When i still lived in Thailand (pre-covid era) with my wife we often went to visit shopping malls in BKK. Call me weird but i enjoyed strolling in those gigantic complexes, people watching, being called hansum, having a bite and then watch a movie at SF cinema or major cinema.

I just stumbled upon a few video's on youtube about some guys walking through the malls like MBK, paragon, central word, emporium etc. It looks so dead, with sometimes an eerie feeling to it. Do Thai not visit the malls anymore because of fear to catch COVID, or simply because of economic reasons? I know most of you guys dread these malls, but Thai love 'em.

It's just so strange to see an empty MBK with lots of shops shuttered. It reminds me of this guy on youtube named Dan Bell, his channel is mainly dedicated to documenting dead malls in the US, very apocalypse-like.

I was in Bangkok a couple of weeks back and Terminal 21 at Asok was reasonably busy. Telecommunications outlets seemed busier than clothing, restaurants were patchy. That said, this mall is sited in the middle of the tourist area so probably attracts fewer locals.   

 

Fortune Town for electronics and photography was busy when I visited.,

Depends on the mall, some doing better than others, but nothing like pre-covid.

The empty malls you mentioned are all tourist targeted malls.  Go to local malls like The Mall Bang Khae,  The Mall Bang Kapi,  Central Lad Phrao etc and you'll find little difference between two years ago and now. 

Emquartier is as busy as it was pre-pandemic.

 

MBK has always had a very high percentage of tourist visitors/customers. That mall will only recover when tourism starts once more in earnest, unless the owners decide to repivot.

Central at Rama 9 is busy like before.

Depends on the mall, Gaysorn is as empty as before, Paragon as busy as before.

Tourist oriented malls like MBK are indeed a bit depressing compared to pre-pandemic. 

On 11/28/2021 at 1:49 AM, FritsSikkink said:

Central at Rama 9 is busy like before.

Yeah..I was there girl watching just today...and it was fabulous.. BTW there's a halfway decent doner kebab sandwich stall right near the Tops market take away area..give it a try

On 11/27/2021 at 7:12 PM, Farmerslife said:

was in Bangkok a couple of weeks back and Terminal 21 at Asok

I was in Terminal 21 Khon Kaen.

 

Really dead.

Some shops were shutting the metal doors around 8:00 pm, no footraffic let alone business.

 

What a great Mall!

Amazing and the hotel, Center point is excellent!

 

 

Siam Paragon busy yesterday late afternoon ,  queues to enter Chanel & Vuitton ,  basement floor (food outlets) heaving with people.

CentralWorld fairly busy early evening.

A lot of Sales on at the moment could be the reason why.

On 11/28/2021 at 1:49 AM, FritsSikkink said:

Central at Rama 9 is busy like before.

Yes, that's the mall closest to our condo and  it always seems busy--a growing area with lots of new condo projects.

I cant say much for the Sukhumvit malls, as i don't visit them, but Mega Bang Na has been packed any time i have went over the past year. Ikea seems to be permanently busy - at least on a weekend. In fact places that used to be quieter before such as Thai Watsadu (beside Mega) is busier than i have ever seen it. Previously was mostly just tradespeople frequented it but when i went last Saturday to pickup some of those fiber cement planks - it was jammed - with mostly families. Even the Mrs. noted it and she hates it there. 

 

 

 

The videos you saw may have been filmed during summer lockdown? THere's a YouTube channel of material along the same line, BKK Walks I think, and he had my 'hood, BangRak , as you describe but it was during the big lockdown. I'm going back to BKK for a few months on Saturday so I'm hoping its BangRak Bazaar and the food courts are bustling.

5 minutes ago, Thai Visa Member 999999 said:

The videos you saw may have been filmed during summer lockdown? THere's a YouTube channel of material along the same line, BKK Walks I think, and he had my 'hood, BangRak , as you describe but it was during the big lockdown. I'm going back to BKK for a few months on Saturday so I'm hoping its BangRak Bazaar and the food courts are bustling.

Yeah...when I lived just across the river, I used to spend my Sunday afternoons right in that area. Love it...miss it...

As other have said, the only mall that seems to be struggling is MBK.

 

And just like the op, I love the malls and have visited even the most obscure ones. Even the outlets in the middle of nowhere seem to be doing ok.

Went to Terminal 21, Emperion and EmQuartier last night….all were packed. 
Your YouTube videos were obviously filmed during ‘lockdown’ when only the essential service outlets were open. 

I work at Centralworld and can assure the OP it's is as busy as ever!  

16 minutes ago, Pravda said:

As other have said, the only mall that seems to be struggling is MBK.

 

And just like the op, I love the malls and have visited even the most obscure ones. Even the outlets in the middle of nowhere seem to be doing ok.

Yeah...MBK is the kind of place you go to when you first come to Bangkok (just because everyone says you must go) and then never again because it's just a bunch of stalls with people preying on unsuspecting tourists or newcomers.

Now isn't too bad with the biggest difference from pre-covid being that 95% of the mall people are Thai. When the lockdown was first lifted it was really eerie - Terminal 21 at Asok and the BTS station were ghost towns. Maybe 1% of pre-covid and that's probably generous.

2 hours ago, Pravda said:

As other have said, the only mall that seems to be struggling is MBK.

 

And just like the op, I love the malls and have visited even the most obscure ones. Even the outlets in the middle of nowhere seem to be doing ok.

If you've been in one shopping centre, you've been in them mall..

Those big malls charge the shops a lot to rent space and that high rent is passed onto the customer,  I do most of my shopping online now. And with my HD 72 inch TV with speakers and all the streaming options I haven't been to SF or Major movie in over a year. 

 

The only mall shops I visit these days are places to eat. 

Sounds like a load of malls to me....