Gateway Mall Ekkamai BTS

[ToddWeston]

I visited the mall shortly after it opened and it seemed decent enough, just returned and the place is empty. On the upper floors the place is half empty, they've even closed off the toilets. Most shoppes have closed and have rental signs everywhere, even the food court was empty empty at lunch time on a Friday.

Terminal 21 packed all hours of the day and Gateway a ghost town, any idea why?

[Changnoi2]

There is many a white elephant shopping mall in Bangkok mostly due to the lack of packing spaces. I imagine most people that go there are office workers. Its not really a destination place,

Edited July 12, 2013 by Changnoi2

[Jayroo]

T21 is in the best spot in BKK, and has a great food court, plus cinema load of shops etc etc.. Ekkamai Mall has nothing there really...

[Changnoi2]

T21 looks like its in the best spot. But its not really a great performing retail mall if you have a small business/shop. I had a part share in a shop on the 3rd floor (in the first year) and the feeling from most of the tenets is that they want to move on. The Thai people with money need the convenient parking. In my opinion its only the Supersized Malls that bring in the bucks.

[ToddWeston]

T21 looks like its in the best spot. But its not really a great performing retail mall if you have a small business/shop. I had a part share in a shop on the 3rd floor (in the first year) and the feeling from most of the tenets is that they want to move on. The Thai people with money need the convenient parking. In my opinion its only the Supersized Malls that bring in the bucks.

That is what was in the back of my mind how do they survive at terminal 21 I see traffic but not many holding bags with merchandise, I did see a few empty shoppes at Terminal 21 but nothing like Gateway. I felt sad after leaving that clearly so many small retailers lost a small fortune in Gateway. I was always under the impression if you were connected to a sky bridge/bts mall from newly weds to nearly deads would flock to the mall and you would be more or less guaranteed decent returns.

My interest in the matter is I'm looking to buy along the BTS and I'd like to have access to a decent mall.

[PaullyW]

I'm not a developer or even know a great deal about Thai real-estate, shopping preferences ect. But even when that mall was being built, something about it as a concept seemed wrong.

If one is already on the BTS, then Terminal 21, Paragon, Central World or Emporium are all better choices and essentially just as easy to get to.

If one is driving, the same is largely true depending upon the distance of course.

In terms of what Gateway has to offer, it's rather terrible. Mostly cheap stuff which they've attempted to jazz up a bit. Even the food is mediocre esp by Thai street food / food court standards. It feels like they wanted it to be a very slightly upmarket (by Thai standards) kids mall... But the problem is that the kids who goto school and move around in the areas along Sukhumvit would much rather be in the higher end malls with much more to offer.

The themed Japanese mall concept is fully bogus as there are NO real japanese food products or others in there that you can't find anywhere else in Thailand, even at 7/11.

The location is also the first real spot on Sukhumvit that is not as developed as the lower Sukhumvit sois. Ever observe how many people get off the bts at ekkamai as compared to the other stops? Very small as percentage. There's nothing to do over at ekkamai that is convenient to get to without a car.

Just a totally failed project. We'll see others as they continue to build nothing but malls all over this ugly city.

[PaullyW]

What does anyone else think?

[Changnoi2]

Play it safe Paul. I wish you well, a Bts link is no guarantee for a middle market. The new place across from paragon looks interesting. Siam square has historically been hub of fashion. I would try other malls on the mrt rather than the Bts

[soomak]

First of all is a Japanese style place, almost all restaurants are either Japanese/Chinese/Thai food, so for most Farang exapts it's not the best place to eat.

Tourists never go there as it's out of their areas.

Besides eating, there is really not much to do there, no cinema, no pubs, only one small supermarket.

I think they were betting on the large Japanese population in the PromPhong - Thonglor area, but apparently it's not enough.

I've eaten there a few times, and wasn't really happy, so I keep going back to T21 which has better choices and a cinema, and is only 5 minutes further by BTS.

[farang000999]

Sometimes it seems like shopping malls and by shopping malls I mean "food courts" are the only hobby in Bangkok. Most people walking about (especially farang) don't have any bags. They are there to waste time and eat. As for the food, well it is a food court so it's not like you are getting anything extraordinary. I admit Terminal 21 Food Court is much better than other food courts but most of these mall food courts are horrible.

I really like the Singaporean hawker centers where people can go to eat and socialize without having to climb 8 floors and waste a shit load of time just to eat and escape the sun. What you find when you really think about it is that Bangkok is an absolute disaster of a city. You can barely walk anywhere and there is barely anywhere to walk to. Sure, a few nice streets here and there and nice little sois to live on but nothing like a Tokyo or Seoul or Hong Kong or San Francisco or Singapore or New York where walking can be enjoyable and not dangerous.

Bangkok is

Condo -> Car/Taxi -> BTS -> Shopping Mall/Work -> home.

It feels mechanical and boring at times.

It is much nicer in the smaller cities around Thailand the food is a hell of a lot better.

I really do pity all the farang in a shopping mall thinking that they are eating good and living the good life. The food on average is at best 3/10 when compared to what you will get in a restaurant in a small city up north or down south.

Edited July 14, 2013 by farang000999

[OMGImInPattaya]

Sometimes it seems like shopping malls and by shopping malls I mean "food courts" are the only hobby in Bangkok. Most people walking about (especially farang) don't have any bags. They are there to waste time and eat. As for the food, well it is a food court so it's not like you are getting anything extraordinary. I admit Terminal 21 Food Court is much better than other food courts but most of these mall food courts are horrible.

