A Day of Errors....

Bangkok, Day 40

I woke up today with a message from our Home Exchange hosts and it dawned on me that I had made an error on our dates, so we are due to leave our current home a day earlier than I had planned on. So first things first, we need to sort out an extra night's accommodation before we do anything!

Of course, Neko is not having any of this nonsense and decides to annoy me constantly when I'm trying to work on the laptop. We sort out the hotel and then decide, as it's a bit later than normal, to have a bit of a chilled day and afternoon before heading out later to visit Asiaatique on the riverfront.

Our next mistakes of the day were:

• Taking the wrong (i.e. longer) walking route to the bus stop

• thinking it was bus number 77 (instead of bus number 17), we required (as I had been busier earlier with looking and booking the extra day's accommodation and then doing my blog updates whilst his nibs was watching Mythbusters on the telly).

• And as I was complaining to R about 'this is the longer route', we watched our '17' bus fly right past us before we could get to the bus stop.

So I after a little 'debate' between us - we agreed to call it evens, since R made us miss the bus the last time with his faffing about. Thankfully it wasn't long before another 17 bus came along and we got a seat on that fine.

Asiatique: The Riverfront is a large open-air mall in Bangkok, Thailand. It occupies the former docks of the East Asiatic Company, and faces the Chao Phraya River and Charoen Krung Road. The complex opened in 2012 after extensive renovation of the site.

The Denmark-based East Asiatic Company was founded in 1897 and was one of several Western firms conducting trade with Siam at the time. The company owned port facilities on the Chao Phraya, which included several warehouses, the oldest extant building dating from 1907. The port ceased operations in 1947, and the facilities later fell into disuse. In 2011, plans were made to renovate and develop the site into a retail/entertainment complex to be known as Asiatique The Riverfront.

It occupies 12 acres of land. The mall, featuring a historical theme from the period of King Chulalongkorn's reign (1868–1910), operates as an open-air night market. It features 1,500 shops and stalls and 40 restaurants, most of which are housed in the former warehouses. Other historical buildings and objects include an old sawmill and a World War II bomb shelter. There is a parking lot tram designed to look like a car from Bangkok's former tram system, and the site is decorated with bronze statues representing maritime activity.

The mall's layout is divided into four thematic sections, called districts.

• Chareonkrung District is named after Charoen Krung Road, and contains performing venues for the Joe Louis Traditional Thai Puppet Theatre, the Calypso Cabaret show and live Muay Thai performances, as well as shops selling handicrafts and souvenirs.

• Town Square District features foreign restaurants and sports bars, and includes a small event space.

• Factory District focuses on trendy fashions, products and restaurants.

• Waterfront District lies along Asiatique's waterfront promenade—claimed to be Bangkok's longest at 300 metres—and includes several riverside restaurants, a large event space used for concerts, festivals and New Year celebrations, and Asiatique Sky, the tallest Ferris wheel in Bangkok at 60 metres.

Sirimahannop Heritage Ship is a replica of the ship Thoon Kramom, which was a merchant barque captained by East Asiatic Company founder Hans Niels Andersen. The three-mast tall ship dominates the skyline of the Asiatique. It serves as a fine dining restaurant, along with a display of old photographs, charts, diagrams and models.

So our final mistake of the day was going to Asiatique. It wasn't our cup of tea at all, but I'm glad we went just so we were able to tick it off 'the list'. It had a bit of a 'Disney' feel to the layout, but older and tired. The restaurant and food seller stalls were very annoying, and you couldn't walk past without a menu being thrust towards you and them trying to entice you in. Don't get me wrong - I know they need the customers and it's part of their job, but it also feels like you are running a gauntlet at times, and that makes the overall experience much less enjoyable (in our opinion). Also, the prices were much higher and targeted towards tourists. There were hordes of people waiting to get onto the Dinner Cruises whilst we were there, but again, it just felt like a cattle market system, and again, that was not really for us.

The place itself is not that big and it's a bit tired and dated, but I guess things move on quickly and it's been opened for almost 14 years now. I did read somewhere that it has lost out a lot since IconSiam was built but it's not a place I would recommend or rush back to.

After walking around the place for a little bit, we had a brief wander outside the local area before heading back in to get a couple of photos of the stunning sunset and then heading home. This time we got the correct bus and right away too. A quick stop off at the grocery, and it was back home for us.

Bangkok, Thailand

29 December 2024