Thong
Lo area in Bangkok is fast becoming one of the city trendiest place.
I had read about 'The Bookshop Bar' and since I have a certain
fascination for books and cafés, I took a book and went there hoping
to be in one of those readers' heaven...
 |
| Interior of The Bookshop Bar |
The
Bookshop Bar is not too far away from Thong Lo BTS station on
Sukhumvit Soi 38. It is hiding at the back on the groundfloor of the
new Ashton Condominium.
 |
| Bar view |
Once
you get there, the interior decoration blows you away. It is truly
amazing. This is one of the latest creation of the bar designer
Ashley Sutton. I had also heard much about Ashley Sutton. This Aussie
guy has lately become the talk of the town for his extravagant bar
designs.
Whatsoever,
this rather small bar has definitively a unique decoration with books
litterally flying all over the place and stairs leading to the
wonderland of nowhere.
Much
has already been said about this bar and the quality of its cocktails
and food. Ashley Sutton has now established his own local reputation
as a master designer with a signature. A native of Freemantle,
Western Australia, this rather young guy once worked in mines.
Perhaps this is where he developped his sense of dark colors and an
attraction to fairies. The Bookshop Bar has already been compared to
a living scene inspired to 'Alice in Wonderland'. But I felt it was
more appropriate to compare it with Harry Potter. But it may simply
be a mix of both magic characters.
So,
after the happy shock of the design, I looked for a place to sit.
There were none ! A handful of
customers were already occupying
the few seats and tables available. One low table by the window was
empty but said 'reserved'. It remained empty till I left. So I chose
to sit on a higher bar stool in the middle of the room. A great
vintage place to admire the decor but not exactly ideal to sit
comfortably and read as I had expected. Well, it reminded me that
this was called 'The Bookshop Bar' and not the 'Bookshop Café'. My
mistake
then. I swallowed my deception by drinking an ice-cold drink
as it had been another scorchingly hot April day in town.
 |
| Maze of flying books |
 |
| Room decor |
I
still think 'The Bookshop Bar' is another fabulous place in the 'City
of Angels' but I believe it is not fully in keeping with the
expectation. The books are there but they are unreachable. In these
hard times, where books have become less valued, why not adding a few
shelves with some books to grasp or some magazines to browse. Most of
the customers there were busy with laptops and a quick look revealed
they were not reading books online.
With
this thought in mind, I left happy to have discovered such an amazing
environment but at the same time feeling that something was missing
due to my own expectation. Nothing wrong with the place or Ashley
Sutton's design though. Simply next, I must write an article on this
wonderful relation between books and cafés.
Christian
Sorand,
Bangkok,
April 2015.
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