Palazzo What is now a boutique hotel was once a Thai nobleman’s mansion. Finished in 1923, Praya Palazzo displays grand Palladian style embellished by terraced gardens. The house—which had been converted into a school—was saved from demolition over a decade ago by a Thai professor who then spent years restoring the decaying structure. The hotel received its first guests in 2011 and is now one of Bangkok’s most romantic getaways. OCTOBER 2015 | 45
THE RUNNING OF THE BULLS? THE ANNUAL BUFFALO RACES IN CHONBURI MEAN FUN FOR THE WHOLE CROWD 46 | OCTOBER 2015
bangkok101.com
BUFFALO RACING FESTIVAL
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ou see them lingering on the side of the road, or wading in muddy, murky water. You see them plodding across fields with ploughs. Water buffaloes are a symbol of rural life in Thailand—slowmoving, tranquil, ubiquitous, equally at home working the fields and idling in shade. Looks can be deceiving. Beneath this peaceful exterior lurks a wild side. During one of Thailand’s quirkiest festivals, and also one of its most exciting spectator sports, these beasts of burden get a chance to strut their stuff. The annual water buffalo races in Chonburi see jockeys clad in t-shirts and shorts guiding their cattle 100 metres down dirt tracks. Mud and dust mushroom behind the great grey bulk sprinting with surprising grace and speed. Around the corral, hundreds of onlookers stomp and cheer, often fuelled by M-150 and whisky. In a word, it’s a riot. Other festivities include oxcart parades, live performances of Thai country music and molam, and dance performances. There’s also the curiously named “Miss Buffalo” beauty contest (the beauty contest is a fixture at seemingly every major Thai festival). While this all might sound absurd, it’s just fun and games. Folks in rural Thailand have been doing this for centuries, gathering to race their buffaloes the day before the end of Buddhist Lent. It’s a treat for the buffaloes as well as farmers, a little bit of entertainment after the hard work of tilling rice paddies during the rainy season. See for yourself from October 24-26. Odds are you won’t leave disappointed.
bangkok101.com
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T R AV E L
upcountry now
October 13 – 21 Phuket Vegetarian Festival After opening with pole-raising rituals at shrines around the island, the festival unveils its famous and often gruesome street processions. These feature participants committing acts of ritual self-mutilation, such as climbing on ladders made of razor blades, piercing cheeks with steel skewers, or walking on hot coals, to display the depth of their spirituality. During this period, normal street vendors eschews meat (among many other things), preparing vegetarian fare in keeping with the sacraments. Look for stalls with yellow flags and Chinese or Thai script in red.
October 20 – 28 Illuminated Boat Procession Just before sunset each evening, lines of regal barges adorned with candles glide down the Mekong in Nakhon Phanom, spewing fireworks and eliciting gasps from onlookers. A religious rite that marks the end of Buddhist Lent, the Lai Reua Fai (“Flowing Fire Boats”) festival also includes colourful street processions and cultural performances. Main events will take place on October 27 this year. Try your luck by picking lucky stars or buying Red Cross raffle tickets and enjoy the entertainment.
October 23 – 26 Sakon Nakhon Wax Castle Festival Before the main attraction, the river bustles with activity, as traditional long-boat races compete for the HRH Princess Sirindhorn Cup. As many as 100 crews take part, including boats from neighbouring Laos. On October 26, a parade of wax “castles”—in actuality, anything from ornate trees to Buddhist temples and shrines, carved from beeswax by local artists— trots through town. The procession is also a backdrop for numerous cultural performances highlighting the province’s rural way of life.
October 24 Warp Music Festival 2015 The party never ends in festive Pattaya. WARP is a massive EDM festival, taking place on the private beach of Saisawan Beach Resort. DJs include Andrew Rayel and Thomas Newson, who played on the main-stage of Tomorrowland 2015, and the up-and-coming duo Tungevaag & Raaban. Tickets vary from B2500-B9500, available at thaiticketmajor.com. All prices are inclusive of a hotel package.
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October 24 – November 1 Chak Phra Festival and Surat Thani Boat Races On October 9, locals decorate their boats and trucks with flowers and Buddha images and join a parade guided by the sound of traditional percussion instruments. The festivities also include long-boat races on the Tapi River. The boats are manned by up to 50 oarsmen. It’s a merry scene as vocal crowds line the riverbanks to cheer on their favourites. Other highlights include cultural and musical performances, which take place every evening during the nine-day festival.
October 27 Naga Fireballs Between 6pm and 9pm on the final night of Buddhist Lent, fireballs begin to rise from the Lao side of the Mekong before they mysteriously disappear. Legend has it this display in Nong Khai is the result of naga (mythical serpents) shooting fireballs into the sky to welcome the Buddha back from the Tavatimsa heaven. Others think they’re the result of methane gas bubbling up from the river bed. Regardless, the best place to observe the phenomenon is the riverbank village of Phon Phisai.
hotel xxx escape review
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U SATHORN BANGKOK - How U Like It BY CRAIG SAUERS
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he beauty of Bangkok is that, no matter how many years one spends here, there will always be something new to discover. A surprise around the corner. A treasure lying close beneath the surface. One such discovery is U Sathorn Bangkok. Located next to Crescent International School, the property is flanked by bustling expat streets Soi Ngam Du Phli, Sri Bumphen, and, a little further away, Suan Phlu. Where it sits remains peacefully isolated from the corridors of racing motorbikes, bars and restaurants, and otherwise loud human activity. Just walking into the grounds, past pearlwhite buildings and onto a veranda that reveals bright green grass and a stunning swimming pool, feels like travelling to a countryside resort. And, in another sense, it feels like going back in time. Three low wings contain 86 rooms (Superior, Superior Garden, Deluxe Garden, and Suites). The buildings recall the spirit of French colonial architecture in a vernacular style inspired by the great Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa. From the hipped roofs and colonnades to ceiling fans softly spinning above couches on balconies, the design captures Old World charm, breathing life into the general concept of a hotel. The amenities and embellishments, however, are decidedly modern. Each room comes with a smart TV, from which guests can scan food menus, look up nearby attractions, or learn more about the property itself. The showers are all rainfall. Not only is room service 24 hours, but it’s also managed by “Ur Host,” a sort of quasi-butler service for guests. As accommodating as those amenities may be, perhaps the most fan-friendly are concepts like “24 hour rooms”— guests receive 24 hours in the hotel from the moment they check in; for example, arrive at 2pm on Friday, check out at 2pm on Saturday—and breakfast whenever, wherever, allowing slow morning risers to hang out in their pyjamas instead of getting dressed up for the breakfast buffet. While solitude and style help set U Sathorn apart among travellers, fine dining at flagship restaurant J’AIME offers Bangkok residents a reason to visit with greater frequency. Designed by Jean-Michel Lorain—whose La Côte Saint-Jacques has earned two to three Michelin stars year after year—and led by the meticulous Amerigo Sesti, J’AIME gives the city’s dining a scene an element it has lacked. The décor lends J’AIME, as well as The Library Bar beneath it, a sort of “Alice in Wonderland” vibe. Colours transition from black to purple to ivory. A transparent piano hangs from the ceiling in the centre of the restaurant, symbolic of the way the place turns hard-set culinary rules upside down. For larger tables, dishes come in portions to share, uniting French flavours with Asian traditions. Many recipes have roots in family annals. Yet all have received the bangkok101.com
innovative touch of the two chefs: scallops rather than rabbit on a bed of pumpkin purée and mushrooms, an oyster served with citrus jelly, a honey-kissed mille-feuille from the recipe book of Lorain’s father. For visitors and locals alike, the restaurant is a destination in and of itself. On Sunday, there’s a beautiful Sunday brunch at J’AIME, again based around a shared, Asian-style concept. Main courses are made to order, rather than cooked by the bundle and left in the chafing dish, but diners can order the same thing over and over again, if they so prefer. The food varies from the lunch and dinner menus, which come in several courses designed to cater to each guest’s tastes. Instead, brunch starts with a shared charcuterie plate and smaller starters, and there’s a focus on seafood in the mains. Whatever the choice, it’s doubtless best rounded out with free-flow Chandon. The young U Sathorn, as all hotels, has a lot of appeal for travellers—comfort, style, convenience in the form of free bicycles and shuttle buses—but it has just as much to offer the city-dweller in search of a staycation, or a gastronomic getaway, or, perhaps, merely the scent of freshly cut grass.
U SATHORN BANGKOK 105 Soi Sathon 1 | 0 2119 4888 usathornbangkok.com
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Hanging ten: Surfing lessons at Kata Beach up excitement levels during holidays on Phuket
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Invigorated Itineraries Landmark Phuket Resorts Branch out and Look in as the Island’s Travel Industry Evolves BY CRAIG SAUERS
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ike dust shaken from a blanket, life on Phuket has settled sporadically. South of the airport, rubber trees blur into the background as small rural houses emerge on the fore. Soon after come rows of shophouses occupied with mini-marts, motorbike repairmen, and vendors making food to order from woks in garages. A temple here, a school there—the boat lagoon, the labyrinthine Super Cheap. At this point, near the nexus of cardinal directions, human settlements become of a different nature. Traffic converges in the centre of the
Boathouse Wine & Grill features interactive elements bangkok101.com
island, where the quiet parts funnel into the most vibrant of shoreline communities. The road then transforms into an illuminated chute through which vans and buses race to the beach, because, for most, electric-white sands are the ultimate destination. The stuff in the middle—the activities on the sea, in the jungle—remain afterthoughts. In recent years, tourism on Phuket has begun to evolve. Travellers and tour providers have embraced sustainable development, eco-friendly programmes, and adventures that are otherwise beyond the norm.
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Good luck picking just one from the roughly 800 labels in the wine cellar Paddleboards, culinary tours, and excursions into the hills have overtaken jet-skis, elephant sedans, and blurry nights on Soi Bang La. This is especially true for returnees, who have either already explored the latter options or eschewed them in the first place.
“THIS IS REALLY LIKE A PLAYGROUND FOR ME,” SAYS CHIN, WHO WORKED AS A CHEF BEFORE ENTERING THE HOTEL INDUSTRY. “WE ONLY HAVE 38 ROOMS, BUT WE HAVE TWO RESTAURANTS. THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT US.” Yet within this growth resides a sort of dichotomy between old and new. Established venues have been tasked with transforming to keep up with the times while holding firm to their roots. Some places, such as Boathouse by Montara, a 26-year-old veteran of the industry on Kata Beach, have done just that, and with 54 | OCTOBER 2015
considerable success. Led by a spunky in-house team and a vibrant general manager with an immeasurable passion for food and wine, Boathouse has rejiggered its activities. Knowing that Kata gets some of the best waves to surf on the island, Boathouse partnered with Quiksilver, building a shop and surf school between the resort and Re Ká Ta, its beach club-restaurant. Year-round, a group of well-tanned and supremely laidback instructors set up on the sand in front of the resort. They hang out on beach chair perches all day long, casually offering surfing lessons and board rentals during low season, and paddleboard lessons and rentals during high season, when the curling waves recede and the water becomes still and glassy on the surface. As chilled out as they may seem, the guys know how to ratchet their energy at the right moments. After a brief lesson on the sand, in which newbie surfers learn to paddle with their arms and stand on stationary boards, teachers lead students into a quiet corner of the very bright blue water. Here, the action (or comedy) begins. As waves pick up steam, riders begin to paddle, the professionals give a gentle push, and, like new-born zebras on the savannah, awkwardly taking their first steps, the surfers attempt to stand on the board and ride the breaking waves into shore. After the inevitable crash, and while adrenaline remains high, they can turn around, see a smiling figure sharing in the positive vibes with two bangkok101.com
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A seductive sunset dinner on the sand
GM Max Chin has overhauled his resort’s activities thumbs decidedly up, and notice that laughter has been held in check. For first-timers, the experience is quite a thrill. Experienced surfers, however, tend to fly solo, renting boards and flocking to the middle of the beach, where the waves really roll. While sand and surf are obvious attractions on Phuket, they’re far from the end of the line. The jungle, for many, is foreign terrain, which is not always a good thing. Found in the further reaches of the hills are callous elephant camps, sad shows featuring caged monkeys, and snake pits—as ironic a name as any for the experience. But not all excursions into the bush involve shady operations. The Flying Hanuman, a wild, themed zip-line in the vertiginous hills of Kathu, represents the brighter side of adventure tourism. Though the guides are perhaps rough around the edges—expect lots of jokes, absurd, alarming, or otherwise—and the process can move quickly, there’s an overarching eco-friendly ethos at play that washes away any doubts. The lines of cable wind high above untouched and scrupulously cleaned forest, and the recycling of used or unwanted gear, such as cloth headbands, is a focal point. The view looks over the lake in Kathu as well as the sea to the east and its tiny islands. The guides, while playful, also hammer home safety on the cables. The experience is one for the memory bank—one to be proud of, one without ethical dilemmas. Adventure notwithstanding, Phuket remains Thailand’s 56 | OCTOBER 2015
With views like this, it might be hard leaving the sun deck biggest bastion for bacchanalia. Good food, good drinks, and long hours dedicated to suntans make up a majority of holidays. Trisara, an exclusive resort in the rolling hills between Naithon and Bangtao, recently launched a monthly culinary series aimed at attracting island residents and regional foodies, as well as in-house guests. The Trisara Culinary Series, as it’s called, joins an enhanced list of excursions and activities available at or through the resort. Offering one-night-only gourmet journeys based on changing themes, the series underlines a subtle shift in focus of the tourist industry. Happening at once organically and through planned campaigns, Phuket is gradually becoming a culinary capital of Southeast Asia. Japanese Kaiseki marked the first event of the Trisara Culinary Series. The traditional set meals ventured from the normal arena of the host restaurant, Trisara Seafood, which, of course, is known for its seafood. Going off-track, however, is the means to the end. In demonstrating a certain daring through experimenting with new cuisines, the restaurant and resort have begun to distinguish themselves within a suddenly powerful culinary scene on the island, one that includes a handful of destination restaurants, like Acqua, Blue Elephant, and Suay. Menus in the series will occasionally be designed by famous figures outside the resort. Other months, Trisara Seafood’s Executive Chef Chalermchai “Kla” Prakobkit and Chef de Cuisine Jimmy Ophortst will assume the privilege. bangkok101.com
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Trisara Seafood plays host to the monthly Trisara Culinary Series The momentum gained from the first event carried over into the second. Dubbed “One Night in Bangkok,” Dylan and Bo of Bo.lan travelled to Trisara to prepare a special take on their trademark Thai cuisine. The next night in the series took a hard turn in another direction. Trisara brought in award-winning mixologists for a “speakeasy”-themed night of drinks and light eats. From Japanese to Thai to cocktails and canapés, the series has explored wildly different paths in its first three months. This unique twist has given guests reason to visit Trisara beyond its stunning seascape and preexisting tour packages. To sweeten the pot for regional visitors, who come from as near as Bangkok and as far away as Hong Kong, the resort has offered discounted rates for stays during the first three events in the series. Whether the discounts continue remains to be seen. What isn’t changing, however, is the verve for spicing up old packages with new projects. Like Trisara on the north of the island, Boathouse, too, has put an emphasis on dining. In truth, food has been the resort’s calling card for decades. An annual winner of food and wine awards, including a prestigious Two Glasses from Wine Spectator, Boathouse’s namesake restaurant offers a destination in and of itself. From tableside cooking at dinner to regular jazz nights and wine flights, Boathouse brings an element of excitement to dining, a quintessential part of a holiday in paradise. 58 | OCTOBER 2015
Perhaps at the core of its evolution into another decade is the exuberance of Max Chin, the aforementioned GM with a penchant for dancing and serious knowledge of wine and French food. “This is really like a playground for me,” says the Malaysian-born manager, who worked as a chef and owned a few restaurants before entering the hotel industry. “Every month, we’re doing new food promotions. We only have 38 rooms, but we have two restaurants. That says a lot about us.” Owing to a background in food and beverage, Chin has developed a strategy aimed at bringing back the charm of dining while adding new dimensions to gastronomy. One of the restaurant’s recent monthly promotions paid homage to Phuket heritage. During September, Boathouse partnered with local groups to feature Baba Nyonya cuisine and cultural activities each Friday night, looking to recognize a community that often goes unnoticed in the sweep of in-and-out tourism. With up to 800 labels of wine available during high season, the only beachfront club on Kata in Re Ká Ta, and creative cooking at both venues, including raw cuisine at one and cooking classes at the other, Boathouse has culinary travellers catered for well. The challenge then becomes one most would like to face: remembering there’s a beach to explore beyond the dinner table. “My friends tell me, ‘You work in paradise and you don’t even walk on the beach?’” says Chin, chuckling. bangkok101.com
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Chidlom
Sathorn Sukhumvit Soi 11 Sukhumvit Soi 4
Bawarchi Chidlom President Tower Arcade ( Intercontinental Bangkok B - Level, 973, Ploenchit Road, Bangkok, Thailand Tel : +66 2656 0102 - 3
Bawarchi Sathorn
Indian - Thai Chambers of Commerce, 13 Sathorn Soi 1,Thungmahamek, Sathorn Road, Bangkok, Thailand Tel : +66 2677 6249
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Bawarchi Sukhumvit 4 Bawarchi Sukhumvit 11 Bawarchi Myanmar 20/11 Sukhumvit Soi 4, Khlongtoey, Bangkok, Thailand Tel : + 66 2656 7357
(F/ 1-3 Ambassador Hotel) Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok, Thailand Tel : +66 2253 2394
No . 37 Level 1 , La Pyayt Wun Plaza , Alan Pya Pagoda Road ,Dagon Township, Yangon , Myanmar Tel : 09253500002 / 03
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Kuching’s rich history extends from the city to the jungle, a constantly reinforced blend of old and new
over the border
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Welcome to
the Jungle
Intre pid tra vel writ er
JOE CUMMINGS
discovers the sights of the cit y and the
wild sounds of Sara wak during the 19th Rainf orest World Music Festival
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his past August, I flew from Bangkok to Kuching to attend the Rainforest World Music Festival, an annual three-day event that brings bands and artists from all over the globe to share the roots of their respective music cultures. It’s one of the best organized, most relaxed, and most absorbing music festivals in the world. Equally absorbing is the eccentric post-colonial city of Kuching, the capital and most populous city in Sarawak, a Malaysian state that occupies much of the north coast of the island of Borneo.
