16October2025: No Guilt Shopping and Observations on Poverty and Luxury
I have purposely opted out of the day’s tour itinerary not feeling particularly well and exhausted by all the travelling and a late night yesterday. I miss a cruise on the Chao Phraya River, but I did that last night. Yet more temples. The plenitude of temples is vaguely reminiscent of Rome with a church on every corner as beautiful as each church may be but repetition leads to numbness.
I tank up on water to hydrate and walk 10 minutes down the street to Icon Siam Shopping Mall a temple of Thai commerce all 12 or so floors of it. After so much water multiple WC’s (immaculately clean) on each floor are appreciated.
The street is rough and ready as you exit the hotel. Raunchy shops and a few stalls selling street food screaming “avoidance”! My grandmother visited Germany in 1947 returning home with a tapeworm. There is a 7 11 convenience store and very marginal looking restaurants. There are many tailors. A cross street has a canal bordering it and there is a look of poverty. Bangkok is a city of luxury interspersed with poverty or is it poverty interspersed with luxury? This is apparent from our hotel room view and a cruise on the river.
The Icon Siam Mall is a vertical one some 12 stories high. Food stalls, grocery stores and a few tacky souvenir shops but keep walking upwards and this is a true luxury mall with some high-end outlets, car dealerships, financial offices and some chain stores like Uniqlo and HMV. Fascinating shopper mix with a global feel. Saudis, Asians and Europeans happily shopping away.
I gave a thought to grabbing a lunch at the ground floor with its many kitchens and stalls, but the food does not appeal and far less enticing and authentic than at the Ion Centre in Singapore. On the top two floors one finds more authentic higher end eateries. None of my excursion is on the tour itinerary but it has been a guilt free cultural learning experience.
A Bird's Eye View of Fashion, Food, Travel, Culture, Beverage and Curiosity 