August15, 2008

Blissful Shopping in Bangkok
Posted by Globespotters, August 1
http://blogs.iht.com/tribtalk/travel/globespotters/?p=513

by Jennifer Gampell

Bangkok is a city that promotes itself as a shopper’s paradise. Over the last decade, many older buildings in the area between the Siam and Chidlom BTS stations in the heart of downtown have been completely renovated or else razed to make way for mega malls. Siam Paragon, the most ostentatious of the bunch, calls itself “The Pride of Bangkok.” Many local residents call it noisy, architecturally uninteresting and overpriced. Nearby, the renovated and expanded Central World Plaza is a much hipper, better designed and somewhat quieter variation on the same theme.

But of all the shopping emporia clustered around the so-called Ratchaprasong area of central Bangkok, the opulent Gaysorn (www.gaysorn.com) stands out for its manageable size and uncluttered elegance. Painted uniformly in creamy off-white, this small (12,600 square meters) and spacious five-storey space looks like a luxury liner with a large hollowed-out core. Unlike its neighbors, Gaysorn boasts no anchor department store, supermarket, food court or cinema. I imagine the owners aren’t too happy about the resultant dearth of patrons, but I for one appreciate the tranquility.

Gaysorn is also the exclusive Bangkok mall outlet for several world-renowned clothing and home interior brands like the Thomas Pink or Onpedder stores located on the first floor (actually it’s the 3rd floor but the first two are called Lobby and Ground). I usually head directly to the third floor, which is really the fifth. Here’s where in 2002 the British-born designer Alex Lamont opened his first Lamont contemporary showroom (3F-23) and another antique-focused space (3F-08) diagonally across the huge atrium.

In addition to designing for an exclusive global clientele, Lamont also sells his exceptionally crafted contemporary accessories and small occasional furniture at various Thai hotels (www.lamont-design.com). The stunning items are made from the highest quality pan-Asian materials (bronze, shagreen, ceramic, lacquer, silver, brass, rock, etc.). The carefully considered selection of vases and vessels in various sizes and shapes displayed in the tiny Gaysorn showroom rotates every few months. My favorite are the dark bronze vessels (2,380 to 19,500 baht depending on size) inspired by monks’ begging bowls. Their gold leaf lining illuminates the interior with an almost electrical brilliance. Until Aug. 31, the other Lamont showroom (3F-08) has an exhibit of antique Chinese and Japanese furniture and other stunning objects recently arrived from Kyoto and Beijing.

One of the city’s two Ayodhya shops (www.ayodhyatrade.com/Products/Product.htm) is located near Lamont at 3F-10. In the early 1990s, owner/designer and minor royal M.L Pawinee Santisiri Sukhasvasti pioneered the now ubiquitous use of water hyacinth for making contemporary natural fiber Thai furniture and accessories. She devised a dozen methods of braiding and weaving the fast-growing invasive weed eichhornia crassipes that once clogged Thai rivers and canals. Today Ayodhya (home accessories) and sister company Yotaka (furniture) use over 8,000 kilometers of the stuff annually in their worldwide export business. This small outlet is crammed with placemats (320 baht), baskets, woven mats and cushions.

Stepping into the high-ceilinged ThannNative shop (3F-07) is like ascending to unguent heaven. Thann (www.thann.info) is all about breezy contemporary décor and natural colored products and packaging. Their travel set (750 baht) features six airport-friendly bottles, including aromatherapy shampoo and gel, and rice extract body milk.

Opened last December, Thann Sanctuary spa (3F-06) extends the company’s environmentally aware focus to its six tall treatment rooms. Minimally decorated in dark greens and browns, each has its own unique plant-inspired wall panel. While the rooms evoke the rainforest, the projected image at the far end of the short dimly lit hall beckons clients to an under-sea world. A popular treatment is the 130-minute Nano Shiso therapy (3,500 baht) which includes an hour of aroma or ayurvedic body massage and a 70-minute facial - a blissful way to wind down after all that shopping!

Copyright © 2008 Jennifer Gampell