Saved by shopping: how Bangkok reconfirmed my belief in retail (twice)

I love markets. Visiting them is my favorite thing to do whenever I go to a new city. Museums and palaces reflect a place's culture and history. Concerts and bars provide entertainment. Restaurants and parks show how the locals live. Markets do it all. Markets are the beating heart of a city, where its soul is laid bare, where the goods are the greatest, the foods are the yummiest, the people are the liveliest.

Good markets are unpretentious. Great markets are charming. The best markets have a bit of magic in them. I have been amazed by the huge slabs of the absolutely freshest catches of the day at Tsukiji fish market, colorful mounds of spices at the Grand Bazaar, twinkling lanterns at Jiufen, and delicious foods on display at Mercado San Miguel. But nothing prepared me for Bangkok.

I had thought Bangkok was just like Ho Chi Minh city, but more modern, just like Singapore, but more colorful. I was wrong on both counts. Bangkok belongs to a class of its own. Bangkok is an electrifying experience. What it does, it does better than most. The cuisine is staggering in quantity and variety, excellent in quality. Hospitality truly goes above and beyond, setting an example for the rest of the hotel industry. The full range of leisure activities, from the most wholesome to the most racy, are bound to satisfy all types of travelers. But now that I have gone to Bangkok many times over the years, I am inclined to say shopping is its most definitive feature. If shopping is an art, then its shopping places are living museums and its vendors are indisputable masters.

The interior of Icon Siam

I had my first brush with Bangkok retail when visiting one of its gigantic malls 10 years ago. At the time, I was jaded from malls. I was fresh from a long spell in the US where dying malls were very much a common sight and even the big chains struggled. Back in my home country, malls were still in their infancy phase and finding their own feet. In my mind, malls conjured up images of empty, stark corridors, identical stores, uninspired merchandise, and bored staff. "Who even shops in person in anymore, when this is all they are offered?" I thought.

Visiting the malls of Bangkok was a shock to my system. The malls did not feel like malls. In fact, they did not feel like anything I had seen up to that point. They were like entirely different planets: sprawling, intense, vibrating with great energy. Wandering around them was at once exhilarating and humbling, almost a psychedelic experience, all your senses being stimulated and titillated. You could visit an aquarium, watch the latest blockbuster, see art at a gallery, stay at a luxurious hotel suite, get your pampering done at one of the spas, have a drink at the rooftop bar, and eat a different meal every day of the year in one of those malls and never even step foot outside. And the shopping, oh, the shopping. Words cannot do it justice. I visited at least one mall every single day during my first time there, and never got tired. That was how my love affair with the malls of Thailand began.

In my subsequent visits, I sampled as many big malls as I could find and learned to differentiate between them. Siam Paragon is chic, high-end, and offers the best selection of gourmet eateries. Centralworld is well-rounded, modern, and always buzzing from its many events. Gaysorn Village is understated, elegant, and exclusively dedicated to a small number of luxury brands. MBK is affordable, Terminal 21 is youthful, EmQuartier is ritzy, Icon Siam is diverse. From both ends of the spectrum, Central Embassy is ultra-luxe and Platinum is best known for its wholesale pricing. Those shopaholics' havens convinced me that Thai people have shopping down to the science. They also triggered my urge to chase that high and actively seek out the best marketplaces wherever I go.

Having been so taken with those modern malls, I thought shopping in Bangkok could not possibly get any better, nor could it surprise me any more. I saw the name Chatuchak Weekend Market popping up from time to time, mostly in reviews of its street food stalls: white coconut ice-cream with toppings that resembled colorful gems nestled in bowls of coconut shell, glistening grilled meat on skewers, sunny yellow mango in every possible incarnation and milky sticky rice, golden garlic bread, all manners of enticing desserts, juices, and main dishes. My thought at the time was "nice, but maybe another time". As seduced as I was by those pictures, I was content to get my fill of Thai food from the aforementioned malls. The Chatuchak market itself, I thought, was probably another run-of-the-mill flea/wet market typical in Southeast Asia, albeit bigger. I was also apprehensive of trampling around in between the scorching heat and damp ground from rain, both of which are not exactly unusual in Bangkok.

