Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Antiques
Real Thai antiques are rare and costly. Most Bangkok antique shops keep a few authentic
pieces for collectors, along with lots of pseudo-antiques or traditionally crafted items that
look like antiques.
River City
ANTIQUES
(
www.rivercity.co.th
;
23 Th Yotha; 10am-10pm; Tha Si Phraya/River City or shopping centre shuttle boat from
Tha Sathon (Central Pier))
This multistorey shopping centre is an all-in-one stop for old-world
Asiana. Although the quality is high, the prices are too, as many wealthy tourists filter in
and out. As is the case with many antique stores in Bangkok, the vast majority of the pieces
at River City appear to come from Myanmar, not Thailand. Many stores here close on
Sunday.
House of Chao
(9/1 Th Decho; 9.30am-7pm; Chong Nonsi exit 3)
This three-storey shop, set, appropriately, in
an antique house, has everything necessary to deck out your fantasy colonial-era mansion.
Particularly interesting are the various weatherworn doors, doorways, gateways and trel-
lises behind the showroom.
ANTIQUES
Department Stores & Shopping Centres
Bangkok may be crowded and polluted, but its department stores are modern oases of or-
der. They're also downright frigid, and Sunday afternoons see a significant part of
Bangkok's population crowding into the city's indoor malls to take advantage of the air-
con. By no accident, the BTS stations also have shaded walkways delivering passengers
directly into nearby stores without ever having to set foot on ground level.
