One of the most visited places in Thailand is Bangkok’s Baiyoke Tower. Thailand’s tallest building, Baiyoke Tower is located in downtown Bangkok and is not only architecturally amazing, it’s also home to one of the city’s cheapest shopping malls, best rooftop restaurants and South East Asia’s highest hotel. Popular with both visitors to Bangkok and local Thais, who go for the shopping and great food make sure, the next time you’re in Bangkok, Baiyoke Tower is the first place on your list to visit.
Where is Baiyoke Tower Located? – Easy to get to, Baiyoke Tower is in one of the main shopping and market areas of the city on Rajprarop Road. Take the sky train to Chidlom station and either walk the three quarters of a mile (it’s an interesting walk, full of shopping malls, independent shops, street stalls and restaurants) or take a quick taxi. Should you decide to walk, just ask at the sky train station for directions. Anyone who works in the train station’s ticket booth can point you in the right direction.
Shopping at Baiyoke Tower – What you’ll first notice when you get to the Baiyoke Tower area is how few tourists there are. Packed with Thais, the area looks a little seedy but it’s not at all. It’s simply a typical garment district full of wholesale shops and, as it’s frequented by Thais, you’ll get ‘Thai price’ and not ‘Tourist price’
The main reason most Thais go to Baiyoke Tower is for the dirt cheap shopping and huge choice of items. Baiyoke Tower is in the middle of one of the largest wholesale garment districts in Bangkok so, if you want cheap prices on clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, make-up, handicrafts, leather goods and a lot more, here’s where to shop. It’s also the place to shop in Bangkok if you’re buying a lot of wholesale items to ship back home for a business you own.
When you get to Baiyoke Tower, before you go inside, check out Pratunam Market which covers a huge area just at the base of the tower. Here, if you buy more than one piece, you’ll get some of the cheapest prices in the city as everything is wholesale price with the more you buy the cheaper each piece becomes. I highly recommend buying children’s clothing, jeans, sweatshirts, shirts, skirts, football jerseys, designer t shirts, cargo pants, Thai handicrafts, and leather goods – everything is available with prices as low as 50 baht ($1.75) per piece.
Once you’ve finished at Pratunam, walk across to Baiyoke Tower and head inside the shopping complex. The shopping complex starts at the base of the tower and is floor after floor of small independent shops, just like market stalls, but inside the air conditioning (necessary with the tens of thousands of people shopping here). Again, they’re wholesale price and you can bargain.
Look for the usual clothing (t shirts, jeans, skirts, tops, bags, accessories etc) but also make sure you check out the made-to-order shops, as there are many here. They’ll create any clothing you want in any style, color and size and for a fraction of the cost of the US or Europe.
Observation Deck – If you’re not staying in the Sky Hotel and don’t want to spend money eating there, don’t worry, you can still see the incredible view out over Bangkok from the Baiyoke Tower Observation Deck on the 77th floor. You also get there via a glass elevator that runs up the outside of the building. Talk about an amazing view.
Stay at Baiyoke Tower – Baiyoke Tower is famous for being the home of South East Asia’s highest hotel. The Sky Hotel is one of Bangkok’s largest hotels, with 673 guest rooms starting on Floor 22 and going up to Floor 77. The higher your room, of course, the higher the price.
Surprisingly though, for the lower floor rooms, prices are extremely inexpensive with rooms, as of this writing, starting at only $65. Rooms are thoroughly modern with all the usual conveniences, and the hotel has a large swimming pool, a fitness room, a huge business center and even a large golf range.
Dining at Baiyoke Tower – Baiyoke Tower is popular as an eating spot because of its various restaurants, cafes and bars.
Start out with a coffee at the Sky Coffee Shop on the 18th floor. Have Chinese food for lunch at the Stella Palace on the 79th floor, then finish with an outdoor dinner at Bangkok Balcony on the 81st floor or the Crystal Grill on the 82nd floor, and drinks at the 360 degree revolving deck on the 84th floor. Perfect.
You’ll find Thailand’s tallest building at 222 Rajprarop Road in the Ratchethewi area of Bangkok.
Photo – Khemkhaeng/Wikimedia Commons
