Issue no. 253

Walking around Big Cities

Most travellers only glimpse Bangkok while passing through or engaging in some brief sightseeing around the stations of Khao San Road, Royal Palace, and Wat Arun, and the red light districts near the SkyTrain stations of Nana and Asoke.

Yet, as the Thai capital and the country's most important economic centre, Bangkok has a great deal more to offer. The majority of the country's textile and clothing manufacturers are based in and around Bangkok. They produce 25% of Thailand's export goods, which are nowadays sent far further afield than just Asia and Australia. An increasing number of Thai companies are presenting their goods at the home décor trade fairs in Paris and Brussels or at the fashion shows in Milan, Paris, San Francisco, Moscow and New York. Many designers even develop separate lines and brands specifically intended for export to Europe.

One resource they can draw on is the Department for Industrial Promotion, the DIP, which has been operating for 62 years. Its current remit is to implement modern industrial standards in Thailand's numerous small craft businesses and to prompt them to develop and commercialise independent products and brands. One of the DIP's biggest projects is the "Bangkok Fashion City" concept, which was instigated three years ago. The aim is to have Bangkok snapping at the heels of Paris by 2008 through the implementation of nine fashion-based projects, including the "Bangkok Fashion Week" trade fair, the fashion magazine Snook, a database in the Fashion Trend Center, and the compilation of a "Fashion Library". 1.8 million Baht were provided by the government for this purpose in 2003 alone. The Head of Bangkok Fashion City, Pramode Vidtayasuk, cheerfully admits that this aim will not be truly achieved until people in Paris itself start referring to Bangkok as a fashion centre, something that may take a little longer than two years!

Yet Bangkok's designer scene certainly has the will to become a fashion mecca. Greyhound, Senada, Jaspal, Sretsis, Headquarter, Boudoir, Vickteerut, 27th Friday and many other designers make this city well worth a longer visit. The best places to check out their designs are the shopping malls along Ploenchit Road, where they compete with global players in the fashion stakes, and where you can also take a look at the products of the jewellery industry (with exports totalling US$ 1.968 million in 2005) and those of the leather and shoemaking industries (with exports totalling US$ 1.067 million in 2005). You come away with the impression that it is not just the goods that are worth seeing, but also the shop designs. So, if you can switch your next changeover in Bangkok to a three-day stay, we recommend taking full advantage of what is on offer; and the first thing you buy a should be an extra suitcase!