Until the red shirts made their camp there I didn’t even know that the junction in the middle of so many of the malls was called Ratchaprasong. I’m never likely to forget where it is now…
Yesterday’s visit to Bangkok’s shopping district turned into a surprisingly emotional trip. I was cheered to do a bit of shopping and to find my favourite place to eat in the whole of Bangkok, the gorgeous Sunshine Kitchen inside Siam Paragon was in operation, but the rest of it was horrifying.
I knew CentralWorld had been wrecked by fire but the knowledge and the reality hadn’t quite come together. I passed by in a taxi so still the impact didn’t quite hit me. Instead it was road level parade along Siam Square – Bangkok’s funky teenage hangout – that shocked me. Facades had gone and I looked straight into burned out cavernous holes. Wires and struts spewed out, bits of wall and ceiling, not claimed by the fire, hung useless from what remained of the structure. Water continued to drip through the fabric and pool over the ground.
I cried quietly several times while I was out yesterday afternoon. I walked back towards home, passing CentralWorld. God knows Bangkok isn’t in short supply when it comes to malls but the waste, the willful devastation… it took my breath away. Bullet holes and attempts at vandalism left their mark on the windows of Gaysorn Mall.
Siam Square frontage. I like seeing the vendors: setting up despite everything.
