Why the Bangkok Department Store is Such a Great Travel Destination for Kids
Sunday is family day in our house. It is the day when I pull myself away from the computer and spend a bit of time with my wife and son. A few months ago we moved to Minburi in Bangkok and this has greatly increased our travel options. Now not only do we have the wonders of the city, but we are also only an hour away from the beach. Despite this though, the last few weeks has left me struggling for ideas about where to take the family. We are now in the middle of the rainy season and visiting an outdoor location is a huge gamble. This is why I’m delighted to discover the wonders of the Bangkok department store as a travel destination.
I’ve been going to Bangkok department stores for years, but it only recently that I’ve realised what a great place these can be to take kids. My son has just hit the three years mark and is now a real live wire. When we go out he expects to be entertained; so the kid’s areas in these department stores are a great discovery. It is great to see him get so excited; there is more than enough to keep him happy for hours.
I think there is a view in many western countries that shopping facilities must be a bit basic in Thailand. The famous image of rural people selling basic necessities from quaint long boats; the reality is quite the opposite. I know that most western countries don’t have anything that rivals the department stores in Bangkok; at least the UK and Ireland doesn’t anyway. These places truly are like indoor cities and walking around them takes hours. I have also found that they are a great place to eat because of the variety. Fashion Island is my particular favourite because of their impressive selection of vegetarian food.
Yesterday we took our son to YoYo land in Seacon Square. This place has plenty of rides and other amusements to keep kids entertained. My son loves trains and cars and so he was delighted to be able to go on both. It is so funny seeing how hard he concentrates on steering while the car is taken him around the track. My wife took him on a water boat trip and he seemed to enjoy that as well; it looked a bit boring to me. The best activity has to be the play areas which is full of things to climb through, bounce off, climb up, slide down, and do all the all the other things that kids love to do. Once we let him loose in this play area he is off and doing his own thing; it is so strange to see him interacting with the other kids by himself – he really is his own little person now.
My favourite play area has to be at Fashion Island. It probably has slightly fewer rides than YoYo land but what it does have is all good. I particularly like the little shops where kids can go to make different dishes like cookies, pizzas, and even burgers. I think this is a great idea, but my son isn’t quite old enough for this yet. Overall I also think that Fashion Island works out a lot cheaper than YoYo land where there are just too many temptations for a kid.
The Bangkok Department store really is a great place to take young children for the day out; especially if it is during the rainy season. I would highly recommend it.
Agree – great places for youngsters, just be sure to keep one eye on the wife and the other on the bank cards
You might have a point there Jon 🙂
Paul I am not a shopper but I do miss the opportunity to visit places like you describe. We have nothing similar locally. Hua Hin is about the nearest and even there it is very limited.
This doesn’t seem to affect Duen and here ability to shop though 🙂
I wouldn’t have previously described myself as a shopper either. In fact these places always make me feel a bit poor; even when I have quite a bit of money. I don’t really window shop much because of that, and luckily my wife is quite similar. She spoils our son rotten sometimes but she never wants to buy anything for herself.
Just the other day a set some of my students a writing task. Namely, “Describe a visit to the mall”. Without exception all of their narratives were filled with descriptions of what they had to eat! They all listed “shops” they had visited as being Swensons,Macdonalds,Burger King, MK etc. I always encourage them to use as many adjectives as they can think of and they really did a great job of describing all the restaurants they had visited and the food they had eaten.
They also admitted that all their accounts were based on true life events and not made from their imagination. So, i guess you’re right. The mall is a great day out under cover.
Tom yam………
When I used to teach there would come that part of the term when we would discuss their holiday plans. Every year I would tell them that somewhere like Future Park wasn’t really a holiday destination, but every year they would choose this to write about – maybe they were right and I was wrong.