Best mall in Chiang Mai?

[sanemax]

I quite like to wander around the adjacent Lotus hotel , its quite mysterious

 

 

 

[YogaVeg]

39 minutes ago, sanemax said:

I quite like to wander around the adjacent Lotus hotel , its quite mysterious

Wow! Look at that!

...what other amazing things do you know about? ????????

Edited October 5, 2018 by YogaVeg

[sanemax]

33 minutes ago, YogaVeg said:

Wow! Look at that!

...what other amazing things do you know about? ????????

Inside the hotel , they have some glass elevators going up the wall , you can just seem them in this photo . The middle elevator is at the top and the other two are at the bottom 

 

[sfokevin]

12 hours ago, sanemax said:

Its on a huge plat of prime real estate .

Its only a matter of time before its redeveloped 

Your talking about removing somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000,000 bricks and several hundred thousand tons of concrete!... Where in Thailand let alone Chiang Mai, that doesn’t have a single level sidewalk, have you seen such a deconstruction/reclamation?

 

[sanemax]

7 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

Your talking about removing somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000,000 bricks and several hundred thousand tons of concrete!... Where in Thailand let alone Chiang Mai, that doesn’t have a single level sidewalk, have you seen such a deconstruction/reclamation?

 

Its not going to stay there forever and it building is so old , it will fall down soon .

I dont think that its made of bricks , they are just tiles that look like bricks

[Mark1066]

On 10/5/2018 at 8:02 AM, NancyL said:

Which mall is your favorite depends on which is most convenient for you to reach.  For me, Kad Suan Kaew is a very easy walk from home, so I know it well and can find most things I need.  Good Bangkok Bank, probably the most foreigner-friendly branch in town.  Fairly good Tops.  

 

Little longer walk for me is Maya Mall with an acceptable, but not fantastic, Rim Ping and a wonderful cinema. 

 

I've been out to Central Festival and then was surprised to find the selection of sheets and towels at the little Central dept store at Kad Suan Kaew was just about as good.  Why did I bother to go all the way out there?  Also the cinema at Central Festival somehow didn't seem as nice as the one at Maya.  What was the point of the trip?

 

And Promenada was the only thing that made trips to Immigration tolerable.  It was like having my own private mall to wander while waiting.  The cinema was nice, ChiChang, the electronics store good, Bangkok Bank friendly. The Rim Ping excellent.  I'll miss it, but won't be making any special trips just to shop at Promenada -- not from where I live.  

 

I'll guess I'll get reacquainted with Airport Plaza again now that Imm. has moved.  Haven't been there since Imm. moved to Prom.

If you’re going to judge a mall purely by the selection of sheets and towels in the Central department store, I guess you shouldn’t bother going to Central Festival. I’m not all that keen on hanging around malls given the choice but if I have to, Central Festival is a much nicer place to do it in than Kad Suan Kaew. If you like poorly-maintained, old-fashioned buildings with cramped car parks then KSK is the clear winner.

[Lacessit]

Airport Central is probably most convenient for me. Central Festival and Maya are further away, and more expensive. Kad Suan Kaow is a dump, although I must admit it has the cheapest swimming trunks. Promenada is equidistant from Airport Central. Its only selling feature for me now is the restaurant next to Rimping.

I'm a bit baffled by the concept of going to a shopping mall for free WiFi, when just about every coffee shop in Chiang Mai has it too. Unless one is so skint they can't afford a cup of coffee.

[narkeddiver]

A s’mall’ Chang? ????

[YogaVeg]

6 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I'm a bit baffled by the concept of going to a shopping mall for free WiFi, when just about every coffee shop in Chiang Mai has it too. Unless one is so skint they can't afford a cup of coffee.

Or unless one doesn't like coffee lol. I can't fathom why people go chasing around for that nasty goo.

 

Funny how I mention free WiFi being a positive, and there are 3 or more who read that as "went to the mall for Wi-Fi" ????

 

I don't go anywhere for Wi-Fi. 

But when I am out and about, I like to log on.

As I don't use a sim (cellular) Wi-Fi is how I communicate and check messages, surf the web, check prices, read news and reviews, plan maps for my adventures throughout the day ect.

 

Wi-Fi is a tool I use often, and I appreciate places that offer it, and they get more of my business as a result.

[YogaVeg]

12 hours ago, sanemax said:

Its not going to stay there forever and it building is so old , it will fall down soon .

I dont think that its made of bricks , they are just tiles that look like bricks

Oh those are definitely bricks. Millions and millions of real bricks, mortared in against cement walls.

 

I went there today and had a good look, and I don't see any bricks missing either.

 

That ole Central Lad Suan Kaew is built like a tank.

[sanemax]

1 hour ago, YogaVeg said:

Oh those are definitely bricks. Millions and millions of real bricks, mortared in against cement walls.

 

I went there today and had a good look, and I don't see any bricks missing either.

 

That ole Central Lad Suan Kaew is built like a tank.

Brick walls form part of the load bearing structure , they are an essential part of the building , those tiles were just stuck on for decoration .

