Do you spend an embarrassing amount of time hanging out at the malls?

[Jingthing]

Posting this from a mall where I've been hanging out for the last few hours.

I know I'm not the only one.

There are some expats you see everytime at Central Beach.

Was this what we had in mind when planning to live the Thailand dream?

I remember when I was a kid and I wanted to take some friends to the mall their mother asked what for and I said to hang out and she said only girls do that.

Silly woman.

[onemorechang]

No

I can say zero for me.

Go to a mall,   I would sooner have a root canal done

with no anaesthetic .

 

Edited January 15, 2017 by onemorechang

[rhythmworx]

What do you hang out at malls for, free wifi or something more perverse?

[thai3]

Hours a week normally, Islands of almost normality where we are. The mall Bang Kae is my favorite, 4 floor waterfall with rocks and plants and at the bottom 5 foot fish and parrots. They just need pubs.

[KittenKong]

I have a nice condo with a nice view. I dont need malls.

[Upnotover]

No, went to Big C extra earlier this week (does that count as a "mall")?  Awful experience but managed it in 17 minutes from entry to check out.  Hopefully next time will be quicker.

[wpcoe]

I visit a shopping mall less than once per month, and when I do, it's strictly business:  go in, buy what I want (or at least try to), and exit.  I'm excluding Tesco Lotus on Sukhumvit from the "mall" category.  I go there a couple times a month, but again, in and out.

[Jingthing]

Still there. Leaving now.

[Jingthing]

What do you hang out at malls for, free wifi or something more perverse?

None of those things. Not really the aircon either.

[giddyup]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

None of those things. Not really the aircon either.

Bird watching?

[raro]

I hate malls. I hate their car parks I lose orientation in them, they have nothing on offer that I couldn't get cheaper elsewhere other than clothes maybe and I buy clothes probably once a year.

I hate shopping.

Oh, and the restaurants in malls are overpriced junk food joints too. Wouldn't eat there if you paid me for it

Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using Thaivisa Connect mobile app

[alocacoc]

Sometimes, for example at Big C, after 5 Minutes I park my basket on the floor an leave the mall. I think, about maximum 10 Minutes is my threshold. After this time, I become aggressive. I hate malls. I hate the smell of malls and especially the noise. And not forget the stupid people who leave their giant shopping carts in the middle of the aisle.

[Jingthing]

I don't like bars and the beaches are filthy.

[guzzi850m2]

We often go to the malls in the weekends so my son can play in the kids zone, Central on beach road got a huge one.

 

Then I leave my wife to look after him and I wander about, looking mostly at electronic stuff, phones, cameras, pc's, TV's and visit a book store and see if any good offers is on hand.  

 

When done with that, I wander around looking at the women and shop windows, go outside having a fag.

 

I notice many men sitting alone at the different coffee/ice cream shops, most on-line, some reading an old fashion book, I think many of them are lonely.

 

I noticed the expats Italians often sitting together in noisy conversation drinking coffee, I see them many places all over Pattaya.

 

On the weekdays my wife and I are still checking out the different restaurants at the new Ocean Marina and having lunch there, close to our house.  

[Jingthing]

It's a place. 

If I lived in Oaxaca I'd go to the Zocalo.

 

[tropo]

I don't hang out at the mall, I go there to shop. If I don't need to shop I don't go there. You see a lot of older farang hanging out with all their elderly friends, and it's kind of sad to see. Is this what their life has come to?

 

Asking why many members spend all their waking moments posting on here is an equally valid question. Which is a bigger waste of time? Hanging out at malls or posting all day on forums? I suppose with smartphones you can do both at the same time. Others are hanging out in bars clinging to a bottle of beer. A seemingly equally big waste of time.

 

The question is, what should an elderly retired person be doing that is more fulfilling? It's one thing to criticise people for not seeming to have a life, but what should they be doing? Their budget is an important consideration when asking these questions too. I'm sure most of us could find better things to do with more funds.

