Many people may wonder “how this small city can have so many shopping malls?” The answer is that because there is more than 9 million people living in this city, therefore, it needs to support the people’s desire as we Bangkok-people love the convenience. Apart from the shopping malls, another growing business is the community mall, the smaller hanging out zone located around Bangkok. This community mall is more like a relaxing area with some shops or restaurants. The ABAC polls had revealed that 71.6 percent of people surveyed go to the community malls to eat, while 41.3 percent see them as a place to meet and hangout with their friends. More than half of people in the survey reported that they go to community malls because the proximity to their homes, while 46.9 percent find that community mall give a full range of services and products. 

                Now if you people want to invest anything in Bangkok, you should go for the shopping places as the survey from Ariya Aruninta of the Department of Landscape Architecture, Chulalongkorn University had shown that shopping became on the first ranking as Bangkokians’ favorite activity outside their homes. Another shopping places that is very interesting and on this year trend is the “shopping night market.” It not only aims for the local but also attract the tourists. “Artbox Bangkok,” is the pop-up night market opening during the some weekends in some areas. The stalls are housed in shipping containers which can be moved around the city. What you can find here is the variety of food, clothes from local designer, and those handmade accessories from the local designers. Throw in a few bars, a live music stage and dozens of food vendors, and you have yourself one of Bangkok’s coolest new night markets.

                All in all, it seems like Bangkok is doing really well with the mall culture. It is convenient for the locals and also helps the growth of the business by the tourists. 

http://www.bangkok.com/magazine/artbox.htm?cid=ch:OTH:001

http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/bangkok-population/

http://bk.asia-city.com/city-living/article/does-bangkok-have-too-many-community-malls

The Chareonkrung District - more shopping area but also entertainment area such as  also the Joe Louis Puppet Theatre and the Calypso Show.

http://www.bangkoknightmarket.com/asiatique-the-riverfront
Asiatique (360 Virtual Reality) ↓

 A simple example of capitalism taking over, running out small businesses and increasing marketing competition of fashion, technology, etc., “They [mega malls] are invented commercialized fantasy land divorced from older, locally-based identities generated by history and memory.” (O’Neil, 2008) Transformations have happened quick and the vision of this postmodern city is already heavily adapted to its mall culture. 

Michael Pinches. (1999). Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia (pp. 70-73). Taylor & Francis.

O'Neil, M. (2008). Bangkok (pp. 220-223). New York: Oxford University Press.