Horneytorney Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 As it was heavily advertised, I decided to take a look myself last weekend The Asiatique Riverfront http://www.asiatiquethailand.com/en/index.php they have rebuilt some old warehouses at the Chao Phraya River into a large shopping and dining complex at the Chao Phraya River. It is at Charoen Krung Road, between Taksin bridge and Rama III. Best access is by BTS to Taksin Bridge station and from there are free shuttle boats around every 10-15 minutes from 5pm close to midnight there is a pathwalk between the river and the buildings which is quite impressive Despite a Grand Opening last week, things are still a bit slow. Many of the bigger restaurants, in particular the ones at the River Front (which are supposed to be more high end) are still closed. There is a large food court with many different small restaurants, but many were serving only a reduced menu or just drinks. Open were the usual Fast Food restaurants. As it was very hot outside, I had some beers in a Irish Pub called Flann O'Brien (i am not Irish, but I think this is a writer from the first half of last century?). It was ok but it has not (yet) the atmosphere you find usually in such pubs. The shop concept is pretty close to the one of Suan Lumpini night market. But only a third have already opened. Later they will add Joe Louis Puppet theater and the unavoidable Calypso Cabaret what is missing in comparison to Suan Lum are the huge beer gardens that were so popular. In some area it looks like they are going to build one, but much smaller than in Suan Lum It was quite crowded this weekend with 99% locals; very few foreigners We will see how this is going to develop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted May 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXkkRwAF6eg promotionvideo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 The problem is that Charoen Krung Road is such a bottleneck, one of the worse roads in Bangkok IMHO, nightmare. It first opened about 3 months ago as a Chang Beer Garden on the riverside as the rest of the site was still under development but that has gone now. I agree with your comments about limited menu choices, we were there last night and first tried the italian restaurant, everything I tried to order I got "Mai Mee", like why the fark do you have on a menu if you don't have it?, after 15 minutes of waiting for a drink we gave up and went elsewhere, like how difficult is it to pop the cap on a bottle and serve me. Fortunately we found the Indian place, serves a cool tikka for 180 Baht and Miss Mekong commented they the pillai rice was the best she has ever tasted, she is from Chiang Mai so she knows her rice. There were a fair few foreigners there last night, I'd say around 5%, a fair few more than you saw there. Went to Flann O'Brien's bar and it was dead, less than 20 customers and given the size of the place it felt empty, you are correct Flann O'Brien is the Pen Name of Brian O'Nolan who also published works under the name of Myles na gCopaleen the name he used to write his column in The Irish Times under, he was Dublin's version of Bernard Trink. Personally I don't think the place will make it, everything Suan Luang had, BTS and MRT access, close to CBD and "The Chimney Pots" (an old english saying) Asiatique does not have, I know its only 4KM from Sathorn but 32 minutes stationary time in a taxi and 105 Baht fee does not make it that attractive even though the majority of the small stores there are ex OTOP Suan Luang, 6 months and it will be a white elephant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom Michael Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Ms. Mekong? From Chiang Mai?  What is this? Ah - now I get it - not Mrs. Mekong. Was worried there for a minute that you did a "Kiss and Make Up" without the requisite report here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dumsoda Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 555 Love it... PM How do you spell Bitch..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted May 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 some travel blogs also seem to have discovered it: http://www.thaitravelblogs.com/2012/05/asiatique-the-riverfront-is-the-new-suan-lum-night-bazaar/ http://www.thailandvoice.com/asiatique-the-riverfront/ http://thailandtravelspot.com/destinations/bangkok/asiatique-riverfront.php http://www.globaltravelmate.com/asia/thailand/bangkok/bangkok-shopping/2476-bangkok-asiatique-the-riverfront.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Ms. Mekong? From Chiang Mai?  What is this? Ah - now I get it - not Mrs. Mekong. Was worried there for a minute that you did a "Kiss and Make Up" without the requisite report here! Not much chance of that happening Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panadolsandwich Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Found the place drab and boring. Ended going elsewhere for good single malt and Australian steak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I wish them well but even a place like River City in a much much better position struggles getting people in . Who the hell is going downstream from Taksin Bridge . Charoen Krung ( New Road ) used to be Bangkoks main road many moons ago , first one with hard sholder actually . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horneytorney Posted May 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 free shuttle boat, Buffy, from Taksin Bridge; takes just 5-10 minutes I also think that the main target are not tourists but HiSo and Mid Class Thais and Expats; and those have anyway cars; they have parking for 2000 cars and accessibility by car is not so bad but at the moment difficult to predict whether this will get a popular place or not... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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