[Jingthing]

I'm probably at the malls a small fraction of the time the expat "regulars" are there, but still go there quite often. So convenient and they do function like modern city centers these days. You can do several errands in one place -- banking / eating / movies / grocery shopping, etc. New malls of course get more attention in the short term ... now, it's Harbor. 

Edited January 15, 2017 by Jingthing

[pegman]

I do a lot of walking and it's nice to hit a mall ever hour or so for a cool down. Plus the washrooms are usually modern and clean. Also I do my banking at the machines in Central Festival. There are many options if there are machines down and I like going to one attached to an actual bank. I had my only debit card eaten by an ATM in Mex once and learned that lesson.

[AlexRich]

I don't drink alcohol but I do like a nice cappuccino and a nice lunch ... so I'll happily spend a couple of hours in one, reading my books on my iPad or catching up on the news online. 

[rhythmworx]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I'm probably at the malls a small fraction of the time the expat "regulars" are there, but still go there quite often. So convenient and they do function like modern city centers these days. You can do several errands in one place -- banking / eating / movies / grocery shopping, etc. New malls of course get more attention in the short term ... now, it's Harbor. 

 

So your there a small fraction of the time other expats are there, you termed them as regulars yet admit to spending too much time there.

 

Taking the kids out and getting away from the wife and having a smoke is a good excuse.

 

If your lonely there is always the option of popping in (no pun intended) into the latter half of the soi 13's or other sois in south pattaya.

 

Just a suggestion.

 

[Suradit69]

10 hours ago, Upnotover said:

No, went to Big C extra earlier this week (does that count as a "mall")?  Awful experience but managed it in 17 minutes from entry to check out.  Hopefully next time will be quicker.

Yes. Big C Extra every 3 or 4 weeks. And that's more than enough.

[toenail]

Now that I am on a strict budget I stay away from even window shopping; for, I do not want to be tempted to purchase something. I have chosen to rent a condo not purchase a home or condo in Thailand so I have no desire to improve my rented new condo, I do enjoy people watching at times, but sitting along the beach promenade gives me enough entertainment ( or curiousity) than sitting in a mall. True, in my younger days I would spend more time in malls/ shopping centers because of shopping -not just sitting around. 

[Don Mega]

Yeah I went to a mall for about 10 minutes 5 years ago, no desire to try it again any time soon.

[gjoo888]

Unless I need or want to buy something at a store in a mall, or eat at a particular restaurant in a mall, I avoid malls as much as possible. 

[catman20]

10 hours ago, rhythmworx said:

What do you hang out at malls for, free wifi or something more perverse?

air con

[Don Mega]

6 hours ago, Jingthing said:

 You can do several errands in one place -- banking / eating / movies / grocery shopping, etc. New malls of course get more attention in the short term ... now, it's Harbor. 

 

Meh, I can do all that and more in the airconditioned comfort of my house.

[rhythmworx]

1 minute ago, catman20 said:

air con

 

7/11 is cooler, dont you have it in your room?

[catman20]

4 minutes ago, rhythmworx said:

 

7/11 is cooler, dont you have it in your room?

i dont have a room,i have a house. i made the comment as to why some people go to the mails

[Don Mega]

Just now, catman20 said:

i dont have a room,i have a house. i made the comment as to why some people go to the mails

 

 

Why would someone go to a mall just for the Air Con ?

[n210mp]

I love the "Malls, supermarkets" specifically the old Carrefour (Big C) Tesco etc et al but then again I like airport concourses as well and never feel  bored or fed up whilst waiting for a flight 

 

I have become  "people" watcher and just love   having the "crack" with most of them (Well Thai mainly) the Farang population are  mostly socially dysfunctional these days 

 

When Im  not out on my Bicycle, at the driving range, playing golf at Sattahip  or tinkering with my computers I find myself looking for some mental stimulation in the resting position, so I "off" to the food area in Carrefour (Big C) whilst the Thai lady wife is doing some serious shopping and "while "  away the time talking to various very interesting similar to me "old farts"