Every youngster once in a lifetime dreams of hanging out together with friends or their lover at Siam Square Area, the most vibrant commercial area of Bangkok where everyone can always find inspiration and discover their identity. Shops around the area offer trendy and creative items as well as apparels from both local and international labels. There are also a wide range of dining experiences from trendy restaurants and food from various cuisines, gigantic cinema screens, arts exhibitions and aquariums which are perfect for group activities.
If you are looking for creative items of your style or unique souvenirs where you could not find it anywhere else or even if you want to experience some cultural attractions as well as sensing the life of Bangkokian middle class youngsters to feel young again, I highly recommend you to visit here.
Activities in this area
Shop, Shop and Shop!
From global brands to local’s favourite labels in every category, there will always be a shop of your style located here in Siam Square Area. Small tips from my experience is since each shop along the street or inside a shopping mall has their specific customer segment they want to catch, this means you should have some goal in mind on what kind of items you want to shop so you can go to the right place. Here’s the guide to shop in Siam Square Area.
Standalone shops of luxury brands are always located inside shopping malls like Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery as well as many upscale brands from both local and international which are usually located inside the department store section of those shopping malls.
A shop of streetwear or sports apparel can be found anywhere in Siam Square Area, both inside a shopping mall or a standalone shop along the streets. However, if you are looking for sports equipment like golf equipment or shoes for specific sports, these have to be inside the department store of Siam Paragon.
If you are a fan of some local brands or looking for something new and local, shops of local brands are usually standalone along the streets of Siam Square or inside Siam Center and Siam Square One. Some big local brands may have a serious store inside the shopping mall as well, but not many.
Creative small items locally produced, rare designed souvenirs or OTOP products which are handcraft made by local wisdom and designed from communities across Thailand, these items can be found in Siam Discovery, or in some sections of Siam Paragon such as NEXTOPIA. However, a shopping mall usually offers a selected well-designed, high quality piece. If you are looking for something very local, a bit of a mass product which may vary in terms of the quality, you may find it in MBK Center at a reasonable price.
Lastly, if you are looking for cheap unbranded items, less designed for your everyday use like clothing, slippers and small accessories, cheap jackets, etc. You can always find it at MBK Center or the small individual shops inside the fashion zone of Siam Square One or in small complexes along Siam Square.
Immerse yourself in arts and entertainment
There are plenty of cultural activities and entertainment in Siam Square Area, again, depending on what kind of activities you would like to experience. If you are into arts and paintings, especially from the local artists you must visit Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BACC). Feeling fun taking photos side by side to the famous public figure, there is a Madame Tussauds show inside Siam Discovery. In case you want the cutting-edge movie experience, try visiting Paragon Cineplex at Siam Paragon and looking for a new screen you want to experience.
Explore ocean life at SEA LIFE Bangkok Ocean World
It is the first in Southeast Asia where you can experience an aquarium inside a shopping mall of Siam Paragon. At SEA LIFE Bangkok, you will explore underwater life as well as penguins and a handful of species from tropical areas. If you are having a family trip to Bangkok, this is the perfect spot for you. You can enjoy the aquarium tour with your children and do the shopping and dining later all in one place without having to travel further to the other places.
Must visit place
Shopping street and malls
1. Siam Square
2. Siam Square One
3. Siam Paragon
4. Siam Center
5. Siam Discovery
6. MBK Center
Cultural spaces
7. Jim Thompson House Museum
8. Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)
Hotel recommendation in this area
There are not many hotels in Siam Square Area compared to other areas. Most of them are located around MBK Center which is walkable to the center of the area like Siam Square. The good thing is the price of the hotel in this area is not insanely high considering staying in the inner city of Bangkok where everything you need is within walking distances. You can easily find a great room in a price range of around 3,500-5,000 Baht (~100-140 USD) per night here, which is considered to be a very good rate for this kind of location. Here is our recommendation list. (Contains affiliate link)
1. Novotel Bangkok On Siam Square This is the most value for money hotel I have ever seen, considering the location which is right at the center of Siam Square and decent facility.
