Thailands capital is one of worlds leading cultural and culinary hubs.
Here are the top restaurants, galleries, and hotels to hit.
Christopher Wise
It was on her second visit that philanthropist Marisa Chearavanont heard the voice of the building.
From left: An installation at the Warehouse 30, a shopping and art space in Talat Noi; browsing vinyl at Corner House Bangkok, a mixed-use arts space on Charoen Krug Road.Credit:Christopher Wise
Or perhaps the voice came from within herself.
Now the burned-out Brutalist hulk has been reincarnated as the nonprofit contemporary art centerBangkok Kunsthalle.
The wait time to enter was two hours.
From left: A vast golden Buddha towers over Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen; overlooking the Chao Praya river, with Wat Arun in the background.Christopher Wise
Chearavanont, the Bangkok-based philanthropist, was born in Korea and educated in the United States.
Its Thai-Chinese matriarch built a monopoly in textbooks, but a fire destroyed the business.
Chearavanont compared the building to a phoenix.
From left: Pork belly, squid egg curry, and scallops with basil at Horsamut; Horsamut’s deck in the daytime.Christopher Wise
She hopes Kunsthalle can also be a textbook: a means to instruct and inspire younger generations.
Future improvements to the soot-stained, sun-bleached concrete skeleton will be led by the artists who exhibit there.
Or, in the jargon of the Kunsthalles high-minded discourse, the curatorial program is an architectural project.
From left: Marisa Chearavanont and Stefano Rabolli Pansera of Bangkok Kunsthalle; the artist Arunanondchai’s installation at Kunsthalle.Christopher Wise
Why does this matter?
The Kunsthalle is tiny by comparison, but radical if gently so, in keeping with nonaggressive Buddhist principles.
Chearavanont led me to the second-floor gallery where the artist Arunanondchai had created his sound installation.
From left: Dinner service at Charmkrung; charred eggplant salad with quail eggs at Charmkrung.Christopher Wise
Another fire, another rebirth.
It is a blessing for the phoenix to arise, she said.
Now we are coming into a new cycle.
From left: The reception area of the Standard; seating near the bar at Soho House Bangkok.Christopher Wise
Arunanondchai dared us collectively to imagine how a creative convergence can generate astonishing power.
It is in this specific sense that I can say Bangkok is rising: the city has reached liftoff.
The brand is called I Wanna Bangkok, and all the cool kids were wearing it.
From left: The high-tea service at the hotel Capella Bangkok; playful decor at the Capella Bangkok’s high tea service.Christopher Wise
Restaurants proliferate at the high end of the economy, launched by Michelin-caliber chefs and their former proteges.
Phouma said hes bringing it back right next door.
The neighborhood will benefit, he said, from having a circuit of like-minded new-wave Thai restaurants.
From left: Evening traffic in Chinatown; an art installation in Talat Noi.Christopher Wise
It was marked sold.
I was in fashion in New York for twenty years and I wondered when it would happen.
Now I feel the energy in the younger generation here.
From left: Charcuterie, the first course of Potong’s tasting menu; Potong’s chef, Pam Pichaya Soontornyanakij.Christopher Wise
Theyre observing things at a global level but putting their unique turn on it.
And how would Redding characterize that uniquely Thai turn?
Or the newSoho House, where the tropical interiors layer colors on patterns on patterns on colors.
From left: Sky Beach, the 78th-floor bar at the Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon; tile decor at the restaurant Err.Christopher Wise
Bangkok makes the most sense from the river.
Humidity diffused the mango sun, and the mackerel skies had a thickening look that foretold afternoon rain.
A red passenger boat motored upstream, unzipping the river in its wake.
From left: Alonso Luna Zarate, head chef of Ojo; grilled fish in guajillo adobo with smoked butter and herb salad at Ojo, the Mexican restaurant in the Standard, Bangkok Mahanakhon.Christopher Wise
On the far side, construction cranes stood like shorebirds on one leg.
The Chao Phraya was the melting pot of the world, Limwattanamongkol said.
The river is the link.
From left: A ficus tree growing on one of the buildings at Hong Sieng Kong, a café in Talat Noi; a tuk-tuk in the Talat Noi neighborhood.Christopher Wise
It is filled with the Sukosol familys extensive collection of antiques and vintage cinema memorabilia.
I couldnt help asking Downing if hed seen HBOsThe White Lotus.
Better than that, he responded:The White Lotushad seen him.
Still, Downing predicted everyone was going to feel theWhite Lotuseffect.
Season Three will change Thailand, he said.
Its going to be great for Bangkok.
Nine strangers in a room.
The many dishes Eitharong brought to the table were traditionally Thai, if not strictly authentic.
The food was authentic to Eitharongs lived experienc a generational new authentic.
Chef Pam told me a story about pad thai.
What the prime minister invented, then, was stir-fried noodles for a free people.
He worried that international best-of lists had warped the restaurant culture.
Now its either street food or people fighting for awards, he said.
Bangkok is moving toward Westernization, Eitharong said.
Its becoming more of a global city.
Potong is a deeply personal restaurant, imbued with memory and storytelling.
Chef Pam told me a story about pad thai.
From a combination of inexpensive Chinese rice noodles and Thai flavors, a national dish was born.
What the prime minister invented, then, was stir-fried noodles for a free people.
Twice in two days I was taken to feed catfish at riverside temples.
The sacred fish grow fat as watermelons.
Is it any wonder that tourists are indulged?
Pansera told me about taking international artists on the same tour major, museum-anointed stars.
His cheerful assessment of Bangkoks future contained a kernel of worry, however.
But empire is coming.
In six years, Chinatown will be just like the Meatpacking District.
