In a city unmatched for its variety of tastes, textures and flavors, Bangkok’s retail scene has historically been bland by comparison. Shoppers were largely left with two options: Milquetoast luxury at the city's icy, air-conditioned malls, or braving the heat to comb through the approximately 15,000 stalls at the Chatuchak Weekend Market. Recently, however, the riverside city has developed a blossoming retail scene worthy of the sublime temples and bustling markets that the Thailand capital is renowned for.
Citizen Tea Canteen
With its off-the-grid location and bright-orange tiled facade, Citizen Tea Canteen, an artisanal tea house in the riverside enclave of Talad Noi, offers its own brew on traditional Thai milk tea culture. Artist and restaurateur Saran Yenpanya is an expert at blending the old and the new, including flavors inspired by local fare, such as a herbal melange that echoes the flavors of a nearby cult duck noodle dish, and sweet teas with notes of ancient Thai khanom. The café’s hand-painted wooden wall and colorful wallpaper have an old-school feel, whereas the assortment of bamboo serving trays and embroidered windbreakers made from dead-stock linen on sale feel unexpected and new. 64 Soi Wanit 2
Eastern Glass
Eastern Glass, the longest-running glassware manufacturer in Thailand, recently turned their factory in an industrial warehouse located in the outskirts north of town into a dazzling retail showroom filled with Memphis-meets-Murano bubbly glass vases, technicolored champagne flutes and wavy-shaped plates. Tucked between all that glass, a small coffee shop serves excellent cups of iced espresso and yuzu lemonades from a counter displaying antique glass-working tools. 480 Petchakasem Road
BOYY
Founded by the Canadian designer Jesse Dorsey and Bangkok-native Wannasiri Kongman, BOYY's 'anti-it-bags' became an instant hit with androgynous-minded customers all over the world, from Seoul to Berlin, for their oversize, chunky hardware and minimalist shapes. The brand's flagship store, in the Gaysorn Village mall, stocks a dizzying array of totes, weekenders, and puffy sandals that resemble balloon sculptures alongside sculptural, terrazzo seating booths and throwback glass pieces that echo the design heyday of 1970s Milan. G FI, 999 Gaysorn Village, Phloen Chit Road
FV
Other people’s trash is treasure for Opas Chantkam, the brainchild behind FV, a conceptual juice bar and khanom counter on Songwat Road. The smoothie shop’s pulpy elixirs, health-boosting teas and edible essential oils are made from unwanted, blemished fruits, vegetables and herbs that have been discarded by groceries and restaurants. The same approach guides the store’s architecture, which Chantkam has turned from a derelict dump to a reclaimed modernist marvel, complete with weathered walls, Chinese lanterns adorning the front gate and a mirrored ceiling. Inside, under a mirrored ceiling, you'll find a gorgeous Thai dwelling with wooden stilts and timeworn walls. Years ago, creative director Opas Chantkam found the half-demolished structure on a work assignment in Thailand's rural Isaan region. 827 Song Wat Road
Copenn
Tucked between oil-slicked auto shops and food kiosks on a little-visited corner of Charoen Krung Road, is something of a minimalist mirage: Copenn, a sleek fragrance emporium that resembles the stark interiors of an art gallery. The perfumery specializes in hand-crafted smells, including “pollon-coloud” incense cones, elegant diffusers in utilitarian spray bottles and scented candles with names such as “Gastric Acid,” which has notes of grapefruit and pine. 2103 Charoen Krung Soi 82
World at The Corner
Opened by Nat Prakobsantisuk, a photographer, and his sister Sivika Prakobsantisuk, a travel writer, World at The Corner is a bookstore with a focus all over the map. Housed in a Rama V-era wooden villa in the historic Phra Nakhon district, shelves are packed with English-language cookbooks, Russian travelogs, and postcards featuring sepia-toned photographs shot by the Prakobsantisuk siblings during their global journeys. Other worldly wares include hand-illustrated books from Chennai and colorful totes embroidered by women artisans from Guatemala and Damascus. 1 Mahannop Soi 1
Kad Kokoa
The husband-and-wife duo Paniti and Nuttaya Junhasavasdikul quit their jobs as lawyers and instead decided to enjoy the sweeter things in life. Scouring the Thai countryside in search of forgotten cacao plantations, they sourced the ingredients for Kad Kokoa, their award-winning brand of single-origin craft chocolate bars. At their cafe-workshop just outside Bangkok's CBD, limited-edition varieties are infused with chamomile, salted tamarind or Chanthaburi peppercorns. 1076 Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Soi 17
