Guenmai

I°m back at the Paragon Mall again. Yesterday I came and spent nearly over 3 hours just on the first level which is the food court-restaurant-mega gourmet super market area. I came down to the basement to check out the new aquarium, but it was too crowded and I didn°t want to slep all my grocery bags in so I came back today. First of all....WOW! Great aquarium. Being from a Pacific Ocean state,California, I°ve ssen a lot of aquariums and fish throughout my life time, but this one was a real thrill. The aquarium is divided into zones....Zone 1 is the Weird and Wonderful section where one experiences some of the breathtaking and bizarre in the under waterworld life. Zone 2 is called Deep Reef where you°ll see some of the larger reef fish. Zone 3 is called Living Ocean where one discovers how different animals have adopted and evolved to survive life in their unusual underwater environment. Zone 4 is the Rain Forest Zone. You actually stroll through a beautiful rain forest and see what fish and sea animals live there. Zone 5 is called Rocky Shore where you can have a hands on experience at the Touchpool and watch the otters play and watch the stinrays. Zone 6 is the Open Ocean where there are schools of fish...this was amazing to see. I viewed it from the glass bottom boat...more on that later. Zone 7 is the Sea Jellies area. For the glass bottom boat...I didnt know this area existed. I stumbled upon it accidentally. It°s the behind the scenes area where yoou look through a glass window and see what they are actually doing behind the scene. There is a huge 8 million gallon tank of water and silver metal boats that seat seven people and there°s a glass bottom on the boat. You pay an extra 150 baht at the snackbar next to the restricted door area . There are two feeding times of the fish...at 1.30 and 5.30. When you enter the restricted area a bright orange life vest is strapped on you and then you enter the motorless boat. There are cables around the area that the guide holds on to and pulls the boat along with. It°s amazing to see all of the fish below and you also see people walking in areas below the tank area. I got lucky and hit the 1.30 feeding time and the boat stopped and we watched the divers feed the huge schools of fish and the stingrays and there were lots of huge sharks. Then the diver swam up to our boat and knocked on the bottom. I wish I had taken my camera. I left it back at my apartment. There was a couple...man from New York and wife from Thailand so I got lucky because she translated for me everything that the guide was saying. She said a friend of hers had just been to the aquarium and told her to take her camera. At the end of the walk through, there°s a Fuji film station where you can buy film...why one would need it at the end I don°t know and there°s a film developing center. So if you run out of film somewhere before the end then just walk to the end, buy film and then backtrack. As for the prices...adults are 450 baht...extra 150 baht for the glass bottom boat...and kids 80cm'120cm tall are 280 baht...extra for the boat. I hope this report has helped. Please excuse the typing. I°m on a Thai keyboard. There°s free internet use in the basement here at the aquarium. I came back early today while lots of people are still at work and kids in school. I highly suugest that you make your visit then, too. Now, I have top get back up to the mall and see the other floors of it.I°ll try to type more tomorrow. By for now. Oh, there°s also a gift shop at the end of the tour. Happy Travels!

orgy7

thanks for report the aquarium seems to be better then what I expected.

Guenmai

Well, Orgy....we are finally in the same time zone. Smiles. I'm in the Emporium Mall now at the internet cafe. For some reason I couldn't retrieve my e-mail on the free computer down at the aquarium. Problem with the keyboard. Happy Travels! Happy Travels!

Craig

Wow! Thanks for the detailed report. The Paragon Mall and the aquarium are now on my itinerary. We have been to many aquariums and this one sounds absolutely world class.

simpsonc510

Guenmai
I love aquariums and will certainly visit this wonderful new one. Thanks for the great report on it. I can't wait!!

Off subject... what did you say you are paying for the apartment you rented at the Emporium?? If you don't mind... DH says it sounds interesting.

Does Paragon look "fully" open yet, or are there stores that have not yet opened their doors?

