Fourteen Bangkok malls, from Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, MBK and Terminal 21 to ICONSIAM on the river and Platinum for cheap clothes, with the station, hours and food court for each.
Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, MBK Center and Terminal 21 lead this list, with ICONSIAM and Platinum Fashion Mall next. The chooser below sorts them by what you're shopping for, and the table has each mall's station, hours, food court and tourist perks.
Most of them sit in four clusters on the Skytrain, which is how I'd plan a mall day. At BTS Siam, Siam Paragon and Siam Center connect straight to the station, Siam Discovery is next door in the same complex, and MBK is one stop west at National Stadium, with a bridge back across to Siam Square. The Ratchaprasong skywalk runs east from Siam past CentralWorld and Gaysorn Village to Chit Lom, where Central Chidlom stands, and Central Embassy is one stop on at Phloen Chit. At Phrom Phong, Emporium, EmQuartier and EmSphere are joined to the station and to each other, and Terminal 21 is one stop back at Asok. ICONSIAM is across the river on the Gold Line, and Platinum is a walk north of CentralWorld in Pratunam.
Most open daily from 10:00 to 22:00. Platinum keeps market hours, 09:00 to 20:00, Gaysorn Village closes at 21:00, and EmSphere stays open until 23:00 Friday to Sunday. Spend ฿2,000 in one store in a day and ask for the P.P.10 form, and you can claim the VAT back at the airport.
| If you're shopping for | Go to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Luxury and designer labels | Siam Paragon, Emporium, Central Embassy, Gaysorn Village | Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton on Paragon's lower floors, and the calmer luxury malls at Phrom Phong, Ploenchit and Ratchaprasong |
| A whole day at one mall | ICONSIAM, CentralWorld, Siam Paragon | SookSiam and the river, an ice rink and an Apple store, SEA LIFE and an IMAX cinema |
| Thai designers and concept stores | Siam Center, Siam Discovery | Local and boutique labels at Siam Center, and the Lab floors of design, gadgets and gifts next door |
| Cheap clothes and wholesale | Platinum Fashion Mall, MBK Center | More than 2,500 shops at Platinum, cheaper when you buy three or more pieces, and haggling at MBK's smaller stalls |
| Phones and electronics | MBK Center | More than 250 phone, repair and accessory shops on the 4th floor, with SIM counters |
| Souvenirs | MBK Center, ICONSIAM | MBK's souvenir zone on the 3rd floor, and crafts from every region of Thailand at SookSiam |
| Food courts | Terminal 21, Siam Paragon, MBK Center, Central Embassy | Pier 21 on the 5th floor, the ground-floor food hall, Food Legends on the 6th and Eathai on LG |
| Furniture and home goods | EmSphere | IKEA Sukhumvit on the 3rd floor, a skywalk from BTS Phrom Phong |
| A quiet browse | Central Chidlom, Emporium, Gaysorn Village | Smaller and calmer than the Siam malls, a few minutes from them |
| Mall | Nearest station | Hours | Best for | Where to eat | Tourist perks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siam Paragon | BTS Siam Exit 3, skybridge onto the M floor | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Luxury houses, SEA LIFE, IMAX | Food hall and Gourmet Market on GF, EATELIER restaurants on 4 | ONESIAM Global Visitor Card from the Tourist Service Center on GF, VAT refund on the M floor |
| CentralWorld | BTS Chit Lom Exit 1 by skywalk, or BTS Siam Exit 4, about 10 minutes | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Mainstream brands, ice rink, Apple | Food court on 7 | VAT refund counter on Floor 6 of the Central department store, tourist information on Floor 1 |
| MBK Center | BTS National Stadium covered walkway, 2nd-floor bridge to Siam Square | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Phones, souvenirs, bargaining | Food Legends on 6 | Tourist privilege coupons and a passport gift at the G-floor Zone A counter, luggage storage on 6 |
| Terminal 21 Asok | Skywalk from BTS Asok Exit 1 and MRT Sukhumvit Exit 3 | Daily 10:00–22:00 | City-themed floors, cheap food | Pier 21 food court on 5, Thai dishes about ฿40–90 | Tourist privilege card and luggage deposit at the M-floor information counter |
