I honestly find that the clichés of floating markets and triangle hats have been left long to the past when it comes to tourist attractions. And while these cliches do still exist in the city, they feel they are now themed more towards tourists these days, which became somewhat obvious when floating market vendors started accepting credit cards as payment. And while I do recommend at least experience the “traditional” side of Bangkok at least once, on a first visit, for regular visitors there is just a lot more to now explore. And Bangkok, for me, is all about the big city life these days, with towering malls, rooftop experiences, and endless big city lights. And with new tourist attractions in Bangkok popping up year-on-year, I am back again to share some of the new tourist attractions to arrive in Bangkok city. Book Emirates airline ticket at the lowest rate.
The Em District
Dubbed the ‘Epicentre of Sukhumvit’, the new rejuvenated Em District area of Bangkok has revamped an otherwise popular mall area of Sukhumvit, famous for the Emporium, to a rebranded lifestyle and entertainment area branded the Em District. This is also a rebrand that has taken place through the past years, firstly with the opening of one beast of a mall called the EmQuartier (2015) which came to rival many of Bangkok’s other massive malls mostly found in the otherwise central shopping district of Siam (e.g. Siam Paragon & Central World). The Helix food court is alone worth the visit here. However, the Emquartier was only the beginning of the ever-expanding Em District, that included a somewhat temporary instalment with a Dinosaur Theme Park (Dinosaur Planet), that has now been dismantled to make way for the EMSPHERE (2020), a third mall that looks to be more focused on lifestyle and maybe restaurants and bars. As they already have two high-end Megamalls right next food in Emquartier and the Emporium. These malls are also easily connected by revamped Phrom Pong Skytrain Platforms, and there will always be a lot going on at street level here, being a tourist hub in Sukhumvit for dining and nightlife, and the malls are literally on the doorstep of Benjasiri Queen’s Park.
Getting to the Em District?
Bangkok’s Em District is found on the main Sukhumvit Road where it connects to the BTS Skytrain at Phrom Pong Station (Sukhumvit Line). It is on the doorstep of Benjasiri Queen’s Park.
Mahanakhon Skybridge
Until recently, the tallest building in Bangkok was the Baiyoke sky tower an oddly underwhelming 3-star experience, that really just lacked the excitement of its long-standing title as the Tallest Building in Bangkok. So it was a relief when the Baiyoke was stripped of its crown by the new King Power Mahanakhon Building (2016) which has really gone all out in promoting its title with proper rooftop experiences. And while our highlight of rooftops to date has been the alfresco fine dining of Vertigo at the Banyan Tree, the King Power Mahanakhon Building is more inclusive with various experiences for pretty much anyone. And this includes the now famous Mahanakhon Skywalk which is a “glass tray” experience (a glass floor) found at the very top of the building at the observation deck on the 78th floor (310 metres high). But this feels just like the beginning of one of the new tourist attractions in Bangkok given the recent opening of Bangkok’s highest bar and restaurant (Mahanakhon Bangkok SkyBar) and the first-ever luxury “Orient Express” hotel in Bangkok. So the King Power MahanaKhon building is definitely a welcome new addition to Bangkok, where it can be seen from almost all over the city, and it is also easy to reach in the Silom/Sathorn area where it connects to the convenient Bangkok Skytrain lines at Chong Nonsi Station.
Getting to King Power MahanaKhon?
The King Power MahanaKhon building connects to the skywalks of Chong Nonsi Skytrain Station and is easy to reach from the tourist hubs of Silom/Sathorn and Lumpini Park (Sala Daeng).
ICONSIAM Mall
Dubbed as the “Mother of all Malls”, the spanky new ICONSIAM mall is a new addition to Bangkok’s ever-developing Riverside landscape (2018), where it opened as Bangkok and Thailand’s largest mall, a new tourist attraction in Bangkok. And while technically, it is “just another mall”, there are many additional tourist interests outside of the usual shopping and lifestyle attractions found everywhere else. For a start, in parts, the interiors are designed almost like a traditional Thai theme park, with Thai cultural scenes, like street food markets, mini canals, and old teak houses decorating the mall. So you can kind of get a glimpse of traditional Thai life without leaving the malls (although I wouldn’t recommend it). Otherwise, there are other tourist attractions to make a visit worthwhile, including the ICONIC Multimedia Water Features (musical fountain show) which happens in every evening out front at 18:30PM, 20:00PM and 21:00PM (check out our video below). There are also some great riverside views from the ICONSIAM roof terrace (2nd-floor) where it connects to a Apple Store.
Getting to ICONSIAM?
INCONSIAM is found on the Bangkok Chao Phraya Riverside where free and regular river shuttle services leave from Sathorn Pier which connects to Saphan Thaksin station (Exit 2) on the Bangkok Skytrain lines.
