Ten years ago, Mark Wiens made his iconic top 25 things to do in Bangkok list. And at number six was MBK Shopping Center, a mega mall that’s literally a country in and of itself. At the time, it was a pretty impressive mall. But what Mark didn’t know was that in 2018, the biggest shopping mall in Asia would open its doors, making it to the new and improved Bangkok lists to rule them all. I give you IconSiam.
There are lots of ways you could get here, but definitely take the Riverboat. It’s fun, it’s free, and it gives you an iconic view. So you get a sense of the size and scale of this place. Be careful though, and let your filthy rich friends know they might go broke in here. The last time I came here with Haley, the first few minutes were pretty scary. Please keep on walking, Haley, please keep on walking.
This place costs 54 billion baht to build. That’s like one and a half billion US dollars. It’s got two of the tallest towers in Bangkok that house a hotel and the Mandarin Oriental residences, but the main attraction is this massive shopping mall.
The main hall has four giant 16-meter tall pillars, adorned with classic Thai art and culture. Before I get to the bottom of the escalator, I want to shout out to Germany, today’s top viewer winner. Germany, you guys have watched the most videos ever on my channel, and I thank you. I never met a German I didn’t like; you guys have a really good sense of humor. Now it’s your turn to book a ticket to Thailand.
This place is absolutely huge. It has over five and a half million square feet, spread out over seven dizzying floors. It has a lot of shops that you might expect to find at any shopping mall anywhere in the world, but this one has a few that would surprise you, maybe even shock you, to find in a shopping mall. So let me just give you a little tour and show you a little sampling of what’s in here.
It’s a pretty decent Apple Store, but stores, all those other shops we just showed in the montage, that’s pretty standard stuff. But how many malls do you know that, underneath the Apple Store, have a Porsche store? And underneath that, they have a Versace store? And then over to the right, they have a makeshift pop-up Gucci vault.
I just jumped out into the parking lot to show you the type of clientele that can afford to come here, and it’s not me. But I’m just using the facilities in here, and I got to say that for those of you back home, like where I’m from, if you go into a shopping mall bathroom, does it look anything like this? No, no, it doesn’t look anything like this. And that’s why I always remind people that if you’ve never been to Thailand, don’t come with any preconceived notions. A lot of people have this vision of Thailand in their head that it’s just a third-world country, where it’s just shacks and stuff on the side of the road. And there’s lots of that, but Thailand has its fair share of luxury, and when it does luxury, it ramps it up way more than the first world that I come from.
If this didn’t convince you that this place is next level, look at their typical coffee shop in this joint. I’m now in a huge Japanese department store. If you’re from Japan, you know this place; it’s called Siam Takashimaya, well, the Siam branch, but Takashimaya spans all seven floors. This place is absolutely massive. It’s a Japanese shopping mall, but it’s nestled inside a Thai shopping mall. It’s like Inception, a mall within a mall.
By now, you’re probably hungry, and all those crazy sit-down restaurants that you’ll find all over the mall. The food court here has to be seen to be believed. It’s built to represent a replica floating market, and this place alone is over a hundred and fifty thousand square feet. The unique thing about this food court is that they have food from all 77 provinces here in Thailand, so you can find almost anything you like, including this.
What’s this one? Mole or chicken? Okay, I try. How do I clamp um? Okay, I got these fried chicken dumplings for a hundred baht. They may not be as cheap as the street, but look at this. Mmm, really tasty. The crazy thing is I’m literally sitting in a shopping mall food court. This is mental.
SCB investment center to be realistic, I no longer have a nickel to invest. I’ve spent it all on Porsches, Apple products, and fancy coffees. Okay, so I’m a little offended. I see the Woman’s Club over here. They got the kids’ avenue right over here. What about us middle-aged men? Why don’t they make a zone for us? I mean, oh wait, they did. It’s called Nana Plaza. I forgot about that. Okay, no longer offended.
I’m gonna finish off the tour by showing you this ridiculous little restaurant row up here on the sixth floor. If you make it all the way to the top floor, definitely come and check out this terrace. And I’ve only given you a little taste of what’s here. If you come at night, there are crazy water fountain shows, giant movie theaters, all kinds of stuff that I haven’t shown you. And that’s the thing with the Bangkok list to rule them all. I’m just giving you a little wee taste so that you can taste it, but you have to come and experience all these places for yourself. And on that note, tomorrow’s huge. We start the top five, and you know what that means. Mark Wiens, only four more days until we meet, man.
Stay tuned!