Carol

Kathie

Thanks so much for the report. As someone who doesn't really go to malls, I need to mark this one for a visit next trip!

rhkkmk

thanks guen for the report....it sounds very interesting....just one note....the price seems high by thai standards for the thai people?? sort of western prices...

simpsonc510

Guen, I found your other thread, where you answered the pricing question. No need to answer again. (I'll stick with my Omni apt at 1500 baht per night for now)

Is Paragon more up-scale as far as shops or is it more like the Siam Discovery kind of place? I'm sure it isn't an MBK kind-a place... nothing else in the world is like MBK!!

glorialf

This is on my list. Carol, from what I've read this is a very upscale mall.

BillT

I really liked MBK- its my kind of mall!

kuranosuke

hi guen, thanks for the report. wow, so paragon finally opened. found a few good places to eat on my last visit. will post it later. even you might consider going to them. lol.

Guenmai

Howdy folks....OK...The internet system is FINALLY back up here at the Emporium Mall internet cafe! I was here an hour ago and it was down and this is my third attempt. Well, there has been a power blackout problem. This morning, the electricity was out when I woke up. So I strapped my head flashlight on and wondered around the apartment that way. I called the front desk and was told the whole building was out...but there was still light in the hallway and the safe worked. While I was here at the internet cafe an hour ago, I ran into one of my neighbors who said that his electricity was out, too. I don't know how long it was out as I woke up to it being out, but in less than 5 minutes after I called, it was back on again. The apartments are equipped with flashlights, but I always carry two of my own. I'm used to blackouts overseas. The Emporium Mall had some blackout problems,too. But, all is well again. Tomorrow we're having a fire drill for 30 minutes and must all evacuate for about an hour. It's part of the required emergency...of high-rise apartment... requirements for the city. I just saw firemen uniforms downstairs in preparation for tomorrow. There are 41 floors in this building and I'm almost at the top....now you know that I don't like to be higher than 7 floors, but all apartments start at around the 30th floor. I'm getting used to the height since it's well worth having to deal with for the view alone. I'm facing west. So, sorry I couldn't report yesterday, but I got home and was so tired until I collapsed into bed and went into a deep sleep at 5PM and didn't wake up until after 8PM. I was out ALL day and non-stop for the whole time except the 45 minutes I took to go to the Erawan Tearoom (very nice) in the mall at the corner of Rajadamri Rd. and one of the Rama Roads...where the Erawan Shrine is. That mall has reopened. I used to go to the old mall there. Now, it's an upscale mall with Burberry and such stores. The tearoom is beautiful and the food hit the spot just right. It's a nice place to go just to get out of all of the busyness of the area. Plus the view is very nice. So, there is SO much to type. It'll probably take an hour of typing. Let's pray the system doesn't go down again. So, day before yesterday I went back over to Paragon and was in there for 5 and a half hours....was as crazy as a madhatter by the time I left.....5 and a half hours of paint fumes! I went to all of the floors. I counted 8...if you count the basement...aquarium level as one. I was told that there are supposed to be four more. There are unfinished escalators in some areas...leading to future floors. The home department with a few home furnishing stores is on the 4th floor...counting the gound floor as one...I think.When it's finished it should be very nice. The mall has a ways to go before being completed, but they are all working very intensely....drilling and painting. On one of the upper floors there are three car dealerships....Masserati, BMW, and I forget the third. I couldn't figure out how they got those cars in there. SMILES.The Paragon Department store is wonderful....just the selection of accesories on the ground floor sent me into hyperventilation.There's no need to go to Paris to shop anymore. You have to remember that I'm a professional mall-y....it's an L.A. thing. I grew up over 4 decades of L.A. mall culture....which many articles have been written about...as it's a phenomenon. You can blindfold an Angeleno and he/she can find himself/herself through the mall. I wish I had been on the design team for Paragon since there are some obvious kinks that need to be ironed out....sort of mall 101 stuff...to us mall-ies. SMILES. On the ground level...the food court/restaurant/food level there's a great lagoon. Sort of like a river running down the center of one section with