The lovely Damai Beach Resort, close to the festival bangkok101.com
Kuching is a town that revels in the distinction of having started life as one of the quirkiest ventures in European colonialism, under the rule of a dynastic monarchy known as the White Rajahs from 1841 to 1946. Englishman James Brooke served as the first monarch of the Kingdom of Sarawak, which was given to him as a reward for helping the Sultanate of Brunei fight piracy and insurgency among Borneo’s tribal peoples. Based on descent through the male line, the White Rajahs’ dynasty continued through Brooke’s nephew and grandnephew, the latter ceding
Old architecture in Kuching OCTOBER 2015 | 61
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Basque band Korrontzi lights up the crowd at the Rainforest World Music Festival his rights to the British Crown following World War II in 1946. Kuching developed rapidly under the Brooke family, which built a palace in 1870; a classic, cloistered courthouse in 1874 (still standing today); a towered fort in 1879; and one of Asia’s first museums in 1891. Margaret Brooke, the Ranee (queen consort) and wife of Rajah Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke, described the city in her biography, My Life in Sarawak: “The little town looked so neat and fresh and prosperous under the careful jurisdiction of the Rajah and his officers, that it reminded me of a box of painted toys kept scrupulously clean by a child.” Drop “scrupulously clean” and the description still applies today, for the most part. While Malaysian cities like Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Johor Bahru sprout skyscrapers by the mile, Kuching has somehow managed to avoid the worst of urban sprawl. The city’s disparate ethnic groups also tend to socialize in mixed communities. While in KL, Chinese often stick to Chinese cafés and restaurants, and Malays similarly hang with their own, here it’s not unusual to see Chinese and Malays scooping up laksa Sarawak side by side. The social milieu is further enriched by residents who hail from various Borneo tribes, most prominently the Iban and Bidayuh. Often lumped together under the generic name “Dayak,” they add their own foods and traditions to the Kuching stew. There are also numerous descendants of Indian migrants—Tamils, Sikhs, and Punjabis—who arrived in Kuching during the White Rajah and British colonial eras. Like most visitors, the first place I gravitate to on arrival is the Waterfront, a two-kilometre esplanade 62 | OCTOBER 2015
alongside the tranquil and winding Sarawak River. Lined by old warehouses, hundreds of Straits Settlements-style shophouses, and the original courthouse of Raja Brookes, it’s good for hunting down food, shopping for local souvenirs, or strolling slowly along the riverfront to view the Astana Palace, Fort Margherita, and Malay kampungs (villages) on the opposite shore. The most visually striking edifice on the other bank is the New Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building, with its multi-spoke umbrella-style roof profile that’s illuminated nightly. On the esplanade side, there’s an observation tower, an open-air theatre, musical fountains, and a series of engraved brass plaques detailing Kuching history along the esplanade. Sarawak State Museum, the oldest museum in Borneo, provides a look into the region’s fascinating past. Built in 1891 to specifications drawn up by the second Rajah’s French valet, in imitation of a halfremembered Norman town hall, it’s the state’s main archive for cultural, natural, and historical artefacts. Probably most interesting among its collections are the indigenous artefacts, including real-life longhouses, musical instruments, fish and animal traps, and folk utensils, found on the first floor. Meanwhile the Chinese History Museum, housed in a small and beautiful colonialera building on the Waterfront, displays a permanent exhibition on Kuching’s many Chinese migrant groups. The Rainforest World Music Festival, now heading into its 19th year, is held 35 minutes outside of town, at the Sarawak Cultural Center, on forested Damai Peninsula. Two main stages sit at the foot of majestic Mount Santubong, backed by a lake that ensures a cross-breeze, making the bangkok101.com
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A must-try dish of the local laksa
Crossing the river with the aid of a paddle music all the more enjoyable. Shows start just after sunset and continue through midnight. The afternoon hours are filled with informative workshops, ethno-musical lectures, jam sessions, and mini-concerts. A variety of food and drink stalls provide plenty of local, Malaysian, and international dishes, along with copious beer and wine. Separate tents purvey local arts and crafts, as well as festival memorabilia and CDs from performing artists. On weekends, crowds swell to up to 30,000 people. Musical highlights of the 2015 festival, for me, were energetic Bargou 8 from Tunisia; other-worldly throatsinger and horse-fiddler Enkj Jargal from Mongolia; a super-up-tempo trikitixa (Basque-style button accordion), guitar, bass, and drum ensemble called Korrontzi, from Spain’s Basque Country; Scotland’s seminal acid croft group Shooglenifty; and finally uKanDanZ, an explosive band mating Parisian performers on tenor sax, bass, drums, and rock guitar with adept Ethiopian singer Asnake Guebreyes. Festival-goers who wish to stay close to the Santubong festival site have a choice of Damai Beach Resort (semi-upscale), Damai Puri Resort (upscale), One Hotel Santubong (moderate), and Permai Rainforest Camp (moderate). During the festival, I stayed at Damai Beach Resort and was very happy with the facilities and services, not to mention the two swimming pools and beach frontage. If you’d rather stay in town to take advantage of sightseeing and greater culinary options, there are tons of alternatives, starting with such high-dollar international chains as Hilton and Pullman and extending to a slew 64 | OCTOBER 2015
Tapestries being woven in the traditional way of inexpensive but comfortable guesthouses. Before the festival, I stayed in the spacious Attic Room at Kuching Waterfront Lodge, which occupies a historic, Straits Settlements-style shophouse almost on the river. After the festival, I moved to Tune Hotel, a budget spot owned by Air Asia and strategically located off Jalan Padungan, near several of Kuching’s best-loved local eateries. Speaking of which, Kuching easily rivals Penang as the food capital of Malaysia. One must-try dish is Sarawak laksa, a spicy noodle soup with a base of sambal belacan (chillies pounded with dried shrimp), sour tamarind, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, and coconut milk, filled with thin rice vermicelli, and topped with omelette strips, chicken strips, prawns, fresh coriander, and bittersweet kalamansy lime. It’s eaten any time of day or night, and everyone enjoys the dish, whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, or tribal. Another all-day, all-night specialty is kolok mee, made with squiggly egg noodles and served with a light savoury sauce and sliced pork (for Chinese) or chicken cutlets (for Muslims). The best place to enjoy both dishes is ancient Chong Choon Café on Jalan Abell, open from 7am to noon except Tuesday, when it’s closed. Teh tarik, or Malaysianstyle pulled milk tea, is delicious here. River taxis called tambang or penambang ply the Sarawak River along the Waterfront for a one-way fare of RM 0.40 (about B4). Metered taxis are cheap, starting at around RM 4 at flagfall. For festival-goers, shuttle buses operate from three points in the city—Hills Shopping Mall, Harbour View Hotel, Merdeka Palace Hotel—which run hourly from 10am until 1.30am. The cost is RM20 each way or RM100 for an unlimited three-day pass. bangkok101.com
Salmon Steak
with Pink Peppercorn Sauce and Artichoke Enjoy with a complimentary glass of wine! All this month at CafĂŠ Gourmand & Paparazzi Restaurant at Chateau de Bangkok. 29 Soi Ruamrudee 1, Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 tel: +66 (0) 2 6514400 email: resv@chateaubkk.com chateaudebangkok
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FREEDOM & CAPTIVITY A chair rests on the crown of a bird’s head whose eye is white and open wide, as if to stare into the souls of passers-by. The beak is golden and blunted. This peculiar head is attached to the torso of a mannequin. Above each breast appear two tattoos of a bluebird. The mannequin’s fingers are crossed, but the image is flipped—the fingers are crossed on a right hand raised beside the left side of the mannequin’s body, a physical impossibility by any measure. In comparison to the subject, the chair looks absolutely miniscule. The image is haunting, original, the stuff of dreams and nightmares. For millennia, since the days of the Greek stoics, humans have wrestled with the concept of free will. That fundamental struggle inspired Melbourne-based Thai sculptor Pimpisa Tinpalit in her latest series. Titled Freedom & Captivity, the exhibition features birds and their body parts merged with human figures—a canaryyellow bird head cast onto a woman’s body; red and blue female figurines holding white dove-like birds in their palms. According to Tinpalit, birds in this series represent freedom while humans are symbols of the power of free will. The sculptures themselves speak to the supremacy of the mind once freed from captivity, yet they remain ambiguous, which was an intentional choice. Tinpalit believes that humans often fail to weight the difference between their sense of freedom and captivity. The exhibition highlights this dichotomy, encouraging viewers to make their own meaning from the sculptures. Freedom & Captivity will be on display at La Lanta Fine Art from September 19 until October 21.
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A RT & C U LT U R E
exhibitions
GAME: PART I
KATHMANDU PHOTO GALLERY 87 Soi Pan, Silom Rd | 0 2234 6700 | Tue-Sun 11am-7pm | kathmanduphotobkk.com
Until October 31 Using a single piece of equipment, half hunting-rifle and half camera, Liam Morgan “shot” every buffalo he passed as he rode open-air trains around rural Thailand. In this first instalment of Game, an exhibition of hand-printed black-and-white photographs, the act of shooting becomes as important as the photograph itself; each picture is informed by the system in which it was created.
REDISCOVERING FORGOTTEN THAI MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
BANGKOK UNIVERSITY GALLERY (BUG) Bangkok University Gallery Bldg, Rama IV Rd | 0 2350 3626 | TueSat 10am- 7pm | fab.bu.ac.th/buggallery
Until October 31 This exhibition, developed from a 2011 initiative by Kathmandu Photo Gallery to bring recognition to senior photographers omitted from official archives and curated by Manit Sriwanichpoom, displays the work of seven photographers relevant to the cultural development of domestic photography. It includes S. H. Lim, who captured the spirit of modern Thailand during the 60s, and M.L. Toy Xoomsai, a vanguard in nude photography.
MOTHER NATURE
PANDORA ART GALLERY 10/4 Convent Rd I 0 2635 5353 I 11am-9pm I facebook.com/ PandoraArtGallery
Until November 1 Sudrak Khongpuang’s vibrant, dream-like paintings typically take a bird’s-eye perspective of the natural landscape as a means to escape the confines of her urban domain. Using a seductive choice of hues and rhythmic compositions, she takes natural formations and shapes and simplifies them into patterns and colour blocks.
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exhibitions
A RT & C U LT U R E
SPIRIT OF SANAMLUANG
SOY SAUCE FACTORY 11/1 Soi 24 Charoen Krung Rd I 09 2115 8696 I Tue-Sat noon11pm I soysaucefactory.com
October 2 – November 15 To Cherdwood Sakolaya, Sanamluang is the gateway to the past, containing memories of who Thai people once were and how they once lived. Through a series of black-and-white shots taken at Sanamluang, the photographer examines the space between past and present through a staged retrospective of traditions played out by present-day people. Within this arrangement, Sakolaya hopes to point the lens toward the future, urging viewers to think about who they want to become.
SHADES OF SHADOW
S GALLERY GF Sofitel Sukhumvit, 189 Sukhumvit Rd I 09 3582 6588 I Daily 10am-10pm I BTS Asok/Nana
October 29 – November 29 This solo show by Pongpassakorn Kulthirathum, better known as KOBORED, features six video mapping installations that interpret the artist’s view of modern society. KOBORED urges everyone to see darkness in a different light, to embrace the interplay of shadows and shapes. The exhibition opens at the gallery with a cocktail party with canapés and live DJs on October 29, starting at 6pm.
bangkok101.com
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The Sublime and the Appalling Timothy Hallinan Talks about his Writing and Inspiration in Bangkok BY KEVIN CUMMINGS
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imothy Hallinan is the Edgar-, Shamus-, and Macavity-nominated author of sixteen widely praised books, including The Fear Artist, For the Dead, Crashed, Little Elvises, and Herbie’s Game, 70 | OCTOBER 2015
winner of the Lefty Award for Best Humorous Crime Novel. His seventh and latest Bangkok-based thriller in the Poke Rafferty series, The Hot Countries, hits shelves on October 4. bangkok101.com
interview Of the three characters in the Poke Rafferty series—Poke, Rose, and Miaow—you say Miaow is your favourite. Who is she? I really see the series as having a triple protagonist: the members of a makeshift family, three people with literally nothing in common—an American travel writer, a former bar worker, and a little girl who was abandoned on the sidewalk at the age of two or three. They all understand that this often difficult relationship may be their last chance at home and happiness. They’re in it together, so to speak. Miaow—the adopted daughter—is based on a real child I met in the early 1990s, a gum-seller in the Patpong area, who used to stare in amazement at my laptop as I wrote in a restaurant window. Eight or nine, filthy, but with a ruler-straight part in her hair because that was the one aspect of her life that she could control. Eventually, I waved her in, bought her a Coke, set up Pinball on the laptop, showed her how to work the flippers, and took a walk. When I got back, the booth was empty, there were two packs of gum stacked neatly on my plate, and the pinball score was astronomical. I saw her dozens of times after that, until she disappeared a year or so later. Her name really was Miaow, and I put her in the books hoping that it might produce a little sympathetic magic; as things worked out for the child in the books, I hoped, some of it might shade over into the real child on the street. I actually tell the story of how I met her in The Hot Countries, but in the book it’s Poke she meets. When you’re writing adults, three or four years don’t mean much, but to a child it’s an eternity. Over the course of seven books, Miaow has learned to trust her adoptive parents, she’s worked her ass off to get into a good school (where she hides the shame of her past on the streets), she’s had her heart broken, and now, at fourteen, she’s decided to be, God help us, an actress. And every day she changes a little more. I never know where she’ll be in the next book. You’ve been described as a Dickens writing about modern-day Thailand. In fact, you once wrote a book about Dickens. You also weave Shakespearean references into the Poke series. The Dickens comparisons come, I think, because he was the great Victorian writer of children, and there are so many kids in the Rafferty series. I think children are fascinating characters because they don’t get a vote. Up to a certain point, virtually everything in their lives is determined by adults. The Rafferty books are full of kids getting raw deals, whether they’re poor or rich. Both Dickens and Shakespeare—certainly the greatest writer ever to work in English—had the gift of being able to bangkok101.com
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see things whole: not just the street corner (or the throne room) but the complex network of fears and desires that drive what happens in those places, and at the same time they could place all that within their private understanding of how this endlessly mysterious world works. And, finally, they could take whatever they wrote and make it fascinating. I’m thrilled to be mentioned in a sentence with Dickens, but if anyone ever compared me to Shakespeare I’d say he or she was delusional. I’d say thanks, too, of course. Describe Rafferty’s Bangkok. Some people define setting as place, but to me it’s place as characters experience it. There are several Bangkoks in the Rafferty books. Rafferty, who first experienced it as an adult from the Western world, lives in a completely different Bangkok than Rose, who ran away to it and became a bar girl, or Miaow, who was given a big lemon ball by her parents and then tied by her wrist to a bus bench and left there, and who didn’t accept that they weren’t coming back until the candy was finally gone. The streets, to her, are nothing like the streets her parents experience, and that lets me write Bangkok, in a sense, in several dimensions. Of course, one of the magical things about Bangkok, from a writer’s perspective, is that it has all these kinds of people in it. You can stand on any Bangkok sidewalk and see three possible novels in five minutes. There’s a kind of preview of part of The Hot Countries in the anthology Bangkok Noir. How did that come about? I was thinking about the story that would become The Hot Countries (in a very different form) when the inestimable Christopher G. Moore e-mailed me to ask if I’d like to contribute a short piece to that book. I’d only written one short story since eighth grade, and I tried to beg off, but then Wallace came to mind and I took a fragment of one way my book might conceivably have gone and wrote it as a story called “Hansum Man,” unwittingly ripping off Dean Barrett. Much to my surprise, people liked it. Part of that story is in The Hot Countries, but framed differently and with a different ending. So having read the story doesn’t let you off of reading the book. On the surface, Bangkok is not the city that I first saw in the 1980s, when parts of it deserved the descriptive phrase Somerset Maugham applied to Monaco, “A sunny place for shady people.” Now it’s a world-class city in every regard, and yet its spirit seems to me to be the same, a unique and almost musical mixture of the sublime and the appalling. “A man who is tired of London is tired of the world,” as Dr Johnson said, and in the 21st century, I think that’s true of Bangkok. I can’t imagine ever running out of things to write about it. OCTOBER 2015 | 71
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cheat notes
THE LAST REEL
Terror and Triumph in the Past Exhumed
S
ouphon slips on her nightwear. Before she sneaks out of the house, she visits her mother, who is tucked into bed, her face made up, but her body and mind in a state of decline. “Where are you going?” she asks. “To my university classes,” responds Souphon. “Dressed like that?” wonders her mother, a woman whom Souphon has always known as Srey Mom. “I’ll change when I get there.” From the moment the action kicks off in Kulikar Sotho’s The Last Reel, there’s a sense of secrecy, of muddled truth and stakes being raised. The young female lead, played by Ma Rynet, walks the razor-thin line between the wrong sides of the tracks. On one side, she attends university classes, at least ostensibly, and is devoted to her mother and brother. On the other, she flouts the marriage her father has arranged for her and spends her evenings singing on stage at a seedy nightclub. This latter activity leads her to an abandoned cinema one night, when she’s left behind in a brush-up between gangs—one her boyfriend’s, the other a rival’s—and retreats to the only safe haven she knows. This is when the mystery of the past first appears. Souphon has stumbled upon a film starring her mother, of all people, before the frail figure fell into a state of constant convalescence. The movie is screened by a lonely old cinema-keeper, drinking from the bottle, pining over the action, unaware of his audience. It shows a time predating the cold-blooded rule of the Khmer Rouge, when her mother was an enchanting actress called Sothea. The old man was the film-maker. Or so he says. Events build slowly in The Last Reel, a film that has earned wide critical acclaim on the festival circuit. Before variations of the truth untangle, the movie can
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feel lethargic. The pacing, however, seems an intentional choice. The movie is as much about the privately conflicted nature of humanity, choices, and the challenge of love as it is the return to Year Zero. Personal narratives drive the storyline. A rising figure in Cambodian cinema, and the only female director represented at the ASEAN Film Festival, Sotho explains that “there are two problems in Cambodia today. One is that the voice of the young is ignored by older generations. The other is that the young are ignorant of the past. There’s no education [about it], no talk at home. And, at the same time, the older generation finds it hard to talk about the past—the good and the bad, which are often intertwined.” Sotho says that, through The Last Reel, she has sought to help Cambodians reconcile generational differences and come to terms with the past. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to heal,” she says. “The legacy of the genocide is still here, the loss is still present—people still suffer. But if you can accept your loss, if you can reconcile with the past, it helps you move on physically and emotionally.” Her protagonist, Sophoun, finds herself on an unexpected journey of self-discovery which is often vicariously lived. As she learns the truth about her mother and father, Sophoun starts to understand the pain and joy of history, which guides her toward appreciation for herself, as a Cambodian, and her parents, as victims of and accomplices to a terrifying era defined by impossible choices. The film deserves the attention it receives. What starts slow ends dramatically, and the purity of human emotion triumphs over all. The Last Reel is a win for Cambodian cinema and society alike. bangkok101.com
J’AIME by Jean-Michel Lorain at U Sathorn Bangkok 105, 105/1 Soi Ngam Duphli, Sathorn District, Bangkok Tel. 02 119 4899 | Email reserve@jaime-bangkok.com www.jaime-bangkok.com
art & culture photofeature
Time in Suspense Ko-Si Chi is a living legend. The artist, now over 83, was one of the first Taiwanese photographers to earn wide international acclaim. Other artists have compared his photos to paintings, poems, and literary conjunctions of opposites—even, occasionally, in the same breath. His artwork is at once simple in composition and complex in technique. Colours shout from the prints. Shadow and light perform a delicate dance. Shapes seem to be carved out of the thin blue air. In a word, these are masterpieces. The artist’s work has finally reached Bangkok. Titled Wu Jin, the collection of images on display at Adler Subhashok Gallery represents a philosophy forged through 50 years of professional experience. Wu Jin (無盡) means timelessness in Chinese, and that word seems to achieve the right effect. Ko-Si Chi has been described as a man on the move, constantly travelling and shooting, a wanderer without a definite destination. Perhaps an effect of the artist’s itinerant nature, the scenes he captures, whether nature or still life, often transcend measurable time. They are moments in a travelogue—life plucked from one era and placed in another—achieving the same longevity as the musical prose and haikus of Matsuo Bashō. Many of Ko-Si Chi’s photos are stark, backed up by bold, yet limited, colour palettes imbued with contrasts. The simplicity often lends a calming effect to the mood of the pieces. Though austere, they are nevertheless rich and diverse as well, injected with his questioning perspective and redolent of the division between humanity and nature. They also tend to examine the world through the viewpoint of the subject, allowing for better understanding of life beyond the focus of the lens. The exhibition honours the sixtieth anniversary of the artist’s career—six decades of profound artistic achievement. It runs until October 18 at Adler Subhasok Gallery (160/3 Sukhumvit 39). For more details about the artist, visit his website, kosichi.com.
