Bangkok, like Las Vegas, comes alive at night. But unlike Vegas, you don’t need to live the hours of a bat to enjoy living here because it’s a very pleasant place to be during daylight hours too.
Conspicuous electrical consumption begins well after sundown and there always seems to be a theme, a celebration, a sponsored promotion and a sale. And each one has selfie-perfect spots planned in. (This is why this post is selfie-ridden.)
During the estivation season some months ago, the plaza in front of Central World shopping centre has been turned into a completely pink land complete with three selfie spots; a pink swing with background of pink flower fields, a platform over aforementioned fields and a carousel. Sponsored by Sunsilk, it was much too retina burning to partake in.
A few stops down the BTS Skytrain (Bangkok’s elevated subway system), the EmDistrict celebrated Christmas and New Year with an illumination show that was pretty spectacular. The EmDistrict this is the group of malls at Prom Phong BTS where you can shop from the LV, Hermes etc boutiques located on the left side of the road in Emporium, or the one on the right side of the same road in EmQuartier, whichever is more convenient. (Wouldn’t want to traipse too far in those designer shoes I guess :0) but then there are literally red carpets out right now so you can feel like a superstar just going to do your grocery shopping.
The Bangkok Illumination show was literally dazzling. There was a circular installation that has complex colour changes that tell the time, a massive swooshing mirrored sculpture that creates a myriad of reflections, gigantic tethered balloons that change colour, and let’s not forget the business-as-usual illuminations that are not part of the festival, which is the nightly projections that use these white buildings as the perfect canvas for all kinds of projections — like the SDGs on the UN Secretariat, just every night and ever changing depending on what is being promoted.
I couldn’t resist stepping up and into Martin Hoppe’s cabin enticed by the create your own 3D image signage. Essentially a complex long-exposure set up, it was fun to take a few pics and realize that just like radio and TV, one looks a bit wierd in 3D too! And did I mention all of this is for free?
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