dark-brown wood stained bridges crossing the river to access either side of that area. Very nice. And up on the floor where Mont Blanc is...there are incredible chandeliers...absolutely beautiful. I've always had an eye for detail. Oh, up on the 4th floor there's an ethnic bazaar called EXOTIC THAI that's very nice. There's one here in Emporium, but the one there is better. It consist of a big area with different shops/vendors. I liked the one called Asian Tribe Boutique. I found some Yao clothing that I've been looking for for years of trips to Thailand. I found a Yao coat with the red...frou-frou collar for 2800 Baht after the discount. It's in excellent shape. I saw an exact one yesterday in Gaysorn, but it was very worn and they wanted 6,000 baht for it. This little boutique only has about 4 racks of clothes, but some very interesting things. When you walk into the front door, go straight to the back and to the left. You'll have to just look at the tags of the clothes to see which boutique you are at...since there are no signs....Oh, as for how to get to the skytrain when leaving Paragon. Follow these directions since it's very confusing....Go to the Food Court level and find the Siam Commercial Bank...PURPLE sign and across from it you'll see a place called California Experience...Then you'll see elevators. Go BEHIND the elevators to the ESCALATOR and up one level and then to your LEFT and you will enter the skytrain station. There are no signs and you don't want to end up wondering around trying to find it since the mall is MASSIVE in size. Now to change topics....Magazines...Whenever I come to S.E. Asia I immediatedly go to the bookstore to buy magazines. Bangkok has over 20 English magazines. One that's THE best is called Bangkok 101. The only place I've seen it is at Kinokuniya here in the Emporium Mall. The magazine is everything Bangkok and tries to get people off of the tourist trail although it does list tourist things for the newbies,too. One place listed is M.R. Kukrits House...19 Soi Phra Phinit...South Sathorn Rd. BTS/skytrain Chong Nonsi Sat/Sun and public holidays 10-5 Adults 50 Baht Kids 20 Baht. Everyone heads for Jim Thompson's House, but this is something different. South Sathorn used to be one of the best streets to live on before the old houses were torn down and the high rises were built. Kukrit was one of Thailand's best loved statesmen and was Prime Minister for a while. His house and gardens are done in traditional Thai style.It's off the tourist trail. I'll try dropping by on Saturday and will report back. Oh, and in the Bangkok 101 magazine, it's been reported that there's a new Baan Khanitha & Gallery at 69 South Sathorn Road tel.(662)675-4200-1. Daily 11-2 6-11. It's supposed to be quite good and the photos of the house are beautiful. There's an outdoor terrace,too. Since there are 10 copies of this Bangkok 101 magazine....Nov/Dec edition, if you want, I could buy some and mail them to those interested when I get back to the states. I'd just need an e-mail address so that I can contact you as to where to mail them to when I get home. They are 100 baht each. Let me know if you're interested. Oh, there's a new serviced apartment building that's supposed to be the best in town called Meritus Suites on the corner of Silom Rd. and Charoen Krung Road. It's a 10-minute walk from the river.I'll check it out. And the Shangri-La has opened some serviced residences. There's also a new complex called Bangkok Villas.....www.bkkvilla.com which are fasionable ...two story... in a planned community... and in a quiet location and with hotel style services. So, instead of renting a serviced apartment, one can rent a serviced villa. And there's a new upcoming condo building that will have groundbreaking soon. It's a high-rise condo building and every condo will have its own private swimming pool on its terrace. Amazing and a little scary,too....leaks,cracks in the pool, earthquakes...remember I'm from a swimming pool/earthquake culture in California....Well, folks....I've really got to go. It's 2:30 PM and I haven't even started my day yet. Plus I need to check my other thread, proofread this and check my personal e-mail. I've been typing this for an hour now. Oh, I forgot...on the top level of Gaysorn Mall, there's a ner Harnn store that's fabulous. It just opened a couple of months ago....I think the saleswoman said. It definitely wasn't here in August because the products were sold from a little stand in the middle of the mall. It's great to see a whole store now. I've been buying their soaps...the lemomgrass one is great....for years. The store is aromatherapy at its best...and Harnn has always done beautiful gift boxes which makes buying gifts for friends a breeze. So take care until next time. Please excuse typing mistakes.Happy Travels!