TOMATO, AVOCADO, AND MOZZARELLA CHEESE AT AZZURRO, SEE P83
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AROY JEAN-MICHEL BACK AT J’AIME
Decorated chef Jean-Michel Lorain returns to his landmark J’AIME at U Sathorn from October 13-17. He brings with him an eight-course degustation menu using seasonal mushrooms, including the rare and highly prized Alba white truffle. Dishes include cream of frog’s legs with wild mushrooms and asparagus, chanterelle-crusted turbot with chestnut mousseline and verjus sauce, and a fillet of venison done Opera-style and served with black trumpet mushrooms and zucchini spaghetti. Dinners are priced at B6999 net. For reservations, call 0 2119 4899 or email reserve@jaime-bangkok.com
CULINARY HEALING
Blue Elephant once again joins in World Breast Cancer Awareness Month with its “Pink Ribbon Menu,” featuring dishes designed to promote health and wellness. Created by award-winning Chef Nooror Somany Steppe, with the help of family members Sandra and Emma Steppe, the dishes include herbs and organic ingredients rich with anti-oxidants and anti-cancer properties, including clear soup with rambutan and soursop and foie gras with a gac fruit and pomegranate salad. The menu will be available throughout October. Prices start at B200, and proceeds go to the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer (QSCBC), which supports breast cancer patients in Thailand.
WEEKS OF WEINESTEPHANER
Throughout October, drop in to the Lobby Bar at The Rembrandt Hotel Bangkok to enjoy special Weinestephaner Oktoberfest brews in the spirit of the world’s favourite Bavarian holiday. From 7pm until 1am each night, the seasonal beers will be available at B199 for 30 cl and B299 for 50 cl. And what better partner for beer could there be than soft, salty Bavarian pretzels? Get your fill for B50 per pretzel. All prices are net. Call 0 2261 7100 or visit facebook/ rembrandtbkk for more details.
BOO!-GERS
Halloween will be in full swing at 25 Degrees (Pullman Bangkok Hotel G) throughout October as the American burger bar, known for its frequent themes and challenges, celebrates the eerie occasion with its Jack O’Lantern Burger Set. The spooky set, priced at B450++, includes a patty made of Wagyu or turkey in a soft pumpkin bun with cheddar cheese, bacon, avocado, spicy aioli, and some hair-raising barbecue sauce served in a syringe on the side. Wicked. Call 0 2238 1991 or visit facebook.com/25degreesbangkok for more information.
HAUNTED HALLOWEEN
Get your tricks and treats at Sofitel So on October 31. Start your Halloween with a set menu at the rooftop Park Society that includes such devilish dishes as pumpkin cobweb, bloody salmon, graveyard lamb rack, and eye-popping pastry balls for B2900++ per person. After dinner, get a little ghoulish at the So Haunted Halloween Party, featuring DJ sets and themed cocktails, taking place at Park Society and HI-SO from 8pm until the small hours. Entry costs B400 per person (includes one drink). Dress to scare. Call 0 2624 0000 or email H6835-FB5@sofitel.com to make a reservation. bangkok101.com
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meal deals
THE SEASON FOR SOFTSHELL CRAB DUSIT THANI BANGKOK 946 Rama IV Rd | 0 2200 9000 ext. 2345 | dusit.com/dtbk Drop by Thien Duong throughout October to sample special lunch and dinner delicacies featuring the finest soft-shell crab. Highlights include fried soft-shell crab with herbs, such as lemongrass and black pepper; crispy soft-shell crab with a spinach and coconut sauce; and deep-fried spring rolls stuffed with soft shell crab. Prices start from B320.
NAVRATRA THALI AT RANG MAHAL THE REMBRANDT HOTEL BANGKOK 19 Sukhumvit Soi 18 |0 2261 7100 | rembrandtbkk.com At Rang Mahal, from October 13 to 21, diners are invited to experience authentic Navratra cuisine while a live Indian band performs in the background. Chef Rajan Misra and his team will serve a tempting Navratra menu in a Thali set, featuring Ajwaini Paneer Tikka, Aloo Dahiwala, Paneer Bhurji, Sitafal Ki Subzi, Kuttu Ki Poori, and Lauki Ki Kheer, all of which go well with a glass of Chaas.
4 DAYS OF EXCELLENCE VIE HOTEL BANGKOK 117/39-40 Phaya Thai Rd | 0 2309 3939 | viehotelbangkok.com Michelin-decorated Chef Franck Putelat from Carcassonne, France, visits La VIE – Creative French Cuisine for four days, from October 28 to 31. The dinner will start at 7pm and is priced at B6000 net per person (B8000 with wine pairing). Seats are limited, so advanced reservation is highly recommended.
GREEK TREATS CRÊPES & CO. 59/4 Langsuan Soi 1 | 0 2652 0208-9 | crepesnco.com Get a taste of Greece throughout October at all Crêpes & Co. branches. On offer are traditional classics, such as Greek lamb stew with thyme and Kalamata olives (B485++) and moussaka with layered eggplant and lamb gratin (B390++). For a lighter, simpler meal, try the chicken souvlakia wrap with bell peppers and yoghurt (B250++). Groups can sink their teeth into a Mezze Combination Platter, which includes a selection of appetizers for 2 (B395++) or 4 (B650++).
COYOTE CARNIVAL COYOTE MEXICAN BAR AND GRILL 29/1 The Prime 11 Condo, Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2651 3313 | coyotebangkok.com This October, enjoy special combos for B399 each, such as “Meat Feast Fiesta,” including a steak burrito, ribs, wings, and beef and chicken skewers; “Surf and Turf,” a shrimp quesadilla, beef enchilada, snapper burrito, and fish taco; “Chicken Chilli Chimi,” a bowl of chilli, chicken chimichanga, and chicken taco; “Coyote Carnival,” with pulled pork flautas, jalapeño beerbattered onion rings, a chicken burrito, chicken empanada, and chilli relleno; and “Vegetablos,” a mixed mushroom quesadilla, veggie chimichanga, chilli relleno, and onion rings.
FROM THE SEAS OF HOKKAIDO THE OKURA PRESTIGE BANGKOK Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Rd | 0 2687 9000 | okurabangkok.com Yamazato is offering a special Gozen set lunch (B1275++), as well as à la carte dinner menu selections (from B200++), from October 5 until the end of November. Among other items, the menu includes deep fried oysters with paprika, eggplant, and maitake mushrooms; starchy corn soup with scallops and wasabi; a sashimi course of tuna, yellow tail, and surf clam; and grilled snowfish with lavender sauce. 82 | OCTOBER 2015
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review
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SCRUFFY APRON - A Taste of Home Unlike any You’ve Ever Tasted “Comfort food” used to connote any of the bland and soothing stuff we slurped down when we were kids—whether in Brooklyn, Bangkok, or Bangladesh. But, these days, the term has become a global brand for decidedly Western fare that’s indulgently hearty and accessibly basic, served up in large portions. Now, there are even clearly demarcated niche interpretations: luxury comfort, truckstop comfort, Euro comfort, nostalgic comfort, and so on. The recently-opened, upscale coffee shop Scruffy Apron straddles several of the above with daring aplomb and plenty of gravy. A grandfather clock, pewter pots, and tinkly chandeliers evoke a touch of old England mixed with the Old West and promise a “retro” menu. (Best tables are at the back, facing a bright wall of windows.) But this pleasurable outpost on the climb up the circular gardens of the EmQuartier does 50s food no one would have heard of, or even dared dig into, back then. Truffle fries? A Canadian gut-buster called “poutine”? (Hint, for the uninitiated: it’s fries topped with gravy, cheese, and some Italian salami [B295].) Would Ozzie and Harriet have served a goat cheese salad, a Wagyu casserole, a filet of barramundi, salad of duck confit, or diavolo pasta informed with spicy Malaysian sambal? Thankfully, the good ol’ days taste a lot better and more complex now, as Scruffy Apron ably proves. bangkok101.com
The pulled pork pie (B360), a mainstay, is huge, flaky, and layered with mash and a sauce kicked up with hints of whiskey. The lobster roll (B950) isn’t big, but it is thankfully more lobster than mayo; and the six-meatball open-face sandwich (B395) far outshines anything from a Subway. Best of all, this is an enterprise that would never treat beverages as afterthoughts. Milkshakes served in handled mason jars climb half way to the stars with tons of whipped cream studded with chocolate truffles (B250), or, in the case of their “Cereal Shake,” luridly coloured fruit loops (B275). Mocktails of mint and cucumber are most refreshing, as well, and the Scruffy Apron crew even attempt a smoothie version of mango sticky rice. Stay tuned for many adventurous changes on a menu that has no fear of crossing borders or boundaries. Having just added a thin mini-pizza using honest Italian mozzarella and confit egg in the centre, the place is perfect for kiddies, or kiddies who are all grown up, hooked on yummy regressions to their most primal oral fixations. There’s nothing scruffy about the food here—it’s a series of cleanly executed tributes to excessive cholesterol in its tastiest forms.
SCRUFFY APRON 6/F, EmQuartier | 0 2003 6263 | facebook.com/scruffyapron Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri-Sun 11am-11pm
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review
COCONUT TERRACE - Flavours that Stand Alone The Coconut Terrace is a sort of floating restaurant on dry land. Placed poolside at the Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside, between its Thai Pavilion and main, Western-oriented buffets at the Sunset Terrace, this small hotel outlet that seems nearly an afterthought takes an equally compact menu—five starters, a few soups, a few fish, and meat mains—and makes big flavours and fun from its mission to straddle guests’ tastes and the East-West divide. Who would think that a setting usually reserved solely for drinks with umbrellas in them could bring out half a Canadian lobster smothered from top to bottom in a Thai salad of herbs, chilli paste, and fried shallots (B480)? “Our vision is to look outwards,” says Assistant Executive Chef Boonsom, explaining that hotel restaurants should be as good at stand-alones as choosing the best world ingredients and combining them in new ways. Adds the Chef, “Fusion, modern-style, we can go any direction.” One of the best combinations at the Terrace is their panseared foie gras combined with the classic Thai pomelo salad, made crispy with plenty of roasted coconut, sweetened with a tamarind-based sauce that perfectly cuts the intense liver flavour (B450). And never mind the word Coconut in its name: the place uses a plenitude of Thai seafood to do up more than reasonable facsimiles of a tomato-based bouillabaisse and prawn-chocked paella (B480). 84 | OCTOBER 2015
BBQ ribs are thrown in for fun, but the chefs and waitresses all push the signature Thai Massaman Lamb Shank Served with Garlic Fried Rice (B520)—especially garlicky, in a manner more Brazilian than Bangkokian. How many hours does it take, exactly, to melt down and meld the world’s cultural differences? No one has found the recipe for that, but in the meantime, we’ll have to take the poor animal flesh cooked to fall off the bone and honoured with a complex, brown-grey mélange of Southern Thai spices, onions, and potatoes. Swirling mini-towers of lemon meringue provide relief and a nice final taste (B160). There’s also a range of other desserts, from fresh fruits to European cheeses. It’s hard to find cause for complaint after downing lobster served either in a bath of Thai heat or poached simply with truffle paste and vanilla oil. For a hotel, prices are surprisingly reasonable. The Coconut Terrace menu is also available to those dining beside the river, where it might be wise to just digest and watch the sunset. Who could possibly go for a swim after this?
COCONUT TERRACE Ramada Plaza Bangkok Menam Riverside, Charoenkrung Rd 0 2688 1000 | ramamaplazamenamriverside.com | daily 11am-11pm
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review
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AZZURRO - Italy from Top to Bottom Tucked away down Sukhumvit 31, Azzurro is a new Italian addition to the bustling food street. The extensive menu of this quaint, two-story restaurant is inspired by the flavours of the different regions of Italy. The restaurateur himself even represents one of them, as a native of Tuscany. The hospitality is warm and the assortment of Italian treats, such as antipasto and homemade pasta, large. The elements combine to make for a cosy dining atmosphere. Portobello mushrooms grilled with Italian herbs and arugula (B395) is one of Azzurro’s signature appetizers, and that’s a fine place to start. With a generous drizzle of balsamic cream dressing, sliced portobellos lavishly dressed with extra virgin olive oil, and a prominent tang from the tomato salsa, the dish plays on bold flavours. Although Azzurro offers a traditional Italian affair, the plates are also playful in its usage of local ingredients. For a shared appetizer, the imported mussels and clams (B450) are recommended on special. Bathed in a bright and spicy tomato sauce, tempered with Thai chilli, the mussels and clams pick up a pungent persona. The spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli (B350) is a light and healthy option, as the spinach filling is speckled with ricotta inside a delicate homemade dumpling. With an aurora sauce, which is predominantly made with tomato puree, this pasta leaves a bright aftertaste on the palate. bangkok101.com
The grilled T-bone steak (B1290), which retains a strong char-grilled flavour, comes with a plentiful portion of grilled summer vegetables that add colour and lightness to the dish. Pair it with a young, juicy red like merlot to moisten the fully cooked meat. Azzurro has a wide and exclusive selection of wines from the Italasia Group for diners to choose from. For a luscious end to the meal, the tiramisu (B225) is a solid choice. Made of savoiardi ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and mascarpone cheese, the tiramisu is rich and perfumed with espresso. Cooked with double cream, the panna cotta (B195) is velvet-smooth. With a surprise element of pine seeds included, the custard varies from the ordinary serving of panna cotta. This elegantly furnished blue and white Italian restaurant also serves fresh brew coffee and opens for lunch on the weekend. Azzurro includes a private room on the upper floor and a tiny terrace at the front of the restaurant, which makes it a destination to consider when planning a group gathering after work or on a quiet Saturday afternoon.
AZZURRO 253/1 Sukhumvit 31 | 0 2003 9597 facebook.com/azzurrorestaurant
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review
BAI YUN - Tried and True with a Dash of the New Every world-class city needs a top-flight Cantonese restaurant—preferably ten of them. They’re as de rigeur as Uniqlo shops, bagel delis, and working streetlight. Yet sometimes these tasty mainstays, regularly patronized for old favourites accomplished with deceptive simplicity, a hushed atmosphere, and steaming tea, can be taken for granted. So maybe it’s time to celebrate the reopening and rebranding of Bai Yun, just moved a flight lower from the 60th to 59th floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel. Despite the move, it’s still the Chinese outlet with the best view in town, one of the highest representatives of Pearl Delta cuisine on the planet. And, though a signboard suggests this is “modern” fare—at times a dread word when applied to dishes not worth tampering with—the modernization is mostly in the newly black-and-purple décor, the more fanciful plating on squares of burnished glass. Thankfully, none of the culinary quality has gone down a notch. As usual, the best way to walk away satisfied is sticking to time-honoured specialties: the neat chunks of suckling pig or succulent filets of black cod topped with an icing of fermented soy paste. Dim sum remains one of the main draws and delights, either at lunch or, surprisingly, dinner. Skip the deep-fried stuff to save room for high-quality har gow and shu mai, stuffed with 86 | OCTOBER 2015
the kind of high-quality ingredients you can actually savour. New additions include a battered lychee stuffed with crab meat, then topped with fish eggs and a swirl of mayonnaise (B120++)—the sweet sour combo goes down a lot easier than it sounds. So do slabs of delicate snow fish mounted on tofu (B160++). The brown sugar marinated duck leg with espresso sauce (B300++/B600++/B900++) offers much softened poultry and just the perfect hint of coffee. For dessert, almonds crust a red bean cake and a rice ball rolled in coconut releases vanilla ice cream within (B200++). Bai Yun’s surprises all seem to work, yet the crowds still come here for the tried and true, like Oolong tea chicken, clay pot braised abalone with fish maw and sea cucumber, and dried scallops and winter melon soup. It’s all in a day’s work—and so authentically a la Guandong—for the Thai chef Pathomsorn Pankaeow. While he was China-trained, this isn’t the Banyan Tree’s sop to growing Chinese tourism. Thai families, and Thai business meetings, make up most of the clientele. Maybe they do know a good thing once they’ve found it after all.
