BANGKOK : CHIC, BOUTIQUE & TRENDY

With its exotic culture symbolised by glittering temples, benign Buddha images and saffron-robed monks pacing through rice fields, Thailand has for decades embodied the mystery of the Orient.

The Thais have always been able to absorb outside influences while maintaining their own cultural identity in art, design and fashion. Thai artisans respond to outside influences by turning them into something new that becomes Thai with a foreign twist.

But while Thailand has kept its cultural heritage intact, a new Thai identity has emerged and has propelled the Kingdom into centre of all things boutique, chic and trendy.

Most of the energy that makes Thailand a regional hub of the chic, boutique and trendy emanates from Bangkok, a city with no rivals when it comes to charisma, style, energy, food, fashion and adventure, all fused together by the famous Thai joie de vivre.

Look around this cosmopolitan city on the move and you’ll see the word used to describe everything from hotels to shopping centres, restaurants and spas, bowling alleys to condominiums, and even an airline and a bank. Twenty years ago, the word “boutique” referred only to small shops selling fashionables, part of the “small is beautiful” trend. At that time, people wearing boutique clothes were seen as being on the cutting edge of fashion.

The phrase “boutique hotel” originated in London and marked the first expansion of the boutique idea to other businesses which were not aiming to get too big and had developed a distinct contemporary personality. Shopping malls and posh restaurants were quick to follow the trend, and world of recreation was next.

Last year Bangkok’s Major Bowl launched its latest boutique bowling alley at J Avenue, the boutique mall on Thong Lo. The interior of the boutique bowling alleys had changed to emphasise entertainment instead of the sport itself: there are glow-in-thedark marking units and playful furniture; the design of the bowling shoes is more fashionable and the food is fusion; the music is current hits and the service is of hotel quality.

The concept is not limited only to small-scale enterprises, but has also grown to include multi-billion-baht businesses such as financial institutes and airlines. These companies use it to signal a service that goes beyond the expected. A small, local airline, Bangkok Airways, registered its boutique status after being in business for more than three decades. It emphasised the individual quality of the decor of its aircraft, its destinations and its personalised service: distinctive components that have come to be regarded as “boutique.”

KTC, one of the country’s biggest consumer finance providers launched its boutique branch concept in 2003 to fit with Bangkok’s cosmopolitan lifestyle. With credit cards now almost a fashion accessory, banking and financial transactions can be done in style. KTC staff wear fashionable tops and sleek jeans and the premises can serve as a meeting point outside of financial activities. They have LCD screens, wireless internet, a coffee corner and DJ booths plus Phillip Starck-style colourful free-form furniture.

The “chic boutique” spotlight has been turned on an ever-growing mix of new hotels and spas, bars, eateries and leisure attractions throughout the country, from opulent hideaways in the South to luxurious heritage resorts in the North. The Thai travel scene now benefits from boutique hotels and spas concerned to deliver style, whether contemporary Thai or the latest international designer’s trends.

In tourist destinations around the country, old-world ethnic charm rubs shoulders with hip hotels with clean lines, geometric furniture and cool decor. But one important message is that “chic boutique” is not necessarily synonymous with “big bucks” — Thailand abounds with hotels, resorts, guesthouses, spas and restaurants that are inexpensive yet effortlessly fashionable.

BANGKOK
The city has innumerable “chic boutique” places to go to and be seen in. Bangkok hotels such as the Ibrik with just three bedrooms, can prove that even smaller can be beautiful. Other candidates include The Metropolitan, famous for its contemporary design; the Baan Thai Wellness Retreat, and Reflections with its 28 artist-designed rooms.

BANGKOK - MAGICAL METROPOLIS

In the last decade, Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok, has secured its place as a vibrant, sophisticated modern metropolis. And it has done so without yielding its place as a fascinating, multi-layered, cultural icon.

The modern cityscape has new bangkok hotels that rank among the best in the world, the shopping malls ablaze with international brands, fine dining restaurants, international fast-food outlets and all the other amenities of a 21stcentury city on the move. But it is abundantly clear that Bangkok is still a city of golden-spired temples and saffron-robed monks, of bustling market and narrow lanes where small communities have lived for generations. The sight of the harmonious proximity of different urban lifestyles often provides a pleasing contrast.

With its recent developments, Bangkok is better than ever for its citizens and for its visitors: more convenient and comfortable, and much easier to get around. The BTS Skytrain light elevated railway and the MRT underground railway provide clean, air-conditioned cross-town travel in a matter of minutes. Visiting the business, shopping and entertainment districts, the Chao Phraya River and many popular destinations is a piece of cake, besides which, the skytrain also provides convenient links to major bangkok hotels.

Whether you come on business, for shopping or sightseeing — and quite often visitors manage all three — Bangkok is always an exciting destination. For the businessman it has first-class bangkok hotels with all the facilities and services of a modern office, and for longer stays there is a rapidly growing number of luxury serviced apartments in prime areas.

Shopping for gems and jewellery, Thai silk and handicrafts earned Bangkok the “shopper’s paradise” label; but the flowering of new, highend department stores like The Emporium, Siam Paragon and Central World and sophisticated plazas with a multiplicity of brand name boutiques, new dimension gourmet dining outlets and other facilities has brought a new meaning to the term.

Options for dining and entertainment have also expanded in the last few years, and Bangkok is now firmly on the map of the seekers after culinary excellence. Celebrated Michelinstarred chefs are frequent visitors, and a handful of new, gourmet restaurants with a quality-driven, price-no-object philosophy have lit up the sky.

But quality exists at all levels; bangkok hotels dining has always been good here, there are excellent stand alone restaurants, and the Thai, Chinese and regional cooking at local restaurants, hole-in-the-wall cafes and streetside stalls remain the magnet for imaginative diners that they have always been.

Entertainment can be as diverse as a symphony concert at the Thailand Cultural Centre, a band playing in an Irish pub, or a blues singer in a smart jazz lounge. The Thais love music and it is everywhere, except, perhaps in the old royal city, the part natural part man-made Rattanakosin Island, home to the awe-inspiring Grand Palace with its glittering spires and ornate halls, and temple of the Emerald Buddha. This is the most highly revered of Bangkok’s 400 temples which have always been a focal point for travellers to Bangkok. Their religious significance is seamlessly united with their splendid architecture and the heady magnificence of their decoration.

Old Bangkok was a city of waterways, the greatest being the Chao Phraya River, the River of Kings, which still supports a colourful, commercial river life with long trains of slow-moving traditional barges, fast long-tail boats, river taxis and the regular cross-river ferries to and from the grand riverside bangkok hotels, The Oriental, Shangri-La, Royal Orchid Sheraton, The Peninsula and Millennium Hilton. There are also more leisurely craft taking visitors deep into the khlong, the picturesque canals beside lined with the painted wooden houses of families living a rural waterside life.

Old and new, exciting and relaxing, contemplative and hyperactive, the city’s Oriental character shines through and illuminates its modern persona. This is the Thai style that permeates every aspect of life like the graceful wai, the unique Thai greeting accompanied by the smile of welcome that enchants visitors and calls them to return.