2. Pathumwan Princess Hotel The hotel is located at the top of MBK Center with direct access to MBK Center and provides great facilities including the spa services. The hotel is part of the Dusit group – a Thai 5 stars hotel chain. You can be sure about their service quality as well as enjoying the benefit of Dusit Gold loyalty program.
3. Mercure Bangkok Siam Great location right at the BTS National Stadium station. The location of this hotel is less crowded compared to the first two recommendations, yet accessible to many places in walkable distances.
4. Hua Chang Heritage Hotel Bangkok Famous local hotel with beautiful modern-colonial style along the Khlong Saen Saep. The location may be a little bit far away from everything in the area, but still walkable. I heard that the breakfast here is really really good. Great services for the local hotel.
5. Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok One more recommendation in case you are looking for more luxury and private stay away from busy streets. The hotel is located behind Siam Paragon and has multiple large scale pools as well as a spa facility, perfect for family stay.
How to get there?
The Siam Square area is quite huge and the traffic is really bad in this area. If you already stay in a hotel in this area, congratulations then you can just simply walk to any places nearby. However, if you come from another area, here are a few modes of transportation I do recommend
By BTS
This is the most convenient way to visit Siam Square Area. There are 2 BTS stations you can choose, depending on where you want to visit, which are BTS Siam station and BTS National Stadium station.
For BTS Siam station, basically, you can enter any shopping mall in this area from this station except MBK Center and Siam Discovery. In the middle exit of the station, there is a skywalk which directly connects to the main entrance of Siam Paragon and Siam Square One right from the concourse level of the train station.
On one end of the station, there is also a walkway which connects to the entrance of Siam Center and the other end of the station there is an entrance to the other side of Siam Paragon as well as a long walkway which leads you to Central World and Ratchaprasong District.
You can also choose to walk on the Ground level if you want. There are stairs to go down from the station as well.
For BTS National Stadium station, this will be for anyone who wants to visit MBK Center, Siam Discovery, Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre as well as Jim Thompson House Museum. At the exit of the concourse level, there will be a skybridge called “One Siam Skywalk” or “MBK Bridge” which connects you right to those attractions.
You can always walk between these two stations. In case you start from BTS Siam station. All you have to do is enter Siam Center and go to the 3rd floor to find the skybridge which connects to the 2nd floor of Siam Discovery. If you could not find it, of course you can always go to the ground level and walk along the normal pedestrian where you can feel the heat.
By MRT
If you come from another part of Bangkok where MRT is closer and accessible to you, then MRT can also be a good choice. First, you need to transit to the BTS skytrain network which can be done either from MRT Silom station or MRT Sukhumvit station.
From MRT Silom station, you will transit to BTS at BTS Sala Daeng station. On this line, you can go to both BTS Siam station and BTS National Stadium Station without any further transit.
If you come from MRT Sukhumvit station, you will transit to BTS at BTS Asok station. From this point, you can go only to BTS Siam station. If you want to go to BTS National stadium you have to choose whether you want to stop at BTS Siam station and walk according to the recommendation above (see “By BTS” topic) or do another transit to BTS Silom line (dark green line) at BTS Siam station. The transit between the BTS line at this point will be very easy, just using the platform on the opposite side, same floor after you get off the train at BTS Siam Station and continue a ride for 1 more station. The fare should not be different even if you ride one more station, as it already reached its ceiling price at this point.
By Taxi/Tuktuk
It is possible to go here by Taxi or Tuktuk. The driver may charge you an overpriced rate as traffic is really bad in that area but you can always negotiate for a lower price. As a local, I recommend negotiating the price first before entering the vehicle and keep in mind both you and the driver can always reject the deal.
By Car
It is better to avoid going to the Siam Square Area by car. However, if you cannot avoid it, you can park it at any shopping mall. However, it can be very difficult to find the spot due to its crowdedness and there will also be a parking fee applied. Each shopping mall will charge you at a different rate. Please always study the parking fee again at the shopping mall every time you enter the place.