BAI YUN 59F Banyan Tree Bangkok, South Sathorn Rd | 0 2679 1200 banyantree.com | 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm
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FOOD & DRIN K
review
STEVE CAFÉ - Thai Treats at Thewes If you were looking for solid Thai food in a scenic location, would you trust a guy named Steve? You might if you knew his given name was Sorathep and he was the proprietor of a riverfront café— plus a nearby bar and newer outpost in the Ari district—which for nearly four years has been luring locals and tourists to sup from old couches and faux Louis XIV chairs to mellow rock music on the open balcony of a converted house beside the Teak Museum and the Thewes Pier. “The restaurant is named after his nickname. It’s easier for Europeans to remember,” explains the manager, New. Young ex-hotelier Steve and his wife were inspired to strike out into the food business, thanks to his mom’s recipes. Of course, many places in Bangkok make the claim to offer, as New puts it, “Dining like grand-mom is in the house.” Given the number of mass-produced seafood gardens and tourist coffee shops exploiting the romance of the Chao Phraya, what’s remarkable about Steve is that they come pretty close to homemade. That’s even more impressive given the wide spectrum of dishes on its menu: Northern to Southern, standard to rare. A featured dish is a mellow yellow fish curry with lotus stems when in season (B190). A hormok-like mousse of steamed river fish was chocked with just the right herbs (B180), and the ground pork grilled on a stick of lemongrass (B190) was 88 | OCTOBER 2015
outstanding, far better than the often perfunctory version made popular in Vietnam. A special laab stood out for its intense rub of chilli paste (B160). Aside from these treats, the full range of shrimp, crab, mussels, and bass is augmented by less common standouts, like fermented chicken marrow bones, spinach-like liang leaves tossed in scrambled egg, and a coconut shoot salad, and yam som-o, an increasingly rare pomelo salad (B150). Adds New, “We feel very sad when visitors only know pad thai and tom yam goong. That’s not enough.” But it is enough to feel that somebody here has put some attention into doing things right. All in all, this is the sort of place where you might want to take visitors for a basic primer of Thai flavours, combined with a nice river voyage. Night times can get packed and the prices—with even small dishes starting around B180—reflect the prime views of the Rama VIII Bridge. But still, a meal here will leave you wanting to shake the hand, rather than strangle the neck, of the elusive Mr. S.
STEVE CAFÉ AND CUISINE 68 Sri Ayudhaya Rd | 0 2281 0915, 0 2280 2989 stevecafeandcuisine.com | Mon-Fri 11.30am-2.30pm, 4.30pm-11pm, Sat-Sun 11.30am-11pm
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san pellegrino recommends
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FINE DINING WATER TO ENHANCE GREAT FOOD ACQUA PANNA AND S. PELLEGRINO. THE FINE DINING WATERS. Sanpellegrino Asia| sanpellegrino@sanpellegrino.com.sg Distributed by Global Food Products Co., Ltd. Tel. +66 26831751
TRISARA SEAFOOD
TRISARA SEAFOOD Trisara Phuket, 60/1 Moo 6, Srisoonthon Rd | 0 7631 0100 ext 5 | trisara.com | Mon-Sat lunch 12.30pm-3pm, dinner 7pm-10.30pm
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Renowned for unrivalled luxury in accommodation, Trisara, a crown jewel of Phuket, has upped its game yet again. Trisara Seafood, the flagship restaurant at the resort, has unveiled a new menu crafted by Chef Jimmy Ophorst, who lets fresh seasonal ingredients reveal their individual stories. Ingredients come from as near as the Andaman Sea and as far as Europe and Japan. “The concept is based on a mix of the best seafood from the Andaman, the best local vegetables from the market, and the best imported seafood, prepared in a modern style that shows love and respect for the ingredients,” explains the youthful Chef Ophorst, a native of Holland who previously worked at Gaggan, named the top ranked restaurant at S.Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2015. While the new menu remains true to the restaurant’s “best of the sea” concept, retaining favourites like Fine de Claire Oysters from France (B950 for a half-dozen) and Seared Tiger Prawn on Himalayan Salt (B1250), diners can expect myriad new signature dishes. Some of these include Homemade Black Ink Pasta with Canadian Lobster (B1050), Dover Sole with Morel Mushrooms (B2000), and Atlantic Cod with Green Vegetables and White Miso (B850). For starters, try a refreshing kohlrabi with green apple, almond, avocado, and frisée (B550), or perhaps black crab with fennel, green apple, and fresh greens (B750). “From a visual point of view, we see a white fish surrounded by a green forest of seaweed,” says the chef of his innovative Atlantic cod. “We chose an assortment of green vegetables that [would] come together beautifully to delight the senses with different flavours and textures. As a final touch, we added a white miso glaze for the saltiness and sweetness it brings to the fish.” While the new menu is reason enough to pay a visit to Trisara Seafood, the stunning backdrop seals the deal. The restaurant looks over a brilliant blue sea, an especially enchanting viewpoint at sunset. Combined with the staff’s discreet service and the fresh new menu, the view sets diners off on a culinary journey across the seascape. bangkok101.com
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in the kitchen
KEVIN KRISTENSEN talks to John Krich
The kitchen comes out from behind closed doors. That’s the original concept driving Tables Grill. A sort of Westernized teppanyaki, the restaurant borders on theatrical performance—or culinary circus—in which cooks showcase their daredevil talents live. “It’s very interactive, a playground every meal,” says head chef Kevin Kristensen, a close-cropped, iconoclastic native of Denmark who exudes a confidence well beyond his 30 years. “Working here can be a little intimidating, because you can’t drop anything. You have to stay focused.” Supervising a team of around 15 Thai chefs who rotate from the back room to tableside stations, he insists, “I put full trust in my staff to adjust to customers’ request while producing dishes you might call high-speed gourmet.” This could mean an emphasis on meats and fish simply plopped on the grill. But Kristensen has transformed a formerly staid French menu into proof that trend-setter Rene Redzepi isn’t the only Dane reaching for new culinary expression. Kristensen even spent two years as an intern at Redzepi’s NOMA. “I would spend 18 hours a day picking herbs and butchering,” he says. “But he showed me a mind-blowing approach to food.” A dishwasher at 13, then a barista, Kristensen found his passion for cooking through watching Jamie Oliver on TV. “He just made it so cool,” he explains. By 17, he had left his native land to move up the culinary ladder in seven countries. He met his Malaysian-born wife while working in mainland China, but decided he “didn’t want to raise [his] son there.” After a stint as an executive chef of a large Kuala Lumpur hotel, he jumped at the chance to come to Thailand and return to hands-on cooking. At one exposed island, the chef whips up several of his latest innovations. His “duck liver parfait” makes 92 | OCTOBER 2015
heavenly harmony of a foie gras hot dog with a sweet hazelnut sauce, roasted apples, and brioche crumbs. More remarkable in a restaurant centred on charred protein is the complexity of the desserts. Kristensen pairs fresh strawberries, broken chunks of frozen strawberry meringue, actual rose petals, and a unique rosewater ice cream with anise-like sprigs of chervil, a beet purée, and pickled beets to add an earthy undertone. “That’s the Nordic touch: our pickling and preserving for long winters,” Kristensen points out. “And it’s very minimalist, with little braising and such, which is perfect for Tables Grill.” Where diners choose their own sauces and side dishes, and even instruct cooks to add spice, the chef points out, “Here, we’re all about surprises.” A pleasant surprise is the B650 price tag for threecourse lunches, and B1399 for Sunday brunches featuring even more chefs exposing their magic, whipping up risotto next to crêpes Suzettes and champagne soup. Kristensen also takes pride in sourcing locally-grown organic produce. And he scrupulously lists the suppliers of every cut of fish, claiming, “We’re 80 per cent sustainable. On our way to 100.” The young chef extends the casual free-for-all of Tables Grill to behind-the-scenes. “Under me, it’s a rock ‘n’ roll kitchen,” Kristensen says with pride. “We blast the music and have fun. The main watchword of my cooking is freedom.” And the best part of his nightly act is that the food remains the star of the show.
TABLES GRILL Level M, Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok | 0 2254 6250 bangkok.grand.hyatt.com | Every Sunday 11am-3pm
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street eats
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eat like
Nym
Our roving eater Nym knows her local grub inside-out and thrives on the stories behind the dishes. Each month, she takes an offbeat tour in search of the city’s next delectable morsel
JAE DA’S ATOMIC TOFU
F
rom a distance, some of Bangkok’s tastiest restaurants may not look like restaurants at all. Take Jae Da’s seafood restaurant, for example. A club of finely coiffed women, illuminated by the glow of neon lighting, sit gossiping and admiring each other’s hairdos. There’s little sign of the culinary magic that is conjured in the kitchens here. The key is to look for clues. See the large, unhappy looking fish hanging gloomily— and lifelessly—from the ceiling. It’s your first hint this place might be something other than a hair salon. The next clue is likely to waft into your nostrils, as aromas from the kitchen drift past the chattering ladies to perfume Jae Da’s main seating area, which can accommodate just four tables of eager and intrepid diners. Jae Da takes orders, but prefers to give them, suggesting, often firmly, what you should order. On her advice, I opted for a dish called “Super,” which accurately describes the broth made of chicken’s feet, Chinese five-spice, and a sour soup like a dark tom yam. It sounds weird, but trust me: all who dare dive in win big time. Just as I thought I was settling down to a standard, if completely delicious, meal, Jae Da launched a final assault on the palate with her suggestion (or demand) of fried
tofu. It doesn’t sound exciting, but her kitchen foot soldiers wrought an alchemic transformation, giving the tofu a crunchiness perfectly offset with enough smoothness on the inside to mark the beginning of my love affair with Jae Da’s cuisine. Then she delivered her master stroke—the sauces! The first was a standard sweet and sour sauce and the second a salty version including chives floating in chicken broth. Like any great work of artistry, a few basic rules are to be respected. Bring the tofu to the sweet and sour sauce first and then bathe it lovingly in the salty broth. Close your eyes and be prepared to change your entire understanding of what tofu can be. It’s life-changing. Jae Da is open from 4pm-11pm. Don’t come earlier, as she’ll be busy arranging her hair and the evening’s outfit . Address: At the corner of Mahanakorn and Siphraya Roads.
SEAFOOD MARKET & RESTAURANT 89, Sukhumvit soi 24 (Kasame), Sukhumvit Rd., Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110 THAILAND Tel. 02 661 1252-9, 02 259 6580-1 Fax. 02 261 2073 Email. globalmarketing@seafood.co.th
www.seafood.co.th
RESERVATION Tel. 02 261 2071-5 bangkok101.com
OCTOBER 2015 | 93
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food for thought
Suckers for Sloane’s Meet the Man Making Artisanal Butchery Cool Again BY RACHEL KWOK
J
oe Sloane keeps the craft of sausage-making alive in Bangkok. The chef-turned-butcher with a background in traditional French cuisine has become something of a sausage celebrity—the name you know, the name you trust, making the products you respect. If you limit your enjoyment of his dry-cured meats, spice-speckled sausages, and butter-like terrines, you are denying yourself a universe of pleasure. Before entering the world of butchery and charcuterie, Sloane was a professional chef in various Michelinstarred restaurants, including a stint at three-starred les Maîtres Cuisiniers de France. Of becoming a butcher, Sloane says, “It was never a conscious decision. Saying that, I always liked the idea of becoming a producer one day.” All his sausages are made with a mixture of freerange, herb-fed pork from small farms that breed happy pigs. His commitment to making handmade produce from ethical local ingredients is admirable. In fact, it’s the engine that drives the outfit. “It took years [to find farmers that follow ethical practices],” says the butcher, who makes regular visits to farms to ensure high standards of hygiene and humane treatment. “But I was introduced to a great pig farmer based in Sisaket five years ago by Bo and Dylan from Bo.lan, who are now my partners at Sloane’s.” The more traditional meats, such as the Cumberland sausage and dry-cured bacons, are the most popular items at the kitchen and deli, which is based in Bangna, across from Bangkok Patana School. “Basically, the comfort food we grew up on,” explains Sloane. The deli also carries 20 different cheeses, all locally produced, from a pungent goat cheese made in Chonburi and French-
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style washed rind cheeses made in Nakorn Sawan to a strong blue from Chiang Rai. While salamis can take months to make, sausages come out fast and fresh. “It takes about 48 hours from the pigs being in a field to the sausages being at a restaurant,” says Sloane. Since the sausages are made-to-order and there aren’t many carried in stock, apart from a small selection at the shop and kitchen, it’s best to give the butcher a heads-up before ordering. Sloane’s Cumberland, a traditional British sausage from the north of England, has a distinctive, meaty texture and a light herbal kick which cuts through the richness of the pork. Seasoned with nutmeg and black pepper, there is also a subtle brush of marjoram and sage that pairs beautifully with their tangy British HP sauce— and fruity summer ale, for those inclined. Although the deli and kitchen is based in Bangna, the team often appears at various farmers markets, giving tastes of Sloane’s handmade products on the spot. “I’ve always tried to make sure that I’m there myself to talk to our customers. It’s harder now we have the shop, as I need to spread my time, but I still try and be at most of them,” he says. At the K Village farmers market, I tried their Chorizo Fresco hot from the grill. A Spanish-style cooking sausage, the chorizo is flavoured with paprika, oregano, garlic, and red wine. Sliced neatly on a plate, the red chorizo emitted a spicy fragrance that made my mouth water. I paired it with their homemade chipotle ketchup, a smoky tomato sauce spiked with an extra-spicy kick. The hearty chorizo made me thankful not to have any self-imposed limits—I could see myself enjoying it time and again with an icecold beer in Bangkok’s endless summer weather. bangkok101.com
“Eating the Italian way” NEWLY OPEN
Sukhumvit Soi 20 Mille Malle@Millennium Residence Sukhumvit Tel: 02 663 4988
www.galleriamilanorestaurant.com
WINE connection
7 ELEVEN 7 ELEVEN
MAXVALU
SUKHUMVIT ROAD
Sukhumvit Soi 18
Sukhumvit Soi 22
Holiday Inn
Sukhumvit Soi 22
RAMA IV ROAD
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listings
AMERICAN LITTLE BEAST
dim sum, fresh classics, and behind-thescenes “Chef’s Table” concept.
44/9-10 Thonglor Soi 13 | 0 2185 2670 facebook.com/littlebeastbar | Tue-Sat 5.30pm1am, Sun 5.30-midnight An intimate gastro-bar suited to grazing and glugging or a bit of both, featuring a menu of New American dishes, which are delicious and exotic twists on old world standbys (e.g. truffle fries).
MOULIN 88 Thong Lor Soi 5 | 0 2712 9348 moulinsquare.com | 5.30pm-11pm, Fri-Sun also 5.30-11pm With a menu that shoots off in different directions, the lack of clearly identifiable theme may throw some diners, but the food — broadly defined as trendy New York fare — does not disappoint.
CHINESE LIU 3F Conrad Bangkok, 87 Wireless Rd | 0 2690 9999 | conradhotels3.hilton.com | 2pmmidnight A traditional place that offers all the understated grandeur of Cantonese fine dining while executing food full of contemporary notes.
MEI JIANG The Peninsula Bangkok, 333 Charoennakorn Rd | 0 2861 2888 | peninsula.com | 11.30am2.30pm, 6pm-10.30pm Widely regarded as one of Bangkok’s finest Cantonese restaurants in town, Mei Jiang has built a loyal following for its
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dinners, including what many regard as the best Peking duck in Bangkok.
FRENCH CAFÉ RIVIERA
CHAKRABONGSE DINING 396 Maharaj Road | 08 0045 7778, 08 9810 0498 | chakrabongsedining.com Tue-Sun 5pm-10pm Surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens and a spectacular view of the Temple of the Dawn and the Chao Phraya River, the house offers authentic royal Thai delicacies you won’t forget anytime soon. This spacious, lovingly restored oasis of calm – formerly a worker’s residence – ticks all the traditional Thai house boxes: gabled roof, flame-shaped eaves, polished teak everything, tropical landscape. It also juts sublimely over the city’s River of Kings, and sits lodged within the serene and lush 100-year-old residence of Prince Chakrabongse.
XIN TIAN DI Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park, 952 Rama IV Rd | 0 2632 9000 | crowneplazabkk. com | 11.30am-2.30pm; 6pm-10.30pm The restaurant is renowned not only for its stylish atmosphere and views, but for its dim sum, set lunches, and a la carte
110/1 Soi Prasanmitr, first street on the right in Sukhumvit 23 | 0 2259 3033 | caferivierabkk. com| 11.30am-10pm A Parisian bistro set in the gullet of a bustling Bangkok soi, serving tartare, cold cuts, carpaccio, duck, cheese, and more. Check the chalkboard for the daily specials.
J’AIME BY JEAN-MICHEL LORAIN U Sathorn Bangkok, 105,105/1 Soi Ngam Duphli | 0 2119 4899 | jaime-bangkok.com The classic cuisine lives up to lofty expectations, even rising above, thanks to the vibrancy in taste and colour of the dishes. You might even find yourself trying to re-create certain ones the next day.
LE BOEUF Marriott Executive Apartments Mayfair, 60 Soi Langsuan | 093 971 8081 | leboeufgroup.com The concept at Le Boeuf is simple: highquality steak liberally doused with a unique pea-green sauce, paired with an unlimited supply of crispy pommes frites and fresh salad. French to the core.