| ICONSIAM | BTS Gold Line, Charoen Nakhon, or the paid shuttle boat from Sathorn Pier | Daily 10:00–22:00 | The river, SookSiam, ICONLUXE | SookSiam on G | ONESIAM tourist card |
| Platinum Fashion Mall | No station at the door, BTS Chit Lom about 15 minutes on foot | Daily 09:00–20:00 | Cheap clothes, wholesale | Food floor on 6, Zone 1 | Tourist privilege e-coupon from participating stores |
| Siam Center | BTS Siam Exit 2 | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Thai designers | Food Factory on 2 | ONESIAM tourist card |
| EmQuartier | BTS Phrom Phong, linked to Emporium and EmSphere | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Restaurants | Helix restaurants on 6–9, Gourmet Eats in the basement | EM tourist card, VAT refund in Building C on G and 2, four hours of free luggage storage |
| Siam Discovery | BTS Siam, through Siam Center next door | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Concept stores, design, gadgets | Siam Center's Food Factory next door | ONESIAM tourist card |
| Emporium | BTS Phrom Phong, linked to EmQuartier and EmSphere | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Calm luxury | Restaurants on 3 and 4 | EM tourist card, VAT refund on G, 2, 3 and 4, hotel delivery, currency exchange |
| Central Embassy | BTS Phloen Chit by skywalk | Daily 10:00–22:00 | Luxury, Open House bookshop | Eathai food hall on LG | Not listed on its site |
| Central Chidlom | BTS Chit Lom | Daily 10:00–22:00 | A department store visit | Not listed on its site | VAT refund service |
| EmSphere | BTS Phrom Phong, linked to Emporium and EmQuartier | 10:00–22:00 Mon–Thu, 10:00–23:00 Fri–Sun | IKEA, concerts at UOB Live | EM Market Hall on G and GM | EM tourist card, VAT refund on G and M |
| Gaysorn Village | BTS Chit Lom, on the Ratchaprasong skywalk | Daily 10:00–21:00 | Designer fashion, wellness | Food court in Gaysorn Amarin | Not listed on its site |
The luxury flagship at BTS Siam, with Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton on the lower floors, car showrooms on the 2nd and SEA LIFE Bangkok Ocean World in the basement. The ground-floor food hall costs a fraction of anything upstairs. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00, with a skybridge in from Exit 3.
One of the biggest retail complexes in Thailand, at Ratchaprasong on the skywalk from BTS Chit Lom, open from 10:00 to 22:00, with an Apple flagship, an ice rink and a 7th-floor food court. Give it half a day.
Eight floors and about 2,000 small shops at BTS National Stadium, closer to an indoor market than a mall, with phones on the 4th floor and souvenirs on the 3rd. Open 10:00 to 22:00, and haggling is normal here.
Where to stay
My pick at each price level in Bangkok, going by Google's hotel class. Hotels from my ranked list of the 10 best come first, then the best-reviewed. Each button opens the hotel on Booking.com with your dates filled in.
#1Luxury · 5-star
Millennium Hilton Bangkok4.6 (12,976 reviews)
Upscale riverside hotel on the Chao Phraya with strong service and sweeping river views.
Check rates
#8Mid-range · 4-star
Centara Watergate Pavilion Hotel Bangkok4.5 (4,456 reviews)
Sleek Bangkok hotel with spacious rooms, rooftop bar, spa, and an unbeatable location near top shopping.
Check rates
Each floor is themed on a city, from Rome at street level up through Paris, Tokyo, London and Istanbul to San Francisco, where the Pier 21 food court on the 5th floor is the cheapest sit-down meal around Asok. A skywalk links it to BTS Asok and MRT Sukhumvit, and it's open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
The riverside mega-mall on the Thonburi bank, where SookSiam, an indoor floating market of regional food and crafts on the ground floor, is the reason to cross the river. The BTS Gold Line stops at Charoen Nakhon, or take the paid shuttle boat from Sathorn Pier. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
More than 2,500 small fashion shops in Pratunam, many of them wholesale, so prices drop when you buy three or more pieces. It keeps market hours, 09:00 to 20:00 every day, the food floor is on the 6th, and Pratunam Market is a few minutes away.
