“Thoughts While Walking in Thailand” Part 9 | Why Are There So Many Huge Shopping Malls?
── The Role Played by "Consumption Spaces" and the Landscape of Thai Modernization
When you get off at BTS Siam Station in Bangkok, ICONSIAM, CentralWorld, EmQuartier, MBK, Siam Paragon… and other massive shopping malls line the streets.
It is impressive that each has its own unique worldview and brand strategy, and they are bustling with many people even on weekdays.
“Why are there so many malls?”
It is not simply because commercial facilities are springing up everywhere.
This question is like a mirror reflecting Thailand's urban structure, consumer culture, economic policy, and the form of "modernity" that society aims for.
🏬 Shopping Malls are a "Microcosm of the City"
Shopping malls in Thailand are not just places for shopping.
In a cool and comfortable space, people eat, watch movies, talk with friends, and enjoy events.
They function precisely as multi-functional spaces that encompass the "daily lives" of urban residents. For example,
A "summer resort" where you can spend time comfortably indoors
A "quasi-public space" where people of all generations and social strata can gather
An "information hub" for experiencing culture and trends
By fulfilling these roles simultaneously, malls have become something like the "core" of the modern city.
🌡️ Background 1: Hot and Humid Climate and "Indoor-Oriented Urban Culture"
Thailand's climate is hot and humid throughout the year, and walking outdoors for long periods during the day is a significant burden both physically and psychologically.
For this reason, air-conditioned malls have been sought after not just as commercial facilities, but as part of urban infrastructure where one can spend time comfortably. Especially with locations directly connected to transportation networks, clean restrooms, and good security, malls function as "indoor cities" that turn climatic constraints to their advantage.
💸 Background 2: Expansion of the Middle Class and "Experience-Based" Consumer Culture
Since the 1980s, Thailand has become a driving force for economic growth in Southeast Asia, and the middle class has expanded rapidly.
With improvements in education levels and income, people's interests have shifted from mere consumption of goods to brands, experiences, and SNS sharing—what is known as "koto-shohi" (consumption of experiences).
Shopping that emphasizes "atmosphere" and "worldview"
Use of space premised on being "Instagrammable"
Shopping as a means of self-expression
In response to these changes, huge malls seem to have evolved into platforms for experiential consumption.
🏢 Background 3: Conglomerate-led urban development and “mall capitalism”
Real estate development in Thailand is dominated by a very small number of conglomerate-affiliated companies.
Central Group (Central World, Central Plaza, etc.)
Siam Piwat (Siam Paragon, Siam Center, etc.)
TCC Group (ICONSIAM, etc.)
These companies do not just build shopping facilities; they develop “mixed-use urban projects” that integrate hotels, condominiums, offices, and transportation infrastructure.
The mall is the result of highly advanced “privatization” and “staging” of urban space by conglomerate capital, and it sits at the core of a method that packages the city itself.
🏙️ Background 4: “Private spaces” that function as “public spaces”
In Bangkok, there is a chronic shortage of purely public spaces such as urban parks and civic centers.
Instead, shopping malls have played the role of places for citizens to “socialize, rest, and find entertainment”.
Visited by families on weekends
A standard date spot for students and couples
A venue for exhibitions, talk events, and more
In other words, while malls are “commercial facilities,” they also seem to take on the character of quasi-public spaces funded by private capital.
In that sense, it can be said that malls fulfill a social function similar to that of a “city square.”
🛍️ Background 5: Tourism and 'Mall Development' as a National Strategy
Thailand is known as a tourism-oriented nation, and Bangkok attracts many tourists from neighboring countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
Many of them are consumer-oriented tourists whose primary goal is 'shopping'.
VAT refund system (tax exemption for foreigners)
Extensive range of international brands
Development of food court and cafe culture
These elements combined to establish the brand of Bangkok as a “city visited for shopping”.
The National Tourism Board also supports this trend, and the development of giant malls seems to play a role in national strategy.
📱 Background 6: The 'Complicit Relationship' Between SNS Culture and Spatial Design
The rate of SNS usage among Thais is at a high level globally.
Therefore, 'photogenicity' and 'storytelling' are emphasized in the spatial design of malls.
Installation-style objects
Atriums designed as photo spots
Staging of seasonal events and limited-time pop-ups
Malls are no longer just places for shopping, but seem to have evolved into “stages for self-expression”.
🧭 Reflections on this theme
In Japan, the word 'mall' might strongly evoke an image of suburban, family-oriented facilities.
However, in Thailand, malls are the core of the city, serving as “modern intersections” where consumption, public nature, and national strategy cross paths.
The abundance of giant malls is not a symbol of waste or luxury.
They are spaces that embody how Thai society has accepted and designed its own 'modernization'.
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