L’APPART 32F, Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit | 08 5924 1565 | sofitel.com 7pm-midnight One of the most gorgeous, interesting spaces in Bangkok. A meal here feels like you’ve been invited for a fabulous dinner party at a successful friend’s penthouse.
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listings Traditional cuisine charts an adventurous new course.
SAVELBERG Ground floor, Oriental Residence, Wireless Rd | 0 2252 800 | facebook.com/savelbergth open Mon-Sat, noon-2.30pm, 6pm-10pm French in flavour and elegance, but imbued with influences from the Netherlands, the food is befitting the chef’s pedigree and befitting of the restaurant’s refined ambience.
INDIAN BAWARCHI Level B, InterContinental Chidlom, 973 Ploenchit Rd | 0 2656 0383 | bawarchiindian. com | 11am-midnight The kind of curries you’ve been missing. Rich, buttery, decadent, and delicious.
RANG MAHAL 26F Rembrandt Hotel, 19 Sukhumvit Soi 18 0 2261 7100 | rembrandtbkk.com | 11.30am2.30pm, 6.30pm-11pm Meaning “palace of colours,” there sure is a courtly air about the place, down to the refined, delicate food. The proceedings go up a notch when the kebabs and curries come out.
INTERNATIONAL 22 KITCHEN & BAR 946 Rama IV Rd | 0 2200 9000 | dusit.com Bar 4pm-Midnight, Dinner 6pm-10pm Impeccable meals from the Pacific Rim, bridging Peruvian, West Coast American, Japanese, and Taiwanese cuisine. Led by the exuberant, innovative Nikolas Ramirez, this restaurant is one not to miss.
CREPES & CO 59/4 Langsuan Soi 1, Ploenchit Rd, (also CentralWorld) | 0 2652 0208 | crepesnco.com 9am-11pm The flavours and ingredients take in the entire sweep of the Mediterranean, borrowing heavily from Morocco and Greece, in particular. Sweet and savoury crepes are just as good for brunch as they are for a pre-bedtime treat.
EAT ME Soi Pipat 2, Silom | 0 2238 0931 eatmerestaurant.com | 3pm-1am Run by the innovative Tim Butler, this cosy Silom restaurant is consistently ranked bangkok101.com
FOOD & DRIN K
among the top restaurants in Asia and serves quite possibly the best steak in town.
ELEMENTS Fl25 The Okura Prestige Bangkok, Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Rd | 0 2687 9000 | okurabangkok.com | 6pm-10.30pm An imposing space with a list billed as “modern logical cuisine,” translated as the use of seasonal produce. The menu is divided into an a la carte menu and four tasting menus, including a vegetarian option.
HYDE & SEEK GF Athenee Residence, 65/1 Soi Ruamrudee 0 2168 5152 | hydeandseek.com | 11am-1am A superior gastro-bar that delivers in both drinks and food. The cocktails, in particular, draw a varied after-work crowd to the stools that surround the chunky bar.
KAI Sathorn Soi 12 | 0 2635 3800 | kai-bangkok. com | Mon-Fri 9.30am-11.30pm, 8.30am11.30pm This handsome eatery makes an impressive go of answering the question: What does “Kiwi cuisine” actually mean? It’s an appealing culinary destination in one of the city’s emerging food hubs.
MONDO GF Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok, 11 Sukhumvit Soi 24 | 0 2620 6666 | hilton.com | 7am-11pm Styled after popular neighbourhood salumerias (delis) and formaggerias (cheese shops) found on street corners throughout Italy. The food here is bitesized and meant to be shared.
PANORAMA Crowne Plaza Lumpini Park | Rama IV Rd 0 2632 9000 | crowneplazabkk.com | Noon2pm, 6pm-10.30pm Serves breakfast and lunch, but the dinner buffet really has tongues wagging. The buffet changes every few months, from Mexican to Japanese, from Brazilian “Samba San” to a fresh seafood bounty.
PARK SOCIETY Sofitel So Bangkok, 2 North Sathorn Rd 0 2624 0000 | sofitel-so-bangkok.com 6.30pm-10.30pm Excite both your taste buds and eyes with a cutting-edge, elegant dinner overlooking Lumpini Park and the amazing skyline of Bangkok. Perfect for a romantic evening or a friendly get-together. OCTOBER 2015 | 97
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listings RED OVEN Sofitel So Bangkok, 2 North Sathorn Rd 0 2624 0000 | sofitel-so-bangkok.com 6.30pm-10.30pm Styled as a World Food Market, this 7thfloor all-day dining venue, named after the restaurant’s red Molteni oven, offers dishes reminiscent of traditional street food with a contemporary twist in buffet spreads. On weekends, the restaurant puts on a scrumptious, free-flow wine brunch buffet.
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Good food and an ambiance that matches modern day lifestyles.
ITALIAN APPIA 20/4 Sukhumvit Soi 31 | 0 2261 2056 | appiabangkok.com | Tue-Sun 6.30pm-11pm Amazing Roman-style cuisine that, to the benefit of diners, is limited to a small menu. Extremely popular, and with good reason.
DON GIOVANNI
BRASSERIE 9 Asiatique The Riverfront (Warehouse 9), Waterfront District | 0 2108 4288 brasserie9.com | daily 3pm-12am Adjacent to Asiatique’s busy riverside frontage, this restaurant serves up a wide selection of traditional French bistro-style favourites, plus a few items with a modern twist. The breezy al fresco dining area is great for seeing and being seen, while the comfortable interior, with its high ceilings and exposed wooden beams, has been designed to look like one of the wharf-side warehouses that once occupied the site. There’s a wine cellar well-stocked with wines from around the world, and some true highlights for dessert. It may be easy for restaurants at places like Asiatique to become tourist traps, but Brasserie 9 does not belong in that category.
TABLES GRILL Grand Hyatt Erawan, 494 Ratchadamri Rd 0 2254 1234 | bangkok.grand.hyatt.com Noon-2.30pm, 6.30pm-11pm The theme is based on the tableside preparation seen in many traditional French restaurants, and the menu, billed as pan-European, takes full advantage of the theatre. As entertaining as it is satisfying.
THE KITCHEN TABLE 2/F, W Bangkok, 106 North Sathorn Rd 0 2344 4000 | whotels.com/Bangkok | 9am-10pm A modern bistro with food that is honest, wholesome, and full of flavour. Open for 98 | OCTOBER 2015
1695 Phaholyothin Rd, Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok | 0 2541 1234 centarahotelsresorts.com The menu is full of home-style recipes, the concept rarely straying from traditional Italian. Along with neo-classical décor, the culinary approach lends Don Giovanni a decorous air befitting its operatic name.
ITALICS 63/3 Soi Ruamrudee | 0 2253 2410 italicsrestaurant.com | daily 8am-11pm Using ingredients sourced directly from Thai farmers and artisans, Italics provides an intriguing take on Italian classics. Interesting combinations abound, and there’s plenty of wine, as well as a stellar espresso.
LA BOTTEGA DI LUCA The 49 Terrace, Sukhumvit 49 | 0 2204 1731 labottega.name | 10.30am-11.30pm A relaxed, welcoming space with indooroutdoor seating. Chef Luca updates the menu regularly and orders produce from Italy every fortnight. It’s all rustic, filling, flavoursome Italian cooking, delivered with real passion.
PEPPINA 27/1 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2119 7677 peppinabkk.com | 11am-3pm, 6.30pm-12am, closed on Monday Quite possibly the best pizza in the city, and at reasonable prices to boot — a welcome and much-lauded addition to the upper crust of the dining scene.
ROSSINI’S Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, 250 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2653 0333 | sheratongrandesukhumvit. com | 6pm-10.30pm, Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm The menu has lots of modern touches that reimagine traditional Italian styles. Also has more reasonable wine prices than many restaurants in this bracket, promising “top shelf wines at cellar prices.” bangkok101.com
listings SENSI Narathiwat Soi 17 (Yaek 5) | 0 2117 1618 facebook.com/sensibangkok | Mon-Sat 6pm12am Intense flavours spun from fresh produce, complemented by sophisticated reductions and emulsions. The interplay between rich and zesty, complexity and lightness, results in amazing creations.
SCALINI Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok, 11 Sukhumvit Soi 24 | 0 2620 6666 | hilton.com | Noon-2.30pm, 6pm-11pm Italian with enough surprises to satisfy the curious diner. For example, the antipasti retain a Mediterranean base while adding lighter, Asian-influenced twists.
JAPANESE SHINTORI Level 18, Zen World, Zen Department Stores 0 2100 9000 | shintoribangkok.com 5.30pm-late If you’re looking for a dinner that impresses on all fronts, it’s worth forking out for a meal here, as the combination of a thrilling setting and exciting food is still hard to find in this town.
TAIHEI 53F Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathorn Rd | 0 2679 1200 | banyantree.com 11.30am-2pm, 6pm-11pm There’s a real commitment to quality leading the charge at Taihei. The food is beautiful, and it tastes great, to boot. Honest-to-goodness Japanese served from atmospheric heights.
TORO SUSHI No.88 in soi connecting Thong Lor 5 to 9, Sukhumvit 55 | 0 2712 8447 | facebook.com/ torofreshsushi | Mon-Fri 4pm-11pm, Sat-Sun 11am-11pm Rather old-fashioned, there’s nothing fancy about this place —in a city where style often strong-arms substance, that’s part of its charm. Reservations are recommended if you want to sit at a table instead of the sushi bar.
ZUMA Ground Fl, 159 Rajadamri Rd | 0 2252 4707 zumarestaurant.com | 12pm-3pm, 6pm-11pm This izakaya-style joint delivers. Fish and beef get equal treatment, each prepared with duteous touch. Dishes come out in no precise order and can be shared or eaten individually. bangkok101.com
FOOD & DRIN K
MEXICAN EL OSITO 888/23-24 Mahatun Plaza, Ploenchit Rd 0 2650 9581 | elositobkk.com | Mon-Sat 11am11.30pm New York meets Madrid. A neighbourhood Dean& DeLuca during the day, with its own smoker, churro machine, and deli sandwiches like the Reuben, it morphs into a Spanish tapas bar-cumrestaurant at night.
EL DIABLO’S BURRITOS 330 Sukhumvit Soi 22 | 0 2259 4140 | Mon-Fri 4pm-11pm, Sat-Sun 11.30am-11pm The enormous burritos are the stars of the show. They make their own tortillas on the premises, too. The tacos are particularly impressive. The salsa and toppings are light, refreshing, with just enough spice.
SABROSO 24/5 Sukumvit Soi 23 | 0 2262 0997 sabrosomex.com | Tue-Sun 3pm-10pm A small, sexy space run by a Mexican chef, where honest south-of-the-border fare shines. Try the chef’s chicken tinga, best savoured with a glass of sangría.
SEÑOR PICO 1F Rembrandt Hotel 19 Sukhumvit Soi 18 0 2261 7100 | facebook.com/Senorpicobkk 5pm-1am Nowhere else in town are there dishes such as aguachile de camarón, common in Mexico but practically unknown elsewhere. More familiar fare like tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and enchiladas are found on the menu, too.
TACOS Y SALSA 49 Sukhumvit Soi 18 | 08 6346 0822, 08 6346 0822 | tacosnsalsa.com | Daily 3pm-12am A brightly-coloured haunt, decorated with the owner’s own artwork, serving up authentic Mexican food and tasty margaritas. A great spot to satisfy any Mexican cravings.
SEAFOOD RAW BAR 440/9 Sukhumvit 55 | 0 2713 8335 | facebook. com/TheRawBarBKK | Mon-Fri 5.30pm-12am, Sat-Sun 11am-3pm, 5.30pm-12am Oysters, tartare, carpaccio, ceviche: it’s all raw here, and it’s all very good. A nice low-key spot to shuck some shellfish and hang out with friends. OCTOBER 2015 | 99
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listings SEAFOOD MARKET AND RESTAURANT 89, Sukhumvit Soi 24, Sukhumvit Rd 0 2261 2071-5, 0 2661 1252-9, 0 2259 6580-1 seafood.co.th | 11.30am-11.30pm Fresh, high-quality seafood in the heart of the city. The interior is aquarium-like, making it a fun place for dinner with family and friends. There’s also tons of local and imported seafood for sale.
SNAPPER 1/20-22 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2651 1098 snapper-bangkok.com | Mon-Fri 5pm-midnight, Sat-Sun noon-midnight Don’t expect a stack of heavy sauces and extra ingredients, but rather simple preparation rounded out with elegant presentation. One of the best fish and chips in Bangkok resides here.
THE OYSTER BAR 395 Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 24 | 0 2212 4809 | theoysterbarbangkok.com | Mon-Sat 6pm-11pm, Sun noon-10pm You know a restaurant takes seafood seriously when several pages of the menu are devoted entirely to oysters. Big appetites should try the seafood platter: a pile of oysters, scallops, shrimp, crab, caviar, and more.
SPANISH EL CHIRINGUITO 221 Soi Nana, Charoen Krung Rd | 08 6340 4791 | facebook.com/elchiringuitobangkok Thu-Sat 6pm-12am On the surface, a tapas bar. Small dishes and high-quality alcohol, a space filled with antiques: it’s an implant from Madrid dropped neatly into the Bangkok beehive.
BARCELONA GAUDÍ Le Premier 1 Condo, Sukhumvit 23 | 0 2661 7410 | barcelona-thai.com | Tue-Sun 11am11pm The chef and founding partners are proud of their Catalonian heritage, and it shows in the incredible tapas on the menu, from prawns in aioli to crema catalana and the traditional Sunday paella.
STEAK & BURGER BURGER FACTORY 3 Soi Ekkamai 10 | 0 2714 4249 | facebook. com/theburgerfactory | Sun-Thu 11.30am11pm, Fri-Sat 11.30am-midnight 100 | OCTOBER 2015
Serves some of the most consistently good hamburgers in the city, and they come with a healthy range of haute toppings. Wash your choice down with a vanilla milkshake and seal the deal with some curly fries.
EL GAUCHO 8/1-7 Sukhumvit Soi 19 | 0 2255 2864 elgaucho.asia | Noon-midnight Meat lovers will enjoy the authentic taste of Argentinian steak in all its flame-kissed goodness, the meals best rounded out with a hearty South American red wine.
FIREPLACE GRILL InterContinental Bangkok 973 Ploenchit Rd 0 2656 0444 ext.5505 | Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm, daily 6.30pm-10.30pm This perennial favourite has all the attributes you’d expect in a renowned steakhouse, not least a superb selection of aged and chilled cuts from some of Australia’s top meat producers.
HAMILTON’S STEAK HOUSE 68/1 Sukhumvit Soi 2 | 0 2656 9440 arabesquebkk.com | 11am-2am Hamilton’s provides an undeniably pleasant spot to sit down for a few glasses of wine over lunch. Though steak is its bread and butter, this place puts together a surprisingly interesting seafood selection, as well.
NEW YORK STYLE STEAK & BURGER 28 Sukhumvit Soi 22 | 0 2262 0920 nysteakandburger.com | 11am-11pm It’s all about freshness. The burgers are ground each morning. Vegetables are sourced from the Royal Project in Chiang Mai. Crunchy buns are ordered from Maison Jean Philippe.
PRIME Millennium Hilton, 123 Charoen Nakorn Rd 0 2442 2000 | hilton.com | 6pm-11pm Some of the best flame-grilled steaks in the city, now abetted by high-quality seafood. It’s a welcome sophistication, befitting the sweeping views over the Chao Phraya.
THE U.S. STEAKHOUSE 156-158 Sukhumvit Soi 16 | 08 7993 3527 theussteakhouse.com | Tue-Sat 4pm-10.30pm Start with a big bowl of chunky, homemade clam chowder, before moving on to the main attraction: flame-broiled steaks, including New York strip loin, rib eye, filet mignon, and Australian T-bone. bangkok101.com
listings THAI BASIL 1F Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, 250 Sukhumvit | 0 2649 8366 | basilbangkok.com Sun-Fri noon-2.30pm, daily 6pm-10.30pm A glittering array of Thai favourites — it’s not over-the-top in innovation, but there isn’t a false note, either. This is Thai comfort food taken to a whole new plane.
BENJARONG Dusit Thani Bangkok | 0 2200 9000 | dusit.com 6pm-10pm, Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm The Dusit Thani’s signature Thai restaurant offers inventive dishes from the Kingdom’s annals, from north to south.
BLUE ELEPHANT RESTAURANT & COOKING SCHOOL 233 South Sathorn Rd | 0 2673 9353 blueelephant.com | 11.30am-2.30pm, 6.30pm10.30pm First established in 1980, the flagship sits in a gorgeous old mansion. On the menu, Chef Nooror takes a riff on the Thai food of tomorrow, but also shares her heritage with every dish.
BO.LAN 24 Sukhumvit Soi 53 | 0 2260 2962 | bolan. co.th | Tue-Sun 6pm-10.30pm Authentic, but daring, Thai food at one of the top restaurants in Asia. With a modus operandi of “essential Thai, delivered with panache,” it’s easy to see why this place is so popular year after year.
CHON The Siam hotel, 3/2 Khao Rd | 0 2206 6999 thesiamhotel.com | 12.pm-3pm, 6pm-10.30pm
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Sits in one of three beautifully preserved wooden houses. A small home-style menu offers food worth returning for. Nice for a romantic evening.
ERAWAN TEA ROOM 2nd Fl, Erawan Bangkok Mall, 494 Rajadamri Rd | bangkok.grand.hyatt.com | 0 2254 6250 10am-10pm, Afternoon Tea 2.30pm-6pm Known for its amazing high tea, this place also serves traditional Thai cuisine in a nostalgic setting that overlooks the consistently crowded Erawan Shrine. Packaged products and a wide selection of teas from India, China, Sri Lanka, and Thailand are also available.
JIM THOMPSON HOUSE AND MUSEUM 6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Rd | 0 2612 3601 jimthompson.com | Noon-5pm, 7pm-11pm The city’s number-two tourist attraction is home to a restaurant that pairs a sumptuous setting with surprisingly unusual Thai food. Factor in the generous happy hours, and there’s no reason to be sniffy about the place.
