The Promenade at Fashion Island Bangkok

Fashion Island is the nearest large department store to us here in Minburi. When we first moved to Bangkok I avoided going there because I thought it just sold clothes – it took me a few months to catch on that it offers far more than this. We now usually go there once a month, but at this time of year we visit a bit more regularly because it is the rainy season – this makes it difficult to plan outdoor trips. Fashion Island is a bright modern mall with enough shops to keep my wife and son entertained for a few hours. Timmy loves it there because it has Kid’s Island on the top floor. This has a number of fun rides and one of the largest soft play areas in Bangkok – this means plenty of things for him to jump off, slide down, and swing from. My wife usually stays with him while I slip off to visit the Apple Store and enjoy a coffee at Starbucks.

The Promenade

They began building a new department store right beside Fashion Island a few months ago. It has an interesting design. It looks like something out of a fairy book because of the bright colors – it is also cleverly designed to look like an old fashioned street of shops rather than a department store. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the finished building and last Sunday we had the opportunity to visit.

The Promenade is connected to Fashion Island by a sky bridge. I didn’t realize this at first so we ended up having to dodge traffic as we made our way to there from the Fashion Island car park. It was worth it though because I was impressed by what I found inside – not so much because of the shops but because of the design.

The Promenade is obviously trying to attract the wealthy (or as they say in Thailand “high so”) so there are many expensive boutiques. There is also a new high end grocery market that sells international products so this is going to be another good option for westerners looking for home comforts. I didn’t go inside because I needed to go to Tops later – another grocery shop that caters for western tastes. One of the nicest things for me about the Promenade is that there is a Subway restaurant. This is one of my favorite comfort foods so it is good for me to now have an outlet in relatively easy reach of my home – hopefully I won’t feel the need to visit too often. There are also plenty of other restaurants inside The Promenade as well.

Overall I would say that The Promenade is worth a visit for the architecture alone. It is great that it is physically connected to Fashion Island because I wouldn’t visit often if it was just the Promenade.