Central Ladprao Mall is a large shopping mall located on Pahonyothin Road in northern Bangkok, Thailand. Central Ladprao is one of the most popular shopping malls in Bangkok and it’s obvious why.
Central Ladprao Shops – Central Ladprao is a six-storey shopping mall located at the corner of Pahonyothin Road and Vipavedee Road in northern Bangkok. Packed with stores, restaurants and cafes and the extremely large Central Department Store, there’s something for everyone here.
In the basement, you’ll find a do-it-yourself store, Tops supermarket, a large food court where you can eat lunch and dinner for a cheap price, Watson’s pharmacy, Dairy Queen, a Food Cellar restaurant, sushi restaurants, a hot pot restaurant, make up stores, clothing stores, DVD shops and more. These small shops are the cheapest at the mall, as they’re more like market stalls than full shops.
On the first floor, jewelry stores, clothing stores, shoe shops, a noodle restaurant, Black Canyon restaurant, McDonald’s, Sizzler, a couple of ice cream shops, a Vietnamese restaurant, and lots of little cafes and coffee shops.
Starbucks is on the second floor, along with more clothing, shoe and accessory shops and, at the end of the mall, many small stalls selling cell phones and cell phone accessories, as well as branches to most of the Thai banks. There’s a True coffee shop and internet cafe and an ice cream parlor.
The third floor has an Apple store, a Swensen’s ice cream shop, a Fuji Japanese restaurant, an S&P restaurant, another large food court selling inexpensive food, a Deli France restaurant with a lovely seating area, a music instrument shop, a Thai book shops and more.
Central Department Store is the anchor store and is itself on six floors. Every floor is loaded with typical department store products, which culminate in the enormous movie theater on the 6th floor.
The mall has an office building and a convention center and is linked to the exclusive Sofitel Central Plaza Hotel.
Prices at Central Ladprao – If you’re looking for inexpensive items, then the best place to shop at Central Ladprao is in the basement of the mall at the small shops here. Not as cheap as street markets, you can still get bargains, although much of the items are geared towards teenagers and young adults.
Elsewhere in the mall, the prices are the same as at any shopping mall in Bangkok. Some inexpensive, some not. Personally, I very rarely shop at Central Department Store as the prices are just about double of most Thai shops. However, if you’re looking for western-style items or designer items, Central Department store has a good selection. The staff is friendly and helpful too.
Eating at Central Ladprao – Restaurants at Central Ladprao are nothing special and compared to most of the malls in downtown Bangkok, the selection is poor.
However, if you’re looking for McDonald’s, Sizzler, Fuji Japanese restaurant or a Swensen’s ice cream shop, you’ll find them here. Bangkok has so many restaurants and eating options though that, even though I live five minutes away from Central, I don’t eat there more than once every couple of months. There are too many other better options nearby.
Location of Central Ladprao – The shopping mall is very popular, not particularly because of the selection of stores and restaurants, as it’s quite old-fashioned, but because of its location.
Right next to the Pahonyothin underground station, it’s easy to get to from all over Bangkok and, with buses stopping right outside, plus an enormous parking lot, there’s often no need to go downtown when you can get here easier.
Renovation of Central Ladprao – Recently, it was announced that Central Ladprao will be closing its doors in April, 2010, for a six month period. The shopping mall will be going through an extensive renovation and is expected to reopen sometime in October, 2010. It will be interesting to see how it looks when finished and what new stores they have been able to attract. While I do enjoy shopping there and go at least three times a week, it definitely has a more old-fashioned look than other malls in Bangkok.
The bad news though is rumor has it the Central Group is trying to buy the land that Horwang School sits on, so they can expand the mall across the street. With so many shopping malls in Bangkok (too many, most people say) and, as Horwang is one of the best Thai schools in Bangkok, it would be a pity to uproot an extremely successful school in order to shove up just yet more shopping mall. Hopefully, this will not be allowed to happen.
Getting to Central Ladprao is easy. Take the underground from any station in the city, get off at Pahonyothin station and follow the signs. Or take the sky train to Mo Chit station and from here a five minute bus or taxi.