RUEN URAI The Rose Hotel, 118 Surawong Rd | 0 2266 8268 | ruen-urai.com | Noon-11pm Set in the former residence of the herbal medical doctor to King Rama V, Ruen Urai uses herbs and spices with medicinal qualities, while delivering refined Thai fare using the finest fresh ingredients.
SALA RATTANAKOSIN BANGKOK 39 Maharat Rd, Rattanakosin Island | 0 2231 2588 | salarattanakosin.com | 7am-10pm
FOOD & DRIN K
Not only a spectacular view of Chao Phraya, the Sala also offers comfort food and a few Euro items. A major plus is the list of 25 wines by the glass.
SIAM WISDOM 66 Sukhumvit Soi 31 | 0 2260 7811 siamwisdomcuisine.com | Noon-2.30pm, 8pm-10.30pm Expertly refined flavours separated with elegance and delivered with brio. As the name suggests, Siam Wisdom delivers the best kind of culinary education.
SOUL FOOD MAHANAKORN Sukhumvit Soi 55 | 0 2714 7708 soulfoodmahanakorn.com | 6pm-Midnight Run by an American food writer turned chef, this tiny Thong Lo establishment serves some of the most authentic Thai food in the city and is a sure bet for a great meal.
THE NEVER ENDING SUMMER The Jam Factory, 41/5 Charoen Nakorn Rd 0 2861 0953 | facebook.com/ TheNeverEndingSummer | Tue-Sun 11am-11pm Located in Thonburi, occupying part of three old Chinese-Thai factories, the airy 70-seat eatery offers an extensive, changing menu inspired by the favourite childhood dishes of one of the owners.
THE OWL 194/16-17 Ladprao Rd | 09 6016 2499 theowlbkk.com | 5pm-12pm A three-story bar-bistro offering Lad Phrao a refined spin on the local cantina. There’s delicious Thai food to be shared, wellcrafted cocktails, and a warm ambiance that lends itself to conversation.
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NIGHTLIFE HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Sugar Club on Soi 11 turns one-year-old on October 14, and the occasion calls for a celebration. Ten top hip-hop DJs will lead the festivities, which should last until the small hours. Expect lots of energy and more than a few surprises. Doors open at 10pm and entry costs B300 (includes one drink). For more information, check facebook.com/sugarclubbangkok or call 08 2308 3246.
RISING TO NEW LEVELS
Romeo Blanco, Tungevaag and Rabaan, and Felguk: in other words, three great reasons to visit Soi 11 nightlife mecca Levels this October. The three EDM acts take the decks on consecutive Thursdays—Romeo Blanco on October 15, Norwegian duo Tungevaag and Rabaan on October 22, and Brazilian duo Felguk, who are ranked in DJ Mag’s Top 100, on October 29. Each show costs B500 to enter, the price including one drink. Visit facebook.com/levelsclub for more details.
TRIUMPHANT RETURN
Pop band Z-MYX takes the stage for the first time in 10 years on October 30. Joining their return to the bright stage lights at Moonstar Studio (Lad Phrao 80) are Triumph Kingdom and Yokee Playboy, the former a dance-pop group big in the 90s and the latter a hip indie singer-songwriter. Pre-Sale tickets cost B1350 and come with a free four-track Z-MYX CD; tickets at the door are B1500. The show starts at 7pm and doors open an hour earlier. For tickets, call 09 8691 8898.
SPOOKY SPOTS
Get tricked and treated this Halloween at CHOMP (Samsen Soi 1) during the Spots & Dots Bash. The dress code is spots, splodges, and polka dots— preferably made of fake blood and/or slime—which should give the otherwise plain-Jane ghost costume a little spunk. The party promises music, dancing, and appropriately freaky food and drinks, starting at 8pm on October 31. For more information, check facebook.com/chompcafe.
ROCK & POP PARTY
Independent label smallroom is putting together what it calls the party of the year. Small Like Room Spirit Party sees label-mates Polycat, Slur, and Somkiat take the stage at Live House Studio (JJ Green, Kamphaeng Phet 2) on October 29. The party also features DJ sets after the bands play, and it’s sponsored by Tiger Beer, so no one should go thirsty. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets are B499, and each purchase includes a B50 discount on merchandise bought from smallroom. For tickets, call 0 2261 7826 or visit facebook.com/smallroommusic.
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LE CAFÉ DES STAGIAIRES - Intern(al) Revolution -
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n the wall to the side of the bar hangs a poster. Soft light reflects off the clear plastic frame. The words are hard to decipher from a distance, but a closer look reveals a definition plucked from a personal dictionary. Stag · i · aire (plural Stagiaires). Etymology: French. 1. Trainee 2. Intern 3. A Stagiaire is a person undertaking an internship as on-the-job training… The need for definition would seem curious any place but this, Le Café des Stagiaires, an understated new bar occupying a five-story townhouse on Sathorn 12—a bar that owes its existence to dynamic, forward-looking interns. Le Café des Stagiaires got its start in Shanghai, when a group of students from France and Belgium decided to jumpstart their professional careers before they had even graduated. Their modus operandi with the first café was to empower other interns, soliciting help from students at some of the finest hospitality management and design schools in Europe, especially from their alma mater in Lausanne. They wanted others to share in the experience as they had, to learn the ropes at every level, from toilet scrubbing to bookkeeping, and develop into
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entrepreneurs. One of their interns was Alan Cogels, a Belgian of Thai descent, who, at the precocious age of 20, had already worked or studied on three continents. Le Café des Stagiaires in Bangkok? That’s his doing. The fruits of his labour have yielded a neighbourhood bar, part vintage and part a la mode. Le Café des Stagiaires feels lived-in, as if it has always been there, but the parquet flooring has been re-polished, the scaffolding exposed, the old fixtures replaced with deep finds at the vintage market. What was once a motorbike repair shop has been transformed into five floors of bar, restaurant, and living space. On the first floor is the café, where the ceiling is made up of old egg crates, the bathroom walls are decorated with CVs of the interns and employees, and a terrace draws after-work crowds. The third floor is earmarked for parties and events, and the second is a yetunfinished restaurant. Cogels lives on the fourth floor, and the interns have separate bedrooms on the fifth. “It was all designed by our team,” says Cogels, who beams with a blend of charm, confidence, and approachability often lacking in nightlife impresarios. “We bangkok101.com
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253/2 Sukhumvit 31, Klongton Nua, Watthana, Bangkok 10110 wanted to add details that other places didn’t have, from the decorations to the service. We brought old signs from Belgium, a copy of Le Petit Journal that’s over 100-years-old. The brick walls—those are a bit of Europe. The café has to feel like home. And we wanted our interns to have a nice, clean place to stay while they’re here.” While the convivial vibe accounts for much of the appeal, the friendly prices (B80 for a 25cl pour of Leo, B130 for house wine, B210 for a 33cl La Chouffe, and B100 for a Ricard during the 4pm to 8pm happy hours) and even friendlier staff invites customers to come back time and again. Earning regulars, in fact, is a vital part of the recipe that’s led to the success of the café’s Shanghai brethren. “I feel my customers can be my friends, not just customers. You know, if they’re not satisfied, if they’re not happy, I won’t sleep well tonight,” says Cogels, adding, “We’ve tried to make it simpler and fairer. Better pours, no service charge, no VAT—it’s all laid out for you, there’s nothing hidden.” Expats and locals trickle in for coffee, happy hour cocktails, and, before the bar closes, nightcaps enjoyed over conversation. On weekends, the first and third floors fill, sometimes for parties and events, but more often simply because the café has fast become a preferred haunt in Sathorn. Throughout the day and into the night, the kitchen whips up a variety of tapas and set meals (B310 for starter or dessert and main, B390 for starter, main, and dessert). The food is based on home recipes and the menu changes every two weeks. On Sundays, there’s a casual brunch featuring two options—French or American (B420/ B480)—including the quintessential Bloody Mary (B160). In other words, there’s a little bit of everything here, and it all fits within a communal and very laidback leitmotif. No dress code, no worries, just friends. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
Tel: +66(0)2 003 9597, +668 1535 4578 Mob: +668 9894 6516 Opening hours Monday to Thursday 6pm - 11pm Friday to Sunday 12noon - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm
AzzurroRestaurantBangkok www.azzurrorestaurant.asia
LE CAFÉ DES STAGIAIRES 142/21 Sathorn 12 | 08 1207 3077 | facebook.com/csbangkok | Tues-Sun 11.30am-2am
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BAMBOO BAR - How High the Moon -
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midst the climbing scales, clinks of cocktail glasses, and melodic motions of dancing duos, the night assumes a dreamlike quality at Bamboo Bar. The city’s first jazz bar has been serving up classic cuts since 1953. Throughout that time, the venerable bar has maintained the humble tradition of having its own live band while rotating renowned vocalists, such as Cynthia Utterbach. In so doing, it has become a destination among discerning travellers and expats in the mood for music, especially on weekends. The recent renovation of this iconic establishment has stirred seductive elegance in to its inimitable character. The mirror wall behind the bar counter is adorned with glass shelves of multi-coloured bottles of liquor. The backlight glints off the mirror, and the bourbons and scotch illuminate like stained glass in cathedrals. The bar is also decorated with petite oak-barrels filled with aged cocktails, such as the Port Negroni (B590), a concoction matured for one week in a 10-year-old Port Dow’s barrel. Along with its dark wood and bamboo décor, Bamboo Bar has a subtle yet sophisticated touch of safari style carried over from its previous incarnation. Framed photographs hanging on the wall—historical images of the hotel and bar and guests from the past, like Louis 106 | OCTOBER 2015
Armstrong and Audrey Hepburn—recall its rich history. And, as inviting as a seat at the counter may be, sinking into one of the woven rattan chairs with animal-printed cushions makes the night all the merrier. The Italian mixologist Mirko Gardelliano is the mastermind behind the cocktails, crafted to pique different senses and categorized by mood. The “exotic and playful” category caters to the adventurous, with spices and notes of crisp citrus. Take a sip of the signature Shooting Star (B390) and then a nibble of the citron macaron served alongside it. A second sip reveals the depth of flavour in the sweet guava-infused gin laced with yuzu zest and the tang of sauvignon blanc white wine. The food pairings are designed to elevate the spirits, not inhibit them. The Rose Jam Tea Time (B490), a playful sip with an essence of Eros Mariage Frères Tea-infused gin and a touch of lime juice, is a riff on the classic cake and tea pairing. The scent of the rose jam hits first. Before drinking, smother mascarpone cream on the warm, cakelike scone that accompanies the cocktail and take a bite. The scone bursts with citrus notes, but also delivers a little comfort in the moist, crumbly bite. For a more complex symphony of aged and infused drinks, explore the “mature and robust” section of the bangkok101.com
review
menu. The Bamboo Bar Negroni (B490) is a bitter aperitif with a lingering hint of caramel gin and a twist of fragrant orange peel. Paired with a homemade coffee tiramisu macaron, the cocktail gains a sweet dulce de leche kind of quality that is cathartic after work. Good Times (B390) lives up to its name, as well as its category, “sophisticated and contemporary.” It’s mischievous, full of a curious ingredient. The cocktail is not sickly sweet, but rather honeyed with a gummy bear gin infusion and mango Aceto di Modena. With a dash of lime and a jar brimming with piquant gummy bears, the drink is a mélange of fun textures and colourful flavours.
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Bamboo Bar sits inside the stately Mandarin Oriental, along the banks of the Chao Phraya, where the sunset is sensational as the moon crawls into the auburn sky. As the hours slip by and rhythms start to flow, settle in to this jazz haven, an icon among Bangkok’s nightlife scene transformed.
BAMBOO BAR Mandarin Oriental, 48 Charoenkrung Soi 40 | 0 2659 9000 mandarinoriental.com | Sun-Thurs 5pm-1am, Fri-Sat 5pm-2am; Live Jazz Sun-Thurs 9pm-midnight, Fri-Sat 9pm-1am
NOW OPEN B R E A K FA S T LUNCH-DINNER Silom Rd.
Narathiwas Rd.
Sathorn Soi 10
Chong Non-si Station
kai
Sathorn Soi 12
Abode
Sathorn Rd.
02-6353800 kainz@kai-bangkok.com
www.facebook.com/kainewzealand N E W Z E A L A N D M o d e r n Kiwi Cuisine
Deli•Cafe•Restaurant•Bar
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www.kai-bangkok.com
142/22-23 Sathorn Soi 12, Sathorn Road, Silom, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
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listings
BARS 22 STEPS BAR Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Rd | 0 2207 4999 | hotelindigo.com/bangkok A great place to unwind, enjoying a cocktail or fine cigar while watching the world go by. Enjoy buy-one, get-one deals or freeflow drinks at B599 during happy hours from 5pm-9pm every day. Ladies’ night on Wednesday offers women two hours of free-flow sparkling wine from 9pm-11pm.
BADMOTEL 331/4-5 Soi Thong Lor | 0 2712 7288 facebook.com/badmotel | 5pm-1am A three-floor joint minimally decorated and painted bright white, the ground floor’s buzzing bar and tree-lined garden make a pleasant spot to sip on the venue’s “Creation Cocktails.”
HOOTERS BANGKOK Next to Four Points by Sheraton, Sukhumvit soi 15 | 0 2006 6001-3 | hootersbangkok.com 10am-2am The new American restaurant and sports bar famous for its wings, beer, and Hooters Girls arrives in Sukhumvit.
J. BOROSKI MIXOLOGY Near Soi Thonglor A secret bar built by masterful mixologist Joseph Boroski, who creates drinks to reflect a customer’s specifications or, if you’re lucky, according to his whims. In Thong Lo, somewhere on an oddnumbered single-digit soi. Open every evening, if you can find it.
BARLEY BISTRO 4/F Food Channel, Silom Rd | 08 7033 3919 barleybistro.com | 5pm-late Check out the open-air rooftop, littered with fans, bean bags, and funky barley stalk sculptures. It’s a solid choice for post-work/pre-club cocktails.
BREW Seen Space, Thong Lor 13 | 0 2185 2366 brewbkk.com | Mon-Sun 4pm-2am See and be seen at this cool Thong Lo vanguard with well-stocked fridges and a healthy list of foreign beer and cider on tap. A beer-lover’s dream.
CHEAP CHARLIE’S Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2253 4648 cheapcharliesresort.com | Mon-Sat 5pm-12am A no-brainer meet-up spot drawing crowds of expats, NGO workers, and tourists inthe-know who fill up on cheap beers and gin and tonics before heading off to party.
CRAFT Sukhumvit Soi 23 | 0 2661 3320, 08 1919 5349 craftbangkok.com | 2pm-12am Serving craft beer on draft, this outdoor patio-bar plays host to food trucks each weekend, spins good tunes, and, most importantly, operates over 40 taps.
DARK BAR Ekkamai 10, Sukhumvit 63 | 0 2381 9896, 09 0528 4646 | facebook.com/darkbarbangkok Wed, Fri-Sat 9pm-2am A tiny and, well, dark bar serving beer and booze at cheap prices. It’s popular with hipsters and counter-culturists. 108 | OCTOBER 2015
A retro-inspired hipster bar decorated with flickering candles and an alarming number of mounted animal heads, giving it a living room-esque ambience. A preferred venue for all manner of underground DJ sets and live shows.
NAMSAAH BOTTLING TRUST Silom Soi 7 | 0 2636 6622 | namsaah.com 5pm-2am Set in a mansion that was once a soda bottling company’s office, the perfect place to enjoy intimate conversation with friends over cocktails.
OSKAR BISTRO 24 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2255 3377 | oskarbistro.com | 4pm-2am Lively Oskar has the electro music and low-ceiling cellar dimensions to qualify as clubby, and, with a dominant central bar, it’s perhaps more brasserie than bistro. Most people come for pre-club drinks.
SHADES OF RETRO THREE SIXTY Millennium Hilton, 123 Charoennakorn Rd 02 442 2000 | hilton.com | 5pm-1am Three Sixty is the only Bangkok venue to enjoy unhindered views over the entire, dazzling metropolis. It also hosts live jazz musicians every day, year round. A private glass lift takes guests all the way up to the 32nd floor, which boasts panoramic vistas from its 130-metre tall, circular lounge. Guests can feast on a range of miniature culinary experiences, from foie gras and caviar to risotto, or sip on fine wines and cocktails as the sun sets in a blaze of colour behind Wat Arun. Just as gently, the soft lounge lights come on to create an air of casual intimacy. As the first stars appear, the city’s coolest jazz sounds set a mood that true aficionados will not be able to resist.
JAM! 41 Soi Charoen Rat 1 | 089 889 8059 facebook.com/jamcafebkk | Tue-Sun 6pm-12am A cool, dive-y small bar in a formerly bar-less neighbourhood whose claims to fame are frequent cult movie nights and underground DJ sets.
MOOSE Ekamai Soi 21 | 0 2108 9550 | facebook.com/ moosebangkok | Mon-Sat 6pm-2am
Soi Tararom 2, Thong Lor | 0 2714 9450 facebook.com/shadesofretrobar | 3pm-1am It’s Hipsterville at this hot-spot stuffed with vintage furniture, vinyl records, and a grandma’s attic of antiques.
SMALLS 186/3 Suan Phlu Soi 1 | 09 5585 1398 facebook.com/smallsbkk | Wed-Mon 8.30pm-2am Decorated with vintage furniture and art to give it a bohemian vibe, this favourite neighbourhood dive offers a wide selection of beers, wines by the glass, and hard-to-find liquors.
THE ALCHEMIST 1/19 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 08 3549 2055 thealchemistbkk.com | Tue-Sun 5pm-12am This stylish, stripped down drinking hole near Cheap Charlie’s draws its own loyal crowd, thanks to an excellent playlist on top of craft beer, assorted martinis, and some of the best mojitos in town.
U.N.C.L.E. Sathorn Soi 12 | 0 2635 0406 | avunculus.com Tue-Sat 6pm-1am One of the most enticing small bars in Bangkok, a hideaway with class, where cocktails are made to your specifications.
VIVA AVIV River City-Unit 118, 23 Trok Rongnamkhaeng, Charoen Krung Soi 30 | 0 2639 6305 | vivaaviv. com | 11am-midnight, later on weekends bangkok101.com
listings Reminiscent of a hip bar along Singapore’s Clarke Quay, with bar tables and stools jutting across a riverside promenade. Think tropical maritime meets dashes of outright whimsy.
