- Union Mall
- Reviewed by:
Review Summary:
Located in the Lat Phrao district north of Bangkok, Union Mall is easily accessible through the Phahon Yothin MRT Station, right across from St John University and 1-2 MRT stations from Chatuchak Weekend Market.
Union Mall shoppers are mainly made up of local students and younger Thais. With local brands by local designers with local flavors. An excellent place for younger female shoppers. The mall is relatively unknown for tourists.
Number of stores and services: 1,240
Hours of operation: Every-day 11am – 10pm
If you enjoy MBK and Platinum, you’ll have to check out Union Mall. Union Mall offers a great break from the overpriced, upscale, brand name malls in the city.
The exterior of the mall is covered in yellow or gold paint; it may look a bit shabby but don’t be deceived by the outer look.
You will need to be a bit adventurous to visit this mall because most shop owners speak very little to no English. Although they always have a calculator as a universal tool to type in the price.
There is a total of eight floors. The basement is mainly a food court made up with Thai food at about 40-50 baht per dish. On the fourth floor