  The steel beams and the concrete is whats holding the building up . 

[sfokevin]

5 hours ago, sanemax said:

Brick walls form part of the load bearing structure , they are an essential part of the building , those tiles were just stuck on for decoration .

  The steel beams and the concrete is whats holding the building up . 

Irrespective of what KSK is made of (The bricks - Which there are MILLIONS of are the easiest part to dismantle) your idea that they will tear it down is highly unlikely... Thais do not possess the means or the will to tear it down... It will be revered as a Sprit House of the great Thai Elvis...

Edited October 6, 2018 by sfokevin

[sfokevin]

The Spirit of KSK... Sadly missed....

Edited October 6, 2018 by sfokevin

[NancyL]

They've already turfed out the great Thai Elvis.  He no longer performs in the remodeled basement of KSK, just in the Lotus Hotel where they charge 200 baht for a beer and won't let you make one beer last all evening.  They taken all the fun out of an early evening at the Blue Food Court in the basement of KSK.  Now it's recorded techno music, not the golden oldies of Elvis and his merry band.  Plus the food selection is puzzling.  Designer coffees, smoothies, things on a stick, but no beer towers, fried rice or pad thai.  Is this really Thailand?

[boonrawdcnx]

Prefer Central Festival - never a problem parking there compared to Airport Plaza. Also most convenient location for me and Big C is just down the road.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[YogaVeg]

12 hours ago, sanemax said:

Brick walls form part of the load bearing structure , they are an essential part of the building , those tiles were just stuck on for decoration .

  The steel beams and the concrete is whats holding the building up . 

I'm not convinced:

"Loadbearing walls with brick veneer and concrete masonry units (CMUs) were built as solid walls in the first half of the 20^th century. Brick veneer and the CMU backup wall were bonded to a solid wall to carry the dead and live loads. In the second half of the century, a cavity wall system was introduced with an air space between the brick veneer and the CMU backup wall that was designed to carry the load. The insulation was located at the interior face of the CMU wall, and the brick veneer was completely separated from the loadbearing function."

 

Granted, this building was probably built in the 70s or 80s, but this is Thailand...

I saw no evidence of a "cavity wall system" nor airspace.

Those bricks are affixed directly to the wall it appears, and they are mortared solidly in all the way around. 

This suggests to me that on at least many of the walls, the bricks are not completely separated from the load bearing function of the wall, and thus are not merely cosmetic tiling.

Edited October 7, 2018 by YogaVeg

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, YogaVeg said:

Hmm. per wiki:

"Loadbearing walls with brick veneer and concrete masonry units (CMUs) were built as solid walls in the first half of the 20^th century. Brick veneer and the CMU backup wall were bonded to a solid wall to carry the dead and live loads. In the second half of the century, a cavity wall system was introduced with an air space between the brick veneer and the CMU backup wall that was designed to carry the load. The insulation was located at the interior face of the CMU wall, and the brick veneer was completely separated from the loadbearing function."

 

Granted, this building was probably built in the 70s or 80s, but this is Thailand...

I saw no evidence of a "cavity wall system" nor airspace.

Those bricks are affixed directly to the wall it appears, and they are mortared solidly in all the way around. 

This suggests to me that on at least many of the walls, the bricks are not separated from the load bearing function of the wall, and are not merely cosmetic tiling.

Last time that I was there , I did notice that some of the tiles had fallen out from the wall , quite large spaces in the wall where whole sections had fallen away .

   That doesnt happen in brick walls , the bricks above keep them in place , which suggested that those tiles were stuck to the wall .

   I may go there again today and I shall take a closer look

[YogaVeg]

Hey Maya, I'll tell ya what I don't like- going to the Rimping and being stared down by multiple personnel as if I were about to steal something. Wow, what's up with that? Anyone else get that?

Btw, I dress well with long pants a nice shirt. Not to mention carry around more pocket change than folks wages for a month.

Edited October 7, 2018 by YogaVeg

[canuckamuck]

I only go to malls to eat or watch a movie. They all have the same food it seems, and the same movies too.

In fact they all seem have the same stores as well. So the answer to the question is, whichever mall is closest. For me it's usually Central in Chiang Rai.

[orchis]

On 10/5/2018 at 5:31 PM, YogaVeg said:

Wow! Look at that!

...what other amazing things do you know about? ????????

There's also a 1500 seat theatre hidden in there

[BobBKK]

My head says Central Festival and my heart says quirky Kad Suan Kaew.  My less generous part say's the worst is Promenada with Airport Central in-between. The most difficult is Maya as I hate the parking and traffic there and so rarely go.

 

 

 

 

[NancyL]

1 hour ago, orchis said:

There's also a 1500 seat theatre hidden in there

Yes, and I heard a story, maybe an Urban Legend that shortly before KSK opened the brick wall that was the backwall of the big theater stage collapsed the day before the big opening ceremony. There used to be an ice rink on one of the upper floors of the mall -- maybe level 3, but they had to shut that down when they realized the structure wouldn't handle it.