WHISGARS 981 Silom Rd | 0 2661 3220 | whisgars.com 2pm-2am Whiskey and cigars are the focal points of this rapidly expanding branch. Each outlet is a little different, but all cater to the finer things in life.
WTF 7 Sukhumvit Soi 51 | 0 2626 6246 wtfbangkok.com | Tue-Sun 6pm-1am The coolest and most enduring shophouse bar in the city, decked out with old Thai movie posters and found items. Marked by great cocktails, live gigs, art exhibitions, and a mix of artsy patrons.
BARS WITH A VIEW ABOVE ELEVEN 33rd Fl Fraser Suites Sukhumvit Hotel, 38/8 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2207 9300 | aboveeleven. com | 6pm-2am A west-facing, 33rd-floor rooftop bar with beautiful sunsets, an outdoor wooden deck bar with glass walls for maximum view, an impressive cocktail list, and an electro soundtrack.
LONG TABLE 25F 48 Column Bldg, Sukhumvit Soi 16 | 0 2302 2557 | longtablebangkok.com | 11am-2am Known for its communal dining table so long it makes the medieval banquet bench
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look positively petite. Twenty-five floors up, you can glug signature cocktails or new latitude wines with the best of highflying Bangkok.
MOON BAR 61st F, Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathorn Rd | 0 2679 1200 | banyantree.com 5pm-1am An icon among rooftop bars, offering 360-degree views of the urban sprawl in smart surroundings. The perfect spot for honeymooners.
NEST 8F, Le Fenix, 33/33 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2305 4000 | lefenixsukhumvit.com | Mon-Fri 6pm2am, Sat-Sun 6pm-3am An urbane open-air oasis on the ninth floor of Le Fenix Hotel, laid-back on weekdays and evenings, but rowdy on weekends, especially during parties.
OCTAVE 45F Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit, 2 Sukhumvit Soi 57 | 0 2797 0000 | facebook. com/OctaveMarriott | 6pm-1am Rows of plush seating along the edge of the open-air balcony offer a perfect spot to plot Bangkok’s geography from above while knocking back punchy, refreshing cocktails. DJs spin house through the night, neatly setting the vein.
RED SKY 56th F, Centara Grand at CentralWorld Rama 1 Rd | 0 2100 1234 | centarahotelsresorts.com 6pm-1am The al fresco turret offers panoramas in every direction. Just before sunset is the time to come — when daylight fades, a
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live jazz band kicks in and the city lights up like a circuit-board.
SKY BAR/DISTIL 63F State Tower, 1055 Silom Rd | 0 2624 9555 | thedomebkk.com | 6pm-1am Among the world’s highest outdoor bars, offering panoramic views of the city and river below, earning its popularity with new visitors as well as those intent on rediscovering it.
ST. REGIS BAR St Regis Bangkok Hotel, 159 Ratchadamri Rd 0 2207 7777 | stregis.com | Mon-Fri 10am1am, Sat-Sun 10am-2am The rectangular venue eyes the Royal Bangkok Sports Club through a large plate-glass window, a lovely spot at sunset, even better on Sunday afternoons, when you can spy on horse races with a fine malt whiskey in hand.
THE SPEAKEASY Hotel Muse, 55/555 Lang Suan Rd | 0 2630 4000 | hotelmusebangkok.com | 6pm-1am One of the snazzier al fresco rooftop bars, evoking the glamour of Prohibition Era America. Spirits include luxury cognacs and malts. Wines are available at solid prices, and cocktails include home-made vodka infusions.
WOOBAR W Bangkok, 106 North Sathorn Road | 0 2344 4131 | wbangkok.com | daily 9am-12am Chic and low-lit without being cold or inaccessible, and spacious enough to find a seat without feeling vacant. Swing by for Ladies’ Night, an after-work release, or, better yet, a weekend party.
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CLUBS LEVELS 6F 35 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 08 2308 3246 facebook.com/levelsclub | 9pm-3am One of the most reliably busy nightclubs in Bangkok that welcomes a mix of resident expats, stylish Thai party animals, and wide-eyed holiday-makers that can’t get enough of the buzzy atmosphere.
MIXX DISCOTHEQUE President Tower Arcade 973 Ploenchit Rd 0 2656 0382 | mixx-discotheque.com | 10pm-late Classier than most of Bangkok’s afterhour clubs, a two-room affair decked out with chandeliers, paintings, and billowing sheets that lend a desert tent feel.
ONYX RCA, Soi Soonvijai, Rama 9 Rd | 08 1645 1166 onyxbangkok.com | 8pm-2am An upscale nightclub borrowing from the futuristic interiors of other outlets in the milieu. Laid out over two stories, with most of the action confined to the ground floor. The kicker: a giant video screen looming over the DJ booth.
QUP 34 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 0 2252 3274 qbarbangkok.com | 8pm-1am Long-standing, New York-style night spot (née Q Bar) well-known for pouring stiff drinks — there are over 70 varieties of top-shelf vodka — and regular big-name international DJs. One of Bangkok’s most consistent clubs.
ROUTE 66 29/33-48 Royal City Avenue | 0 2203 0936, 08 1440 9666 | route66club.com | 8pm-2am RCA’s longest surviving super-club, with three zones to explore, each with its own bar, look, and music policy. Crammed with dressed-to-kill young Thais and foreigners of all types.
SUGAR CLUB 37 Sukhumvit Soi 11 | 08 2308 3246 sugarclubbangkok.com 9pm-2am A blend of the global clubbing DNA and an after-hours concept, featuring a Vaudevillian cast of dancers, entertainers, and big-name DJs, has made this still young club a Soi 11 favourite.
SPASSO Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, 494 Rajadamri Rd | 0 2254 1234 | bangkok. grand.hyatt.com 11.30am-2.30pm, 6pm-2.30am 110 | OCTOBER 2015
A favourite among visitors and expats looking to let their hair down. By day, it’s a sedate Italian restaurant. After hours, it transforms into a club and cocktail bar and really hits its stride.
PUBS BULLY’S Sukhumvit Rd, between soi 2 and 4 | 0 2656 4609 | facebook.com/bullysbkk | daily until late Big burgers and beer are the name of the game at this American-style pub. Spacious and stocked with pool tables and TVs.
FLANN O’BRIEN’S 2194 Charoenkrung 72-74 Rd, Asiatique | 0 2108 4005| flann-obriens.com | 3pm-12am A sweeping Irish-themed pub featuring daily drink specials, all-day breakfast menus, and live bands throughout the week.
MULLIGAN’S IRISH BAR 265 Khao San Road | 0 2629 4477 mulligansthailand.com | Always open A Khao San institution that draws hordes of young locals and a more refined foreign crowd than the norm in the neighbourhood, thanks to great live music and day-long happy hour deals.
THE AUSTRALIAN 37 Sukhumvit 11 | 0 2651 0800 theaustralianbkk.com | 9am-late A wide and bright Australian import, complete with beer schooners as well as bottles from Coopers and VB, live rugby matches on TV, and rock bands on stage.
THE BLACK SWAN Soi Sukhumvit 19 | 0 2229 4542 blackswanbangkok.com | 8am-late An amber-lit favourite that relocated to Sukhumvit 19 that offers myriad drink deals and spectacular Sunday roasts.
THE DUBLINER 595/18-19 Soi Sukhumvit 33/1 | 0 2204 1841-2 thedublinerbangkok.com | daily 8am12.30am Irish-themed and Irish-owned, this watering hole is preferred among expats for its generous happy hours and nighttime live music.
THE ROBIN HOOD Soi Sukhumvit 33/1 | 0 2662 3390 robinhoodbangkok.com | 10am-12am
All the pub essentials are covered: live sports, a chatty atmosphere, wood features, pints of draft beer and cider, and copious drink deals. A great place to start your night (or afternoon).
LIVE MUSIC BROWN SUGAR 469 Phra Sumen Road | 08 9499 1378 brownsugarbangkok.com | 6pm-1am Bangkok’s oldest, cosiest jazz venue. A restaurant and coffee house by day that morphs into a world-class jazz haunt where renditions of bebop and ragtime draw crowds by night.
CAFÉ TRIO G Floor, Portico Complex, 31 Soi Lang Suan 0 2252 6929 | 6pm-1am One of the only bars worth seeking out on Lang Suan Road. Loved for its jazz and art, a welcome alternative to Bangkok’s raucous pubs and haughty lounge bars.
MAGGIE CHOO’S Hotel Novotel Fenix, 320 Silom Rd | 0 2635 6055 | facebook.com/maggiechoos | Tue-Sun 6pm-2am The main decoration is the leggy cabaret girls, but the real attraction is the live jazz, some of the best the city has to offer. The atmosphere is amplified with sultry mysticism and redolent of dandyish early 20th-century gambling dens.
SAXOPHONE 3/8 Victory Monument, Phayathai Rd | 0 2246 5472 | saxophonepub.com | 6pm-2am A must-visit live music joint near Victory Monument, dishing out stiff drinks and killer blues, ska, and jazz every night.
SOULBAR 945 Charoenkrung Rd | 08 3092 2266 facebook.com/livesoulbarbangkok | Mon-Fri 6pm-1am Metalwork, modern art, and live Motown, funk, blues, and soul form the backbone of this stark, yet cool, shophouse turned small bar on the edge of Chinatown.
TAWANDAENG GERMAN BREWERY 462/61 Rama III Rd | 0 2678 1114 | tawandang. co.th | 5pm-1am A vast, barrel-shaped beer hall that packs in revellers who come for towers of microbrewed beer; Thai, Chinese, and German grub, like deep-fried pork knuckle; and, not least, the famous Fong Nam house band. bangkok101.com
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ASV By Gaby Doman
F
eel that chill in the air? The cold nipping at your toes? That’s right, it’s fashion’s Autumn/Winter season. We don’t know about you, but we’re so ready to fling on the layers and those heavy fabrics. Just in case we haven’t laid the sarcasm on thick enough, we’re kidding. Since fashion doesn’t care about what’s comfortable and what’s appropriate, the shops are nevertheless stocked with wooly winter gear. That’s when it pays to shop for Thai fashion designers. While they all, technically, have an AW collection, it tends to be a little more hinted at than when Western designers go all-out with chunky knits so heavy they double up as fitness equipment, polar bear furs, and either tartan or jewel tones, depending on whether they’re going for homely or opulent. Anyway, as lovely as it all is to gaze at in malls where the air-con is up too high and you can start to imagine what it must be like to be so cold you can’t feel your fingers, the international collections will, alas, not make it to our wardrobes unless we change our Phuket beach breaks for a spot of skiing in the Alps. So, yes, we’re shopping Thai for our AW15 wardrobe, and first on our wish list is ASV’s NYC Constructivism. The name conjures industrialism and important art movements, doesn’t it? Good. Inspired by Bauhaus and De Stijl (basically squares of primary colours, for the uninitiated), ASV has created a collection inspired by geometric shapes. Some might say it looks a bit like a tartan print. ASV calls it a grid “that resembles the windowpanes and mirrors of New York City’s skyscrapers.” Potato, potato. White, black, navy, and dove grey dominate the simple colour scheme of this collection, with a little cerulean (that’s a nod to you, Devil Wears Prada fans), pink, burgundy, and cobalt to liven things up. But it’s the silhouette that makes the collection here. Amongst the very wearable cigarette trousers and pleated skirts is the long, loungewear-inspired blazer which has more than a little of the yukata about it. We’re all over any item of clothing that is simultaneously chic, comfortable, and statement-making. While the collection isn’t the most groundbreaking you’ll have ever seen, who really wants groundbreaking anyway (Grace Jones-a-likes aside)? Wearable and chic is the way we see our AW15 shaping up. ASV 1st Fl. Siam Paragon, 08 0049 1335 2nd Fl. Building C. EmQuartier, 08 0880 7625 2st Fl. Central Chidlom, 08 0774 6194
asavagroup.com/asv
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unique boutique
QUALY
- Quality – Unique – Aesthetic – Long-lasting – You BY PONGPHOP SONGSIRIARCHA
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t’s a timeless debate: form or function, design or practicality. At Qualy, the hip housewares boutique in riverside shopping mecca Asiatique, products combine the best of both worlds. Established in 2004 by Thosaphol Suppameteekulwat and his older brother Teerachai, Qualy has quickly become one of the most successful shops of its kind in the city. The innovative designs of their products—and their often surprising functions—confidently toe the line between kitsch and cute. In one sense, Qualy is like Ikea, but less industrial and with a stronger sense of sanuk. All products are made from 100 per cent recyclable materials. They’re high-quality and durable, owing to the brand’s use of polycarbonate plastic, and naturally extracted colour ensures the products will leave no harmful effects on the environment. From the start, the founders strived for eco-friendliness, fashioning products that would raise collective awareness of environmental issues. To that end, they’ve placed hidden messages, or stories, behind each product. This is most obvious in the Squirrel Tissue Log (a tissue holder). While it has a practical use, it also makes a subliminal statement about saving trees: as if protecting its stash of nuts in a log, the squirrel guards its paper from humans, implying that the more we take, the less nature 114 | OCTOBER 2015
has. The Polar Bear Ice Bucket also makes a statement relevant to current world issues. As ice melts in the twolayer ice bucket, a polar bear on a tiny iceberg at the bottom of the bucket slowly gets covered by the dripping water, a not-so-subtle reference to the melting polar ice caps. In recent years, Qualy has also gained international recognition. Its accolades include the Design Excellence Award (DEmark), the Good Design Award, and the FORM Design Award. At the beginning of 2015, Qualy again earned the DEmark for three particular goodies, including the Night Owl, a key holder shaped like an owl, whose eyes open when a key is hung on its talons, and the Watchdog, another key holder in the shape of a small doghouse; when a key is inserted, a dog shoots out, as if protecting it. The third product recognized is a bookend in Mountain and Iceberg shapes. They come with six different animals, each of which can be used as a bookmark. Qualy products are exported to 50 countries worldwide. To see the collection, visit its flagship store at Warehouse No.8 in Asiatique, or stop by Siam Paragon or EmQuartier.
QUALY Warehouse No.8, Asiatique | 0 2689 8591 qualydesign.com | Daily 4pm-11pm
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Balanze by HydroHealth is a World Class Health & Anti Aging Center located on the 4th floor of the Erawan Bangkok directly connected to the Chidlom BTS station. The center provides the most professional and completed anti-aging services, specializing in detoxification, for all guests. Our staff speaks English, Japanese, and Thai. At Balanze, each customer will be met by the resident doctor followed by a professional consultant to ensure every treatment is appropriated and fully explained. To help you achieve a balanced life, Balanze offers a Fully Health Check up Program to assess your health status and detect abnormalities deep down to the DNA level, followed by customized treatments: DRAIN & DETOX This stage ensures that all toxins are drained out of your system. RECOMMEND PROGRAM: Fully Detox (4 hrs.): Colonic, Infrared Sauna, Detoxifying Massage Colonic Using gentler, cleaner, and safer reverse osmosis (RO) water at a comparative standard to that of hospitals, this treatment will drain out toxins from your colon and encourage your digestive system to work efficiently and effectively. Infrared Sauna Using infrared light, this treatment will gradually heat up your body internally to create hyperthermia, or artificial fever. Through sweat, the body will naturally eliminate toxins and heavy metals in the shin layers and lymphatic and blood streams. Detoxifying Massage Performed by our professional massage therapist, our massage eliminate toxins as well as alleviate feelings of body discomfort. Customers can select between Detoxifying Massage and our Lymphatic Massage. BEAUTY PROGRAM Beauty Balanze provides an array of aesthetic treatments including facial treatments and overall body treatments to ensure you achieve absolute perfection. This stage tops off your perfect health with a perfect look. RECOMMEND PROGRAM: Thermage a non-invasive radiofrequency therapy that can address the look and feel of aging skin on many areas of your body. For smoother, tighter, and more contoured looking skin. Ulthera is the natural choice for a nonsurgical way to lift, tone, and tighten your skin using safe, time-tested ultrasound technology. Meso Therapy (Needle-less) Needle-less delivery of vitamins and nutrients for bright and firming skin. Facial Treatment by Cellcosmet Products (1.30 hrs.) The products from Switzerland. Clean and nourishes the skin with deep Vitacell Serum high concentrations extracts from sheep cells, firmness, suppleness, and elasticity of the skin. Cellular revitalization and visibly younger-looking skin.
Tel: (66)2 250 7800 info@hydrohealth.co.th www.hydrohealth.co.th www.balanze.com Opening Hours: 10.00 – 20.00 daily
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KIRIYA SPA
- Unwind with an Upcountry Escape without Leaving the Swarm of the City BY PAWIKA JANSAMAKAO
T
ake a pampering journey to each region of the Thai kingdom at Kiriya Spa, where gentle, generous, and warm service lights the way. The richness of each culture and local natural resources are combined and creatively tailored to form distinct treatments, ensuring a memorable—if not unique—spa experience. Curved walls, tanbark-coloured furniture, and a calm aromatic scent escort guests to a place far removed from the bustling city. Along with local ingredients and devices, traditional performing arts accompany massage packages. Choices range from the elegant Lanna way of life to the lively rhythm of Isaan. Or guests can head down south to the swelling shores of the energetic ocean. Whatever the choice, the extensive packages have everyone covered. Central Serenity (B3000/140min) features a classic Thai massage (B2000/70min), which stimulates circulation and stretches muscles through the use of passive yoga postures. A Stress Relief Foot Massage (B1200/1hr) rounds out the treatment. Discover ancient healing properties in the North Elegance Package (B5200/3hr). It includes a Honey and Herb Skin Refresh (B1800/50min), a healing herbal wrap in the form of the Aka Compress (B1800/50min), and an aromatic, calming massage inspired by the hills of green northern valleys. bangkok101.com
The Dawn Influence (B4500/160min) invites one and all to rest their racing minds, recalling vibrant golden rice fields and the rhythm of enchanting bamboo dancing through the music played on the speakers. The package offers a 7 Grains Scrub (B1800/50min), an exotic honey and papaya wrap (B1500/30min), and a massage enhanced with the firm press of bamboo (B2500/70min). The South is abundant with natural ingredients used for healing and relaxation. The South Sea Secret Package (B3600/130min) unites the energizing energy of the sea breeze with legendary southern-style performing arts. Within the package is a tropical Coconut Skin Refresh (B1800/50min), which soothes, nourishes, and brightens skin. The highlight of the package, though, is the Hot Seashell Massage (B2500/70min). A therapist performs a massage adapted from Hooloo Vahi, a traditional southern Thai performance art that mimics the movement of flowing water. The masseuse uses hot shells (a la hot stones) to stimulate blood flow and awaken the mind, putting a cap on a temporary and all-too-fleeting journey out of the city.
