#11: The SOOKSIAM Food Court at IconSiam, Bangkok, Thailand

Back in the big city (with a bonus visit to Railay Beach)

Large Asian cities love malls—and especially Bangkok, home to dozens, including three of the top 11 largest in the world (the Mall of America is number 12). While many have a similar feel—fluorescent lighting, air conditioning, polished tile floors stretching on for miles, and the same western luxury labels on repeat—nothing we experienced quite parallels the immersive and overwhelming sensory delight that is the SOOKSIAM food court at IconSiam, a giant complex across the Chao Phraya River from Bangkok’s Downtown neighborhoods. We took a one minute ferry to get there!

Rainforest Café and Blue Bayou, step aside—this is “theme restaurant” taken to the extreme, a theatrical dining experience with a huge variety of local cuisines, styled to recall “Thai bazaars of the past” from the country’s 77 provinces. It’s massive—hundreds of stalls fill the space alongside a full-on mock “floating market” with a lake and boats and many false facades reflecting regional architectural traditions. It’s so large and spread out that it’s hard to capture in photos—even looking online, I haven’t found one that accurately captures the scenes.

Tables are in short supply and we were glad to snag a communal spot between two old guys crushing prawns and a young family slurping noodles. We gathered our platter over multiple trips into the throng—dumplings, roasted pork, noodle soup, mango sticky rice and more. This meant passing on classics like pad thai and more adventurous options like roasted caiman (literally on a spit, it was sad, I’ll spare you the photo), which was a real bummer because wow, I wanted to try (almost) every dish! I’ve got my eye on you for next time, spicy raw crab salad.

(Some of) the goods

The diversity and quality was surprising because we found that our own neighborhood in Bangkok (Thong Lo) didn’t seem to have much street food. Maybe it was a more upscale area (we didn’t do much research before booking, just aimed for a location relatively close to the airport that wasn’t far from downtown.) We think it was, because one evening, after meeting up with a friend from the US who happened to be in town for drinks, we watched a large group of young fresh Thai jetsetters in designer outfits with British accents pour out of the hotel elevators and into the night.

We didn’t spend much time in Bangkok—it was a stopover before transitioning from Asia to Oceania—and when a city is so big, even weeks is not much time. We visited a few cultural sites, road the trains and local ferries, wandered some galleries, got a massage. I got the best haircut of my life at Black Amber. And we hung out in our gorgeous hotel room (shoutout to Muu Hotel for another excellent included breakfast), working on our nascent ecommerce brand, Zips, which launched a few days later.

Before wrapping up on Thailand and our life-changing months spent in Southeast Asia, let me give a quick shoutout to Railay Beach, out destination between diving the Similans and arriving in Bangkok. We didn’t end up including it as one of our 52 Places because it’s so heavily touristic and and party-centric, but it is probably what most American’s picture when they think of Thailand—white sand beaches flanked by limestone towers on land and in the sea, all surrounded by lush jungle. It is stunning and wonderfully adventurous with barely a step off the beaten path.

Of the thousands of visitors packed into the area’s resorts (which are only accessible by boat), very few seem to make it to the Bat Cave or Railay Lagoon. Which…makes sense, because both are fairly strenuous and, in the case of the cave, scary. Climbing to the lagoon is dangerous and not to be taken lightly—the day we went, the rock walls were slick with wet mud and one slip would have resulted in serious injury. Also, straight up not worth the mucky pond at the bottom! The cave is well worth it and full of bats. Just be sure to bring a light, because it’s pitch black and requires some careful navigation of rickety bamboo ladders.

Even though there’s a density of development on the beach, it’s still fairly remote, and wildlife is abundant. On our first evening, we saw a bunch of birds flying high overhead. They looked like hawks, but hawks don’t fly in large groups…wait, what are those? Flying foxes, one of the world’s largest bat species. We were so psyched and made a point to find a viewpoint each day, while those around us remained fixated on their phones or, to be charitable, on each other.

If you want to access classic a Thai beach atmosphere in a resort environment with (bad) restaurants very close by (probably ideal for young families, as we saw many) or want to trip on mushrooms with likeminded travelers, Railay will be a great choice. If not, there are probably alternatives that will afford the same adventurous beauty without the hoards and drug scene.

We’re unlikely to return to many places we visited on our gap year. It’s just a fact. Whether too distant or small or because the planet is so massive. Railay is a good example—we tried to treat every moment as all we had and soak it in. Bangkok is not in that category—I’m sure we’ll be back to this buzzing global capital, prioritizing visiting farther flung neighborhoods and joining the highly recommended bike tours.

— Nicky & Kira

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Next week — #12: Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand

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The locals