glorialf

Great report, Guen. I have the Kukrit House on my list for Jan. It was mentioned in one of Nancy Chandler's updates. I've read several books about modern thailand and Kukrit has always been someone who has really interested me. I've read some of his writings as well. Anyway I've been looking forward to going so will be interested in your report.

rhkkmk

that house museum is on the nancy chandler map....i wanted to go last trip but did not have time....let us know how it is...its sort of in back of the holiday inn silom, several blocks ...

the meritas suites is in the state building, same building where the sky bar and sirrocco restaurant are located....corner of silom and new roads....i met a couple in the elevator who were staying there and they said it was great for about $75 per nite....

btw, i think the safes are operated by a bettery in their door....

keep the info coming, we love it!!!!

merry christmas to you...

bob

i'd love one of those magazines:

robert kimball
9 ridgeway avenue
needham, ma 02492

let me know how much i owe you

Kathie

Great report, Guenmai. I'll take one of those Bangkok 101 magazines. I'll email you whne you get back with my address.

I saw where they were building those condos with a pool for each unit. I had the same reaction you did about earthquakes, leaks, etc!

It sounds like you're having a great time - I wish I was back in Bangkok!

simpsonc510

guenmai
I, too, am enjoying your reports, so keep 'em coming. DH now has his ticket to BKK on Jan 17-Feb 5. Now it's my turn to book!!

Is there a lot of construction at the new Paragon? You mentioned that a lot of places weren't yet opened. Maybe by mid-Jan things will be running in full swing.

Carol

hawaiiantraveler

Guen:
Love the report...keep it coming. Put the Paragon Mall as a must see on our next trip in 8 weeks!
Aloha!

