Siam Square is an area of shopping and entertainment in Bangkok, Thailand. The actual square is situated at the corner of Phayathai Road and Rama I Road, in front of the Siam BTS Skytrain station. This particular place can be regarded as the center of the capital of Thailand (Siam being the old name of the country). Also, if you ask the residents of this city for suggestions where to find the best shopping the immediate answer is: Siam Square!
So, considering both these facts it is not an overstatement to brand Siam Square as the heart of shopping in Bangkok!
The popularity of the area is also emphasized by the at least 400 000 people travelling to and through Siam Square each day. Siam Square itself is a peculiar combination of massive malls and lanes upon lanes with street vendors.
The area stretches from Rama I Road down to the Chulalongkorn University Campus and from Phayathai Road over to Henri Dunant, and is a popular haunt of university students, media types and generally Bangkok’s ”bright young things”.
BTS or the Skytrain
The best way to get around in Bangkok is through the Bangkok Mass Transit System, or more commonly known as the BTS or Skytrain. It is an elevated rapid transit system operating above the normal traffic. Since starting in 1999 the number of travellers has grown steadily, and during 2019 the BTS transported more than 247 million passengers! The Siam station is one of the largest and busiest stations on the BTS.
It is located on Rama I Road to the west of Pathum Wan intersection right in the middle of the Siam district. Skybridges are linking the station to Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Square One. These three are the main malls closest to Siam BTS. There is also an elevated walkway (Sky Walk) which connects the station to the Central World Plaza, the Ratchaprasong junction and another nearby station Chit Lom. The Sky Walk connects you with two other large malls, Central World and MBK (Ma Boon Khrong) Center, through just a five minute walk.
History of Siam Square
The first buildings at Siam Square was constructed during the second half of the 1960s on land belonging Chulalongkorn University. The idea behind these projects was to create rental income for the university. From the beginning the area contained quite ordinary shops, but gradually the focus changed to more and more brand stores, which in turn attracted more investors to build hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers. This development meant that the surrounding territories more and more desired a link to Siam Square.
To achieve this goal the construction of an air-conditioned walkway (”Sky Bridge”) which through an air route connects several shopping centers to Siam Square. Chulalongkorn still owns the Square and it is managed by the University Property Management Office, better known as Chula Property. The area Siam Square is at the present considered quite exclusive and is also, as we mentioned earlier, considered as the centerpiece of downtown Bangkok.
Siam Square, like the city in which it is located, is an area of contrast. In essence it is the hub of all things cool, an individual expression point where styles both shape and surface (and resurface). Siam also holds claim to being the most expensive place to rent land in Bangkok. It is to The City of Angels, what Bond Street is to London and Fifth Avenue to New York, while still possessing the innovative atmosphere of Camden Town in London or Soho in New York City.