The mall for Thai designers, next to Siam Paragon and wired into BTS Siam at Exit 2, with local and boutique labels rather than the big designer houses and the Food Factory on the 2nd floor. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
Three buildings at BTS Phrom Phong where eating is the main event, with Gourmet Eats in the basement and the Helix restaurants running from the 6th floor to the 9th. Tourists get four hours of free luggage storage. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
Concept-store floors in the same complex as Siam Center, each called a Lab, from Her Lab and His Lab at the bottom to the Digital, Creative and Play Labs above. Come for design, gadgets and gifts rather than big fashion names. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00 at BTS Siam.
The calm, older luxury mall at BTS Phrom Phong, across from EmQuartier, with Chanel, Dior, Hermès and Louis Vuitton and a department store. Tourists will find VAT refund counters on four floors. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
Quiet luxury on Ploenchit, built on the old British Embassy gardens and linked by skywalk to BTS Phloen Chit. Eathai, a food hall of Thai dishes, is on LG, and Open House pairs a Hardcover bookshop with restaurants and city views. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
Central's original flagship department store, on Ploenchit since 1973 by BTS Chit Lom, with seven floors of fashion, beauty and home goods and a VAT refund service for tourists. Calmer than the malls around it. Open daily 10:00 to 22:00.
The newest of the Phrom Phong malls, opened in December 2023, with IKEA Sukhumvit on the 3rd floor, the EM Market Hall food floors at street level and UOB Live, an arena of more than 6,000 seats. Opens at 10:00 and stays open until 23:00 Friday to Sunday.
Three buildings at the Ratchaprasong intersection, with designer fashion in Gaysorn Centre and restaurants and a food court across the road in Gaysorn Amarin. It's on the skywalk between BTS Chit Lom and CentralWorld, and it closes earlier than most, open daily 10:00 to 21:00.
By shop space, ICONSIAM, with about 525,000 m² of leasable area against CentralWorld's 409,500 m², on Wikipedia's list of Thailand's largest malls. CentralWorld has more floor area in total, about 830,000 m² to ICONSIAM's 750,000, and calls itself Bangkok's largest shopping complex. Either one fills a day.
Platinum Fashion Mall in Pratunam, with more than 2,500 small shops of clothes, shoes, bags and accessories, many of them wholesale, so the price drops when you buy three or more pieces. It's open daily from 09:00 to 20:00. MBK Center is the other bargain mall, better for phones and souvenirs, and its smaller stalls expect you to haggle.
Terminal 21 Asok. It's dressed as an airport, and each floor is a city, from the Caribbean in the basement through Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London and Istanbul to San Francisco and Hollywood at the top. The Pier 21 food court on the 5th floor serves Thai dishes for about ฿40 to ฿90, and a skywalk links it to BTS Asok and MRT Sukhumvit.
Yes, if you want somewhere new rather than famous. Its three retail zones are Parade, nine floors of everyday fashion, beauty and restaurants with Mitsukoshi Depachika's Japanese food hall on B1, The Storeys for trend-led brands, and Post 1928 for luxury. Parade is open daily from 10:00 to 22:00. MRT Lumphini Exit 1 leads straight in underground, and a free shuttle runs every 15 minutes from BTS Ploenchit Exit 2.
Siam Paragon, through the skybridge from Exit 3, and Siam Center, connected at Exit 2, with Siam Discovery next door in the same complex. MBK Center is one stop west at National Stadium, which has its own walkway into the mall, and MBK's 2nd-floor bridge crosses back to Siam Square. CentralWorld is about 10 minutes east of Exit 4 along the Ratchaprasong skywalk, with Gaysorn Village a little farther on.
Most big Bangkok malls are open every day from 10:00 to 22:00, including Siam Paragon, CentralWorld, MBK, Terminal 21 and ICONSIAM. Platinum Fashion Mall keeps market hours, 09:00 to 20:00, Gaysorn Village closes at 21:00, and EmSphere stays open until 23:00 from Friday to Sunday.
Spend at least ฿2,000 including VAT in one store on one day, ask that store for the P.P.10 form, and take the goods out of Thailand within 60 days, claiming at the international airport before you fly. The malls have their own counters, among them Siam Paragon's on the M floor, CentralWorld's on Floor 6 of the Central department store, and the EM District's in Emporium, EmQuartier and EmSphere.