Guenmai

Carole...there's quire a bit open at Paragon, but quite a ways to go, too...sort of an oxymoran, huh? But check it out. It's very interesting architectually. And Bob and Kathie, I'll go over and pick up a magazine for you. I'm in Emporium now and looking right across at Kinokuniya bookstore. So, I'll do it after I finish typing to make sure you get one. I was reading the December issue of Thai Tatler which was quite interesting. It said that the government is aiming at Bangkok being the Fashion City, medical hub, air transportation nexus, kitchen of the world,...to name just a few things...of the region. That's why there's all of this renovation going on all over the place. There was a very nice article on Supaluck Umpusjh, the woman who had the vision for Paragon way back in 1995. She was responsible for Paragon being built.It was her and her familiy's project. The article said that it was very hard for her to aquire the land since an old palace used to be on the land, plus the Siam Intercontinental Hotel was also on the land and that it took a long time to get the approval from the board that oversees the property. Her family owns the company called the Mall Group that her father built from the ground up 26 years ago and Paragon was the last project that he was on. He unexpectedly died in October so didn't get to see the opening. She also built the Emporium mall. She said that she got the idea of building malls with high quality fashion stores when her family was traveling oversees a lot and noticed that other countries had fashion retail centers, but Thailand didn't. In Thailand,there were basically boutiques in hotels and small malls like Peninsula Plaza in Bangkok then. Thailand didn't have the type of shopping available to tourists that Hong Kong and Singapore had. Out of over 300 million baht that tourists spend in Thailand only 30% comes from shopping. The cost of Paragon was 15 billion baht and is 500,000 square meters which makes it a city within a city. When the mall is completed, it will also have cinemas, a bowling alley, an opera-worthy theater, convention hall and SERVICED APARTMENTS! It's reported that a project this size normally takes 5 years, but it will be completed in 3 years. That's why there's around the clock work going on. Only 80,000 square meters were completed for the Dec 09th opening. The rest will open in phases. So that's the story on Paragon...AND...now...Kobchai Chirathivat....whose family owns Central World Plaza(World Trade Center) is the archrival...so Central World Plaza is being renovated big time.....the war of the malls....I noticed something being built on the outside of the left wall of the mall the other day. I hope it's a skypassage that will connect it to the other sky passage for the skytrain. Oh, the skypassage between Chitlom station and Siam station is open and you can walk between the two. So, I hope one day we'll be able to enter the Central World Plaza from the skywalk and not have to go down that flight of stairs like now. 26 million baht will be used to renovate central World Plaza....AND it will look like Gaysorn in that it will be all glass.The plaza area of the mall will feature flagship stores and THAI fashion designers.There will also be a 500 room 5-star hotel. So, that's the latest on the happening in Bangkok. Oh, I forgot to mention that Amarin Plaza has been partly renovated. I love going to that mall although it's not a real busy mall.It's always kind of dead in there. I go to the fabric shop called Come Thai that has thousands of pieces of precut ethnic fabric. I went in to see Nong, the owner, who's had the shop for nearly two decades I think. Well, Nong still owns it, but Nong has moved to Singapore and opened a Thai massage business. I cracked up laughing. When I was here, In August, I dropped by to say hello to Nong and she was upcountry somewhere. It's So Nong...such a business woman. So, her place is on the third floor as is the new ethnic section with individual vendors selling things. That's a new section....AND....down on a lower floor is a new Nayra Phand store. There were only 3 people in it when I was there the other day. It's smaller than the other store, but it's nice. I found exactly what I was looking for. The Legend Store used to be in Amarin Plaza. When I was here in August, I went by there to check it out only to find out that it had closed down. I had no idea where it had moved to. Well, totally accidentally today, I wondered into the Thaniya Plaza which is at the Saladang BTS(skytrain) station. You can access the third floor of the plaza from the skytrain station. Well, I was wondering around and it looked like a boring mall with a LOT of golf stores in it. But, I kept wondering around only to find the Legend. So that's where it moved to. It's was OK, but the store across from it called Tamnan Mingmuang was really beautiful. I have the business card and on one side of the card the Legend is printed and on the other side Tamnan Mingmuang is printed. So, it must be the same store/owner. It's open daily 11AM-8PM. The Legend is supposed to be like Rasi Sayam. I still haven't made it to Rasi Sayam. I'll try to do it on this trip. I have so much to do. Today I was trying to figure out the washer/dryer which is all in one. The washer kept washing....and wouldn't stop...it was an hour and a half into washing. So, I called the front desk and asked how long it took to wash and was told...about 2 hours. The washer is made in France. I'm used to European washers as I lived summers in Europe for over 2 decades. They wash FOREVER! So, the washing machine technician had to come up and show me how to stop it...without kicking it to do so. I was worried that I would only have threads left of my clothes. Plus I asked him to bring me a manual. Then when it was time to dry.....well...it took a while to figure that out since it's one machine that washes and dries in the same machine. It took an hour and a half to dry. I was praying that the clothes would be finished before the fire drill where the elevators would be shut down and the fire bell would sound at ear-shattering decibels for half an hour....and everyone would be evacuated out of the building. I wanted to be finished with the wash and out of the building. So, I finally got it all done and left the building. Well, I'd better go. I think I've been on the computer for an hour and a half since I also had e-mails to answer. I don't think I left anything out. Take care. Happy Travels!

laurieco

Love your report Guen. I'd love one of those magazines, it will be good to do a whole bunch of new things on the upcoming trip to BKK instead of just going to our usual haunts. email is [email protected]

rhkkmk

guen---can you describe for us the types of merchandise that is available at both legands and tamnan mingmuang??

thanks...

i will be interested in your take on rasi sayan....it is now on soi 33..they moved...it is our favorite shop and someone reported that they were disappointed in the merchandise in the new shop with the new owner (s)...

merry christmas to you

bob