KIRIYA SPA The LiT BANGKOK Hotel, 36/1 Soi Kasemsan 1 | 0 2612 3456 litbangkok.com | daily 10am-10pm
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listings
HISTORIC HOMES ANANTA SAMAKHOM PALACE THRONE HALL Uthong Nai Rd, opp Dusit Zoo | Tue-Sun 10am-6pm | B150 Located at the tail-end of Dusit district’s stately ceremonial boulevard, Ratchadamnoen, this stately parliamentary palace was built during the reign of Rama V and completed by Rama VI. Cast in white Carrara marble, it is still used for the ceremonial opening of the first parliamentary session. Influenced by Renaissance architecture, the interior is decorated with detailed frescoes by Italian Galileo Chini of royal ceremonies and festivities. Out front stands a statue of King Rama V still worshipped today.
JIM THOMPSON HOUSE 6 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama I Rd | BTS National Stadium | 0 2216 7368 | jimthompsonhouse. com | 9am-5pm | B100/B50 students American Jim Thompson was the Princeton graduate and former spook who revived the hand-woven Thai silk industry before disappearing mysteriously in Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands in 1967. One of the things to do in Bangkok is visit his tropical garden home beside a pungent canal: six traditional teak houses from around the country kept exactly as he left them
M.R. KUKRIT’S HOUSE 19 Soi Phra Pinit, Sathorn Rd | 0 2286 8185 Sat-Sun 10am-4pm, Daily | B50/B20 kids Kukrit Pramoj was one of Thailand’s mostloved statesmen of the 20th century. A natural all-rounder, he was a poet, a writer and even served as prime minister. His peaceful abode with its lovely gardens is a terrific example of Thai architecture.
VIMANMEK MANSION 139/2 Ratchawithi Rd | 0 2281 1569 | Tue-Sun 9.30am-4pm | B100 The world’s largest teakwood building was originally built on the island of Koh Si Chang, in 1868, and then moved to Bangkok for use by King Rama V. Its 81 rooms spread over three floors overlook a beautiful garden.
SUAN PAKKAD PALACE Si Ayutthaya Rd, Ratchathewi | BTS Phaya Thai 0 2245 4934 | suanpakkad.com | 9am-4pm A former market garden that was converted into a residence and garden by Princess Chumbot. Consisting of five 118 | OCTOBER 2015
reconstructed Thai wooden houses, Wang Suan Pakkard pays testament to her dedication to collecting Thai artefacts and antiques.
SHRINES ERAWAN SHRINE Ratchadamri Rd, near Grand Hyatt Erawan BTS Chit Lom | free Don’t expect serenity here. This is one of Bangkok’s busiest intersections: the crowded shrine to the Hindu creation god Brahma and his elephant Erawan is filled with worshippers lighting incense, buying lottery tickets and watching the traditional dancing group.
GANESHA SHRINE Outside CentralWorld and Isetan Department Store | Ratchadamri Rd | free A prayer in front of this pot-bellied gold elephant – the son of Shiva and Parvati – is said to help get the creative juices flowing, as well as protect you from harm. Aside from marigold garlands, bring bananas, ripe mango or sticky rice-flour Thai desserts – Ganesha has an eternal appetite.
TRIMURTI SHRINE Outside Centralworld and Isetan Department Store | Ratchadamri Rd | free If your love life is in the doldrums then this shrine is for you: at 9:30pm each Thursday it’s rumoured that Lord Trimurti descends from the heavens to answer prayers of the heart. To maximise your chances you should offer nine-red incense sticks, red candles, red roses and fruit.
MUSEUMS – IN TOWN BANGKOK DOLL MUSEUM 85 Soi Ratchataphan (Soi Mo Leng) Ratchaprarop Rd | 0 2245 3008 bangkokdolls.com | Mon-Sat 8am-5pm Since opening in 1956 the Bangkok Doll Museum has continually attracted tourists, students and aficionados alike with its remarkable collection of hand-made Thai dolls. Founded by Khunying Tongkorn Chandavimol after she completed a doll making course in Japan, it showcases collections of dolls produced by a small team of artisans in the atelier out back, and clad in traditional costumes based on designs lifted from museum originals, temple murals and illustrations from antique books.
BANGKOKIAN MUSEUM 273 Charoen Krung Soi 43, Si Phraya Pier 0 2233 7027 | Sat-Sun 10am-4pm | free Smack in the middle of Bangrak, one of the most traditional districts of the city, find this oasis of four traditional Thai houses, one of them lovingly converted into a private museum by the compound’s charming owner, Ms Waraporn Surawadee. She decided to dedicate the place to the memory of her family and bygone daily life of Bangkok everymen – and open it to the public. While visitors shouldn’t expect breathtaking revelations here, the displays are nevertheless surprisingly fascinating. They include antiques and ceremonial items.
MADAME TUSSAUDS 6th F, Siam Discovery Centre, Rama 1 Rd, Phaya Thai Rd | BTS National Stadium 0 2658 0060 | madametussauds.com/ Bangkok | 10am-9pm | B800/B600 kids Probably the best thing about Bangkok’s version of Europe’s famous waxwork museum is the line-up – it’s clearly designed to keep tourists and locals alike snappy happy. About as common as international sporting legends, world leaders in sharp suits, pouting Hollywood A-listers, and sequined global pop stars here are wax likenesses of Thai and regional musicians, soap stars, sportsmen and women.
MUSEUM OF COUNTERFEIT GOODS Supalai Grand Tower Bldg Rama III Rd 0 2653 5555 | tillekeandgibbins.com Mon-Fri 10am-4pm (App required for textile and computer collections) In 1989, Thailand’s oldest international law firm, Tilleke & Gibbins, decided to convert their evidence of counterfeit goods into educational tools for law students. To help spread the word about the perils of buying fake it’s open to Joe Public too. Over 3,500 items – from Ferrero Rocher chocolates to antimalarial tablets and a fake Ferrari motorbike – are neatly laid out, forgeries next to the originals.
MUSEUM OF SIAM 4 Samachai Rd | Rajini Pier | 0 2622 2599 ndmi.or.th | Tue-Sun 10am-6pm | free A truncated history of Thailand unfurls through this down-with-the-kids discovery museum, located in a beautifully restored former government building that dates back to the 1920s. Design company Story Inc! delivered the conceptual design with pop graphics and interactive games bangkok101.com
listings galore. Entertaining highlights include dressing up as a 20th-century nobleman, blowing up Burmese soldiers on elephantback with a canon, and mapping out the borders of your own Siam using a touch screen. There are always new exhibitions to explore, and, of course, you can walk away with souvenirs from the gift shop.
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 5 Chao Fa Rd, Sanam Luang | 0 2224 1333 | thailandmuseum.com | Wed-Sun 9am-4pm | B200 | no photo allowed Previously a palace during the reign of Rama V, the National Museum features extensive displays of Thai artifacts from all of Old Siam’s main historical periods, encompassing the Lanna, Ayutthaya and Sukhothai kingdoms up to the present day. Thai culture is well documented in sections on dance, music and drama. The first example of Thai literature and the Thai alphabet, inscribed by King Ramkhamhaeng on a black stone during the Sukhothai period, is also displayed.
RATTANAKOSIN EXHIBITION HALL 100 Ratchadamnoen Klang Rd, next to Wat Ratchanatda | 02621 0044 nitasrattanakosin.com | Tue-Fri 11am-8pm, Sat-Sun 10am-8pm | B100 This multimedia museum a short walk from Khao San Road offers a skillfully abbreviated introduction to an area that many admire, but few truly understand: Rattanakosin Island, Bangkok’s glittering birthplace. Wandering its eleven rooms – free of relics but rich in models, dioramas, interactive videos, text and audio clips in Thai and English – brings the area’s hardto-fathom history, arts, architecture and traditions into much clearer focus.
MUSEUMS – OUT OF TOWN THAI FILM MUSEUM 94 Moo 3 Bhuddhamonton Sai 5, Salaya, Nakorn Pathom | nfat.org | 0 2482 2013-15 | Sat-Sun | tours: 10am, noon, 3pm; Mon-Fri: by appointment | free The good folk at the National Film Archive of Thailand are fighting to preserve the country’s meagre film heritage, whether it be by restoring ragged reels of 16mm film to their former glory, screening rare films in its cinematheque, or guiding anyone interested around their museum. Film fiends will love inching around this space, modelled after the old Sri Krung film studio and filled with old cameras and props. bangkok101.com
RIVERSIDE “KLONG GURU” BY ANANTARA RIVERSIDE BANGKOK RESORT 257/1-3 Charoennakorn Rd | 0 2476 0022 bangkok-riverside.anantara.com | daily B2000 “Klong Guru,” led by Anantara Riverside Bangkok Resort, takes guests to explore local life along Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River and down its labyrinth of canals. Embark on a traditional long-tail boat and sail through the capital’s hidden gems with your own Klong Guru from the resort. The trip also includes tasting Thai street food, painting traditional Thai masks, feeding fish for luck, and much more. Contact the resort for more information and to make a reservation.
THA MAHARAJ 1/11 Trok Mahathat, Maharaj Rd | N9 Tha Chang Pier, N* Maharaj Pier | 0 2024 1393 thamaharaj.com Surrounded by the Chao Phraya and its various tourist attractions, Tha Maharaj is a new concept mall offering fun for the whole family as well as spectacular views of the river. Once the site of traditional shophouses, Tha Maharaj has transformed into a rendezvous point for its fascinating restaurants and cafés, retail shops, and community garden.
KUDEE JEEN Tesabarn Sai 1 Rd, Thonburi Located along the Chao Phraya, the site of Bangkok’s first Portuguese community dates back to the Thonburi Era, speaking to the long history of life along the river. The land was awarded to the Portuguese by King Taksin, a reward for their loyalty. A Christian community, the first church, Santa Cruz Church, was built from wood in 1770. Its structure was later replaced by another wood structure before being rebuilt in neo-baroque style. Kudee Jeen is also famous for “Khanom Farang,” a cake-like dessert.
PAK KHLONG TALAD Next to Memorial Bridge | N6/1 Yodpiman Pier | yodpimanriverwalk.com Also known as the flower market, Pak Khlong Talad opens twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The market that never sleeps offers various kinds of plants and flowers at reasonable prices, as well as a colourful show when the produce comes in late at night. After decades as a fresh market, the venue was recently
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rejiggered to include a brand-new concept mall, Yodpiman River Walk, featuring many fantastic restaurants and unique boutiques.
PHRA SUMEN FORT Phra Athit Rd | N13 Phra Arthit Pier During the beginning of the Rattanakosin period, fourteen forts were built to defend Bangkok against possible invasions. Today, Phra Sumen Fort is one of two remaining, with Mahakan Fort. Visitors are not allowed to enter, but are allowed to enjoy its beauty from Santichaiprakan Park, where the fort is located, in the company of shady trees, lush greenery, and gentle breezes blowing in from the Chao Phraya.
BAAN SILAPIN (ARTIST’S HOUSE) Soi 28, Wat Kuhasawan | 0 2868 5279 | facebook.com/Baansilapin | 9am-6pm The Artist’s House is a pleasant double-story teakwood hut known for its traditional Thai puppetry. It’s part gift shop—there are racks of books and postcards, with a compact art gallery upstairs—but, in one corner, an imposing stone pyramid, once part of a temple, serves as reminder of all that came before. The house offers visitors many activities, including painting masks, feeding fish, and watching Thai puppet performance free of charge.
RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES BANGKOK EQUESTRIAN CENTER 20/1 Moo 2 Chalermprakiet Rama 9 Soi 48, Sukhumvit 103 Rd | 0 2328 0273 Tue-Sun 7.30am-11am, 2pm-5.30pm bangkokequestriancenter.com Founded by one of the leading horse riding instructors in Thailand, the Bangkok Equestrian Center offers stabling, tack gear, grooming, and horse training, among other services. Most riders, however, love it for its riding lessons, from the basics to world-class dressage. There’s also a Pony Club for youngsters, which gives new riders a soft introduction to the horseback riding.
EASY KART 31/11 RCA Plaza, Rama 9 Rd | 0 2203 1205 easykart.net The biggest indoor go-kart track in Bangkok features a night light system, a computer time system, a panoramic bar and restaurant, and a big screen TV. Both OCTOBER 2015 | 119
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beginners and experienced riders are welcome.
ELITE FIGHT CLUB The Waterford Diamond Tower, Sukhumvit 30/1 | 0 2305 6685 | elitefightclub.com This luxury gym and Muay Thai training facility, located in downtown Bangkok, offers both group and private classes in Muay Thai, boxing, and MMA. Facilities include a gym, swimming pool, saunas, and Jacuzzis. Prices vary considerably depending on the package you choose.
PEPPERMINT BIKE PARK Soi Yothinpattana 3 | 09 0980 1368 | facebook. com/PeppermintBikePark This newly opened bike park located at the outskirts of Bangkok offers urbanites a safe environment to cycle within a paved two-kilometre track, including a wooden bridge, a curved path, and a few rolling slopes. Annual membership is available at B200. On top of that, for members entrance costs B100 during the day and B150 at night; for non-members, it’s B150 at day and B200 at night.
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE 1 Sibunruang Building, Convent Rd 0 2237 9895-6 | 10am-10pm flightexperiencethailand.com Ever dream of becoming a pilot? Here’s your chance to pilot a Boeing 737-800, but in safer climes than the air. Flight Experience offers professional flight simulation for all levels, so even if it’s your first time in the cockpit simulator, you’ll enjoy an unforgettable flight. The flight packages feature take-offs and landings, challenging approaches, bad weather, and much more.
FLOW HOUSE BANGKOK 120/1 Sukhumvit 26 | 0 2108 5210, 09 9083 8787 | flowhousebangkok.com A flowboarding action club set in the heart of Bangkok, Flow House draws all riders with its FlowRider — a thin sheet of water which flows over a slope to form of a perfect ocean wave. There’s also restaurants, retail shops, and a beach club for those who would rather hang out.
FOLLOW ME BIKE TOURS 126 Sathorn Soi 9 | 0 2286 589 followmebiketour.com Experience the “real” Bangkok and see the city’s hidden side by bicycle. The tours let you discover your own Bangkok. You can join tours that examine the city’s history or culinary heritage, day or night, or check out the jungle at Phra Pradaeng.
LE CORDON BLEU DUSIT CULINARY SCHOOL 946 The Dusit Thani Building, Rama IV Rd, Silom | 0 2237 8877 | lecordonbleudusit.com The renowned global chain Le Cordon Bleu has added a luxurious element to Bangkok’s culinary academia. The school offers a range of cooking programmes for tweens, teens, and adults, giving lessons on international, French, and Thai cuisines, as well as desserts and pastries. 120 | OCTOBER 2015
Travel back in time to nineteenth-century London. Doing your best Sherlock Holmes impression, play the part of the detective as you set about solving mysteries set in an old Victorian house. Teams of two to five people — friends, family, co-workers and employees, expats, travellers, grandmas and grandpas: you name it — can choose from six different game rooms, each with its own set of circumstances, clues, and puzzles. Each lasts 60 minutes, but all are welcome to stick around and talk about the experience once the challenge is finished, successful or otherwise. Discounted prices are available, but only via online booking.
THE JOSEPH BOROSKI BAR & HOSPITALITY SCHOOL BANGKOK
THE ROYAL BARGE MUSEUM 80/1 Rim Khlong Bangkok Noi, Arun Amarin Rd | Thonburi Railway Pier 0 2424 0004 | 9am-5pm B30/B100 photo/ B200 video The museum can be reached by boat from Tha Chang Pier near the Grand Palace. It houses several royal barges used in Royal ceremonial processions on the river. 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.
PLANET SCUBA BANGKOK 66 Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2261 4412-3 planetscuba.net Having won numerous awards over the years for excellence in teaching standards and diver safety, Planet Scuba has become the one of Thailand’s leading diving centres. The Bangkok branch offers diving courses for beginners up to dive instructors. Diving equipment is sold here, too.
THE ESCAPE HUNT EXPERIENCE 399 Interchange Building, Unit C, B2, Sukhumvit Rd | 0 2611 2828, 0 2611 2827 9.30am-8.30pm | bangkok.escapehunt.com
Thonglor | 0 2712 6025 | josephboroski.com Learn how to craft cocktails from the master of mix himself, Joseph Boroski, who teaches students using the one hundred-plus mixes in his own recipe book. Spread across a few specially designed training stations, the classes cater to absolute beginners as well as professionals.
URBAN PLAYGROUND 8 Soi Sukhumvit 49 | 0 2119 7200 Mon-Fri 1pm-10pm, Sat-Sun 10am-10pm urbanplaygroundclimbing.com One of the best rock climbing sites in Bangkok, Urban Playground features over 650 square metres of indoor climbing space, facilities ranging from a bouldering wall and bouldering cave to a 12 metre top-rope climbing, and activities that include a one-hour introduction to climbing class. Whether you are an experienced climber or a first-timer, this place has facilities that ought to test your limits. Urban Playground also offers a variety of other ways to get the blood pumping, including racquetball courts, a swimming pool, a yoga studio, saunas, and tennis courts.
YOGATIQUE BANGKOK 116/8 Suhumvit Soi 23| 02 662 0172 yogatiquebangkok.com Strengthen your mind, body, and soul at Yogatique. Classes are divided into three categories: Mild (Mai Phet), Medium Spicy (Phet), and Spicy (Phet Phet), depending on strength and stamina. Friendly, professional bilingual instructors guide all levels of yogis through classes, providing hands-on help when necessary. bangkok101.com