Centralworld in the evening

Then Covid-19 happened. I truly think for people of my generation, going through Covid-19 will be one of our core memories, life-changing experiences, defining traits. I went from planning trips in faraway to fretting about test kits and where tomorrow's groceries would come from. Acute fear and uncertainty plagued me then and even now, sometimes resurface. The worst of those days, literally confined to the perimeter of my building, I often dreamed of Bangkok. Oh, to be transported back to Bangkok with the sounds and sights and smells of life, a place previously only a hop, skip, and jump away. I knew that the people of Bangkok and Thailand at large were also fighting similar battles and ached with worry about their wellbeing. Somehow Bangkok had become a refuge for my mind. Each day I told myself once all this was over, Bangkok would be my first destination. Each day of survival was one day closer to that moment.

That finally happened a month ago. Slowly, warily, but hopefully, the world we once knew came back. Despite all the restrictions and extra precautions, I was able to plant my feet in Bangkok again. Before I went, I promised myself to explore unfamiliar places and Chatuchak was at the top of my list. Admittedly, I did not have high hopes. The thrill of being in a market, one I had never been before, was exciting enough for me. So I was wholly unprepared for how crazy amazing Chatuchak turned out to be. Chatuchak's exterior was unassuming, belying how big it was inside. The moment I stepped foot inside, I was blown away. I had known beforehand that Chatuchak was more than huge, it is in fact the largest market in all of Thailand and one of the biggest in the world with over 15000 stalls, but somehow it still did not register until I was actually in it. Around me, Chatuchak expanded and stretched like a never ending banquet. Wandering around one section took me all morning. Chatuchak has 27 sections. Indian people say that there is nothing in human existence which does not have a place in the Mahabharata. Chatuchak felt like a manifestation of that sentiment coming to life. There are antiques, housewares, clothes, and everything in between. Nowhere is this clearer than the pet zone, which houses hundreds, even thousands, of specimens ranging from the common dogs and cats to the most exotic animals, which I later learned even include some illegal wildlife (I would not try to pretend this was not a troubling fact). There are also pet clothes, accessories, foods, furniture, and anything one can possibly want to give their furry, or furless friends.

A few other qualities impressed me even more than the sheer scale. Before going, I had pictured dark and dingy alleyways, tattered nylon roofs, puddles of muddy water on the ground, musty smells, and soliciting vendors. In reality, the majority of the market was covered, protecting its inhabitants from the elements. The hygiene was astounding, especially inside the building part, which was nearly spotless. The whole effect was spacious, airy, clean, and bright. The shops were sensibly laid out and well-appointed, the selection was a perfect mix of quantity and quality: abundant but not choked full, classy but still accessible. The vendors were invariably polite and mild-mannered, never once putting pressure on shoppers. Compared to the way some traditional markets in the world are heading, where the shops are just repetitions of one another selling cheap souvenirs mass-produced with their prices jacked up, a sad imitation of their past glory, Chatuchak is impressive. It is a place where people, locals and tourists alike, could actually shop for things, not just pose for Instagram pictures. Before I knew it, I was completely weighed down to the point of immobility by shopping bags and delicious snacks, which somehow never happened at the fancier malls.

A partial aerial view of Chatuchak

I went to Chatuchak daily for the rest of my stay, appreciating it more and more each day.

Three things were clear: first, Chatuchak is not the grittier brother of Bangkok's malls, it is in a formidable league of its all. Its coolness and richness factors are off the charts, making Chatuchak Bangkok's worthy answer to the world's best shopping places. Second, Chatuchak made me realize that while all cultures have a place for shopping, Thailand has a unique shopping culture, intimately woven into the country's collective mental DNA. Chatuchak is such a fine blueprint that the success of Thailand's mega malls is not surprising at all. It is the country's special gift and a gift to all of us who are lucky enough to experience its magic.

Last but not least, Chatuchak's thriving health right after Covid-19, in a country that is becoming increasingly ready for the digital economy, convinced me that physical retail will never falter. It just needs some catching up to do in terms of technology.

For someone like me who is working with Thai retailers to help them do exactly that, it was wonderfully encouraging. Now as I prepare to travel to Bangkok more frequently for work, I foresee much shopping to be done, which means both business and pleasure for me, fortunately! My next stop: Bangkok night train market.

By the way, I'm hiring for a Senior Business Development Manager in Thailand!