 

The "brick walls" probably aren't load-bearing, but it's one heck of a lot of rubble to dispose of if they want to re-purpose the site, as we recently discovered in remodeling a condo built in the same era with interior walls of the same brick and mortar, yet non-load bearing construction.  Normally here, they use columns for load-bearing.  We gutted out all the interior walls without any ill-effects.  The columns do all the work in the building.

[sfokevin]

Not Sure about a ice rink but there is also a bowling alley up in there somewhere!..

 

I never said the bricks were load bearing but that there were just a HUGE amount of them. And I stick by my statement they will never remove that structure!... A hundred years from now Chinese tourist will be taking their wedding pictures in front of it... 

[YogaVeg]

42 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

I never said the bricks were load bearing but that there were just a HUGE amount of them. And I stick by my statement they will never remove that structure!... A hundred years from now Chinese tourist will be taking their wedding pictures in front of it... 

I confess, it is I who keeps questioning the possibility of the bricks being partially load-bearing.

 

Seems they could have done the facade a lot cheaper and easier and far less weight using thin tiles. And I've seen old buildings that had the same look where the bricks are indeed structural.

 

But I have no clue, really.

I am darn curious tho.

 

Ya, that would be a huge undertaking to demo. Big money. My guess is they will let gravity take its course.

And that building could stand for decades to come...

[bkk6060]

That KSK mall is the biggest dump of a place. Seriously some of you like it? For what?

Half or more of the shops are closed, everything is old and out dated. And it smells inside.

Want to go to the movie? Hope you speak Thai,

The place is one of the worst malls in all Thailand from my experience.

Central Airport or Festival are the 2 best.  Pretty close I think.

I actually like Promenada also no people in the movies.

[YogaVeg]

9 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

That KSK mall is the biggest dump of a place. Seriously some of you like it? For what?

Half or more of the shops are closed, everything is old and out dated. And it smells inside.

You clearly didn't bother to read the thread, if you are seriously asking what people like about the mall!

Your question has been answered a dozen times over!

 

Tons more awesome food options than Maya or Airport Plaza. Charming unusual vintage layout. Location. Cheaper prices. Less farang and way less pretentious than the others. It has history and soul. 

 

 

 

[bkk6060]

9 minutes ago, YogaVeg said:

You clearly didn't bother to read the thread, if you are seriously asking what people like about the mall!

Your question has been answered a dozen times over!

 

Tons more awesome food options than Maya or Airport Plaza. Charming unusual vintage layout. Location. Cheaper prices. Less farang and way less pretentious than the others. It has history and soul. 

 

 

 

HAHA.  I could care less what people like/think about that mall.

It is about me expressing my opinion. 

It you take the time to read the posts several say they like that mall because of its proximity. That is not a true evaluation of a mall, which the OP was asking for.

The place is an old, needs to be updated hole of a place with no real destination appeal.

Not many people go there whatsover.

Come to CM someday and check it out for yourself....

It is my opinion the worst mall in CM I like Promenada better then that place.

[Lacessit]

21 hours ago, YogaVeg said:

Or unless one doesn't like coffee lol. I can't fathom why people go chasing around for that nasty goo.

 

Funny how I mention free WiFi being a positive, and there are 3 or more who read that as "went to the mall for Wi-Fi" ????

 

I don't go anywhere for Wi-Fi. 

But when I am out and about, I like to log on.

As I don't use a sim (cellular) Wi-Fi is how I communicate and check messages, surf the web, check prices, read news and reviews, plan maps for my adventures throughout the day ect.

 

Wi-Fi is a tool I use often, and I appreciate places that offer it, and they get more of my business as a result.

Nasty goo? Who removed your taste buds when you were a new-born?

[bkk6060]

Who the heck cares about free WIFI??

Most of us are in the modern world where you can get unlimited packages for a very low price.

If one is searching for a mall or place with priorities being free WIFI, how sad.

Or maybe just sadly cheap...

[YogaVeg]

29 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

HAHA.  I could care less what people like/think about that mall.

It is about me expressing my opinion. 

It you take the time to read the posts several say they like that mall because of its proximity. That is not a true evaluation of a mall, which the OP was asking for.

The place is an old, needs to be updated hole of a place with no real destination appeal.

Not many people go there whatsover.

Come to CM someday and check it out for yourself....

It is my opinion the worst mall in CM I like Promenada better then that place.

Alrighty then. You have expressed your opinion now, loud and clear, thanks for the contribution. 

Just some advice: positive statements carry more interest and credibility than bashing ones.

The OP is asking for people's opinions on the what people like (ie best), not so much on what they don't like. No need to rail on about something you don't like, it adds no value to the thread, and frankly, nobody is all that interested. 

It isn't what the OP asked for in the first place.

 

FYI, I was just at that mall today btw, as were hundreds of other people, there was live music too.

 

As far as inviting me to actually come to CM, as well as lecturing me on what you think the OP wants, good grief pay attention! ????

I AM THE OP!