Asiatique, has it gone to the dogs?

[Deserted]

Hi all, I went to Asiatique last night for the first time in a few years. I noticed approximately half of it was closed with empty shops, almost all of the bars have gone, and if you wanted a pint of beer anywhere you had to pay between 300-500 baht. There was also a lot of unfinished construction. What's happened to the place? It seems to have really gone downhill.

[soi3eddie]

Went there a few times after it opened. It was never any good anyway. 

 

[KhunLA]

Insulting dogs is not cool ...

... so nothing has changed, still an overpriced tourist trap.

 

Those that survived on the overflow from the few higher end places catering to the Hiso s have closed up, since no overflow for a few years & now.

 

There was a decent kebab vendor, and always a long Q, but that's about it.   Good for fireworks NYE.

[Callmeishmael]

Gone downhill?  As far as I could see it was always an overpriced tourist trap.

[OneMoreFarang]

Was that place ever good?

I was there maybe two times before Covid. I think it was a total rip-off (made for tourists) and I never returned. 

[bkk6060]

I don't like it either.  But, I bet the Chinese will so it will probably stay open.

[digbeth]

it's being redeveloped into a highrise tower, so no loss there

 

the open air tourist trap like Jodd Fair in  is a much better deal with non-ripoff price that locals can enjoy too without being too unsanitary/cramped like other Thai focused night market like Those along Ram-Inthra expressways 

[Deserted]

It has always been overpriced yes but I've never seen it left half empty like it is now.

[Lorry]

3 hours ago, Deserted said:

It has always been overpriced yes but I've never seen it left half empty like it is now.

The Chinese will populate it again

[geisha]

I went once , and then took my niece . She liked it. It’s the sort of place you go once, and never again.

You have to have something that makes you want to go back in that business, and really, the shops sell the same Chinese rubbish you find on every street in Thailand. 

[Caldera]

It has been a ridiculous tourist trap right from the start. But at least they seem to have solved the problem of overcrowding. 555

[Deserted]

I remember it as always busy but now its half empty.

[NoshowJones]

What is Asiatique? I have never heard of it.

[Kinnock]

39 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

What is Asiatique? I have never heard of it.

Old riverside warehouses converted into a covered market and restaurants.  Was popular with tourists pre-covid, now half of the units are closed.

 

You've probably seen the ferris wheel in Bangkok.

 

Next month there will be a Disney/Star wars exhibition there to try to attract more tourists.  Next year it will be replaced by a high rise condo (apparently another tallest building in Thailand), as Bangkok has a desperate shortage of high rise condos.

[MrJ2U]

Most local people wouldn't bother going to Asiatique.  Just your usual Thai overpriced tourist trap.   Always has been. 

 

Better off going to Terminal 21.

[Deserted]

It's lost a lot of what appeal it had when it first opened it would seem.

[swm59nj]

I visited there a couple of times.  Walked around.  Had dinner. But haven’t been there for two or three years. 
It was nice at that time. Nice shops and restaurants. It might be pricey to some peoples standards.  It’s not a 50 baht meal place or 100 baht for a shirt. That doesn’t mean it’s a tourist trap.  Some people can afford it. 

[newnative]

    Took my four sisters there when they visited in 2017.  It was packed.  Went back late last year with my partner to catch a dinner cruise and we were shocked at how it had changed.  Just a handful of stores and restaurants still open.  

[buick]

i went there a few times.  i thought it was a decent place to go if you want to spend some time by the river.  i've been to a few other places by the river and they weren't for locals, that's for sure.  drink on the patio at the mandarin oriental, a table near a window with river view at icon siam, etc...  some restaurants along the river get booked up weeks in advance.  i thought aisatique was kind of a poor man's way to get riverside !!  unless you want to drink canned beer standing up on a dock somewhere.  i don't make it over there very often so maybe i've missed the 'local, non touristy places'.

[warrima]

Only been there 3 times. The last 2 occasions was for covid vacs. 

[vinci]

went there when it first open and never came back

[kingstonkid]

Location location location

 

It was too far out of the way.  There was nothing there to attract people an it was not easy to get to.

[Thai Visa Member 999999]

6 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Location location location

 

It was too far out of the way.  There was nothing there to attract people an it was not easy to get to.

Nonsense it is in a fabulous place with three high end hotels close by. The place has been hammered by Covid sadly and the loss of tourist groups. It has opened up a little more in the last two months but until the Chinese and Koreans come back in similar numbers, it won't be the same. I walk home past it every night around 11pm or midnight and the foot traffic is just a fraction of three years ago. It used to be hard some nights to get a taxi in Bang Kho Laem without the driver insisting no meter because at Asiatique, it's the norm. 

[Deserted]

21 hours ago, swm59nj said:

I visited there a couple of times.  Walked around.  Had dinner. But haven’t been there for two or three years. 
It was nice at that time. Nice shops and restaurants. It might be pricey to some peoples standards.  It’s not a 50 baht meal place or 100 baht for a shirt. That doesn’t mean it’s a tourist trap.  Some people can afford it. 

Correct. It's a bit harsh to call it a tourist trap. It does have character, or at least it did. Not so sure now.

[JimTripper]

Covid probably. Go figure.

[Hanuman2547]

I went there back in December 2018.  It was ok.  It looked nice and all but was definitely a bit on the pricey side.  Then Covid hit 14 months later and just haven't been back.  Sad to hear that it had gone downhill.