An old airplane with a slide down to the ground as an exit, the world’s first insect fine-dining restaurant, and a giant golden skull that makes weird ambient noise. These are just a few of the wonderful oddities on offer at ChangChui, a “creative park” for art, eating, drinking, and exploring in Bangkok that opened in mid-2017.
ChangChui has gotten lots of attention in Bangkok and has quickly become a weekend destination for day trips, despite its inconvenient location in Thonburi, far from public transport. Now, the unusual spot, which also offers lots of shopping, pop-up workshops, and live music, has been named one of 100 attractions on TIME’s “World’s Greatest Places 2018” list.
Of the creative park, TIME said, “This 290,000-sq-ft. marketplace is an exemplar of upcycling, featuring stalls, a cinema and eateries made from salvaged zinc panels and old doors. There’s even a fine-dining restaurant housed in a disused Thai jet. ‘I believe that nothing is useless if creativity is applied,’ says founder Somchai Songwatana. Since opening in June 2017, the attraction has lured almost a million visitors.”
Billing themselves as “as an extraordinary one-stop destination for everything art related in Thailand,” the park advertises that it offers pleasures for all ages. Their famous airplane is a retired L-1011 TriStar Lockheed plunked in the middle of the park.
The magazine compiled their list of greatest places by taking nominations from their editors, correspondents, and industry experts. Of the 1200 suggestions, they whittled the list down to 100 places after looking at aspects like influence, originality, sustainability, and innovation.
Their final list has destinations in 48 countries on six continents. ChangChui joins such places as Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, Sweden’s Treehotel, and Macau’s Morpheus Hotel on the list of “greatest places.” We’re pretty chuffed about it. Anyway, see the full list here.
FIND IT:
ChangChui
460/8 Sirindhorn Rd.
Bangkok
Open daily (except Wednesdays), 4pm-11pm, Green Zone opens at 11am daily
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