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In Defense of Bangkok’s Malls…Mostly

It's hard to escape the hubbub around ICONSIAM, Bangkok's newest mall. For those who aren't too familiar with Bangkok and may be laughing at the fact that a shopping mall is worthy of hubbub, well...you need to live in Bangkok a bit longer. Shopping malls are a big business here, to chagrin of many who think Bangkok has way too many malls as it is; to those people, opening a new one is just a needless waste of money and space. Well, in my opinion, those people are not wrong...but they're not right either. I think ICONSIAM is a great addition to the area that it's in (with some caveats that I'll discuss below). I also think that the "mall question" is much more nuanced than simply saying "too many malls", so let's look at some of the issues at play:

Greg2018-11-21T12:28:33+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Pop Culture, Shopping, Thailand|4 Comments

Bangkok’s Malls Lack Slogans, So I Made Some

There’s a very tired joke I like to make whenever some friends and I are oot and aboot in Bangkok. If we see a construction site, I always say “Maybe it will be a museum or library!” and everyone laughs and I get high fives, because 99% of the time it will either be a mall or a condo. Or both. Some love it, some hate it, but you can’t deny that Bangkok’s efforts to overtake Singapore as Asia’s shopping hub are ambitious and persistent. […]

Greg2018-01-02T09:25:10+00:00Bangkok, Culture, Shopping|0 Comments

A Plastic Overload at 7-11

If you've ever walked by any abandoned lots in most any big city in the world, you know that plastic has a habit of piling up and causing all kinds of ugly problems. Well, it's no different in Thailand and the biggest and most visible kid on the block in terms of where all this plastic comes from is the ubiquitous 7-11. Indeed, it's one of the long-running jokes here that whenever you go into one to buy a few little things, you come out with two bags, four straws of varying sizes, a handful of little plastic spoons, a bunch of stickers and a receipt, all for something that you bought with pocket change. I thought, as a retailing behemoth, surely they're aware of just how much they're contributing - and more importantly for a big company, how much they could save - if they weren't handing out so much damn plastic. To find out, I called and called and called, and finally got through to their Corporate Communications Division.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:11+00:00Audio, Bangkok, Shopping, Thailand|0 Comments

Losing the Christmas Spirit in Thailand

Christmas was always my favorite time of year in Canada for all the cheesiest and most clichéd reasons: walks in the snow, hot chocolate in front of roaring fireplaces, carols, time with family, and the general feeling of good cheer that goes along with the whole thing. Also, eggnog and free swag. But as I approach my tenth Christmas in Thailand, I have realized that – somewhat sadly, I admit – I have lost almost all of my emotional connections to this time of year. Now, instead of looking forward to the holiday season, all I do is join the growing chorus of groans when I start to see Christmas trees dotted throughout the city. Of course, whenever anyone says anything anti-Christmas, they’re labeled a Grinch or a Scrooge, but let me explain.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:13+00:00Asia, Culture, Holidays, Religion, Shopping, Thailand|0 Comments

The Irony of Shoe Shopping in Thailand

One of the problems with being a big guy in Asia is that, well, you’re a big guy in Asia, where the locals are generally considered... uh, well, let's just say there's only one person here that I have to look up at to talk to. A bit of detail for you here – I’m about 6’2” (187cm) and weigh about 260lbs (117kg). At home in Canada, I’m a bit bigger than normal, but not huge; many of my friends there are bigger than me, both vertically and horizontally. But being a big guy in Asia presents its own set of Lilliputian problems, most of which revolve around clothes, especially shopping for shoes. Let me share my story.

Greg2017-03-01T07:27:31+00:00Bangkok, Shopping, Thailand|0 Comments