I really like the Singaporean hawker centers where people can go to eat and socialize without having to climb 8 floors and waste a shit load of time just to eat and escape the sun. What you find when you really think about it is that Bangkok is an absolute disaster of a city. You can barely walk anywhere and there is barely anywhere to walk to. Sure, a few nice streets here and there and nice little sois to live on but nothing like a Tokyo or Seoul or Hong Kong or San Francisco or Singapore or New York where walking can be enjoyable and not dangerous.

Bangkok is

Condo -> Car/Taxi -> BTS -> Shopping Mall/Work -> home.

It feels mechanical and boring at times.

It is much nicer in the smaller cities around Thailand the food is a hell of a lot better.

I really do pity all the farang in a shopping mall thinking that they are eating good and living the good life. The food on average is at best 3/10 when compared to what you will get in a restaurant in a small city up north or down south.

Completely agree...BKK really is a dump of a capitol city...not a museum, park, or other cultural attraction worthy of more than a cusury one-time visit.

As to the malls...humm...one located at the intersection of two of the major throughfares in the city, as well as the intersection of the subway and monorail system and the other located near the sextourist express bus station; I wonder which one will be more successful...that's a tough one.

As for T21 itself, it may be crowded but don't see anyone buying much...mostly just wandering around gawking at the decor and riding the escalators. And I don't blame them. Unless one is a 16-25 year old Thai K-pop teeniebopper, what's the appeal. A cinema...who goes to those anymore? A selection of mid-market stores of not much interest. Even the supermarket is a truncated version, with much better ones at competing malls nearby. No, I would much rather spend my time at the "old" but classy malls like the Emporium, Gaysorn, Central Chidlom, even Peninsula Plaza (for my Dunhill cigars) than any of the new malls like T21.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

^^^Have to agree, OMG.

I think of T21 as just an air-con/toilet diversion. I'm no fan of the multi-level malls because it's such a hassle to find your way around 5-6 floors and find the shop you are looking for, if you are looking at all.

It seems to me the most successful "malls" are the Big C/Homepro and the Tesco two-level malls, just based on walk-in traffic that I saw all the time in Pattaya and here in Bangkok.

Central Plaza Rama 9 is largely empty of customers, with a big TOPS supermarket its only appeal. I find I still go to the nearby and much improved Fortune Town regularly.

And the malls keep on coming. Emporium 2 is going to be a giant, looking at its footprint. Then some day Washington Square will become another giant development.

There are only so many farang/Thai GF shoppers, and they go to Big C/Homepro or Tesco.

[kblaze]

Gateway, suffers from not having an anchor. Every mall needs an anchor, generally its a department store like central or robins. In addition to an anchor, the successful malls have a large grocery store, like Gourmet or Tops; Gateway has max valu.

Gateway also suffers from its focus on Japanese. Yes there are many Japanese, but the big spenders live in the phrom phong/thong lo area. Though Gateway is actually very close to these areas, it still suffers from being "2nd/3rd choice" for these Japanese families who have frequented emporium/small japanese shops around Thong lo for so many years. They seemingly do like Gateway, but like someone mentioned before, they simply aren't enough to sustain the mall. If it was along the bts thong lo or phrom phong, and Emporium didn't exist, then yes, Gateway would do very well. The focus on Japanese keeps the farang/other crowds from really becoming regular visitors. I know that the only reason I visit there is because it has a convenient banking setup (for me) and there is a shop that specializes in beef bowl, which my gf is addicted to. The other shops don't offer anything that I can't get other places. I went to the J.I.B computer shop at the top floor and the hard drive I wanted was at their "mother shop" at Pantip. I tried.

Thais like Gateway, but mainly for the cluster of japanese/thai restaurants at the bottom floor, there isn't much retail shopping goin on from what I see.

I do think Gateway was right in targeting the family with kids demographic, but it seems like they done it half heartedly, there isnt much in terms of advertising for the family activities at the mall and the fact that the "kids zone" is like 6 floors up deters parents. Furthermore, there just isn't a lot of things to "buy" there, the shops are mostly cheap tech accessories, small clothing shops (many of which are closing quick), and the weak electronic stores like Powerbuy, who don't offer anything that you can't get somewhere else.

In sum, Gateway is either going to keep deteriorating as it loses the battle against the bigger boys or it is going to need fresh funding to draw large anchor stores.

[isawasnake]

I think gateway will adapt and survive somehow. I agree that bkk is a crap city too, never been anywhere like it. This is the only place in the world I have been where I want to upchuck every time my feet touch the outside pavement. Sometimes I wonder what the average thai would think if they went to a place like la jolla. they'd shit their pants and think they had died and gone to heaven (with high prices). ahh, sorry, this is just what much of the rest of the damned world looks like - ie tolerable to walk and do things like, i dont know, take in an unobstructed view without paying some sort of premium.

gateway has a subway, what else can one ask for in this armpit of a city. there is also an all you can eat, grilled at your table salmon joint in there for 400 baht. that one aint half bad. it is by aeon, i forget the name.

Edited July 15, 2013 by isawasnake

[OMGImInPattaya]

I think gateway will adapt and survive somehow. I agree that bkk is a crap city too, never been anywhere like it. This is the only place in the world I have been where I want to upchuck every time my feet touch the outside pavement. Sometimes I wonder what the average thai would think if they went to a place like la jolla. they'd shit their pants and think they had died and gone to heaven (with high prices). ahh, sorry, this is just what much of the rest of the damned world looks like - ie tolerable to walk and do things like, i dont know, take in an unobstructed view without paying some sort of premium.

gateway has a subway, what else can one ask for in this armpit of a city. there is also an all you can eat, grilled at your table salmon joint in there for 400 baht. that one aint half bad. it is by aeon, i forget the name.

La Jolla...nice but don't even have to go that far; Singapore or any city in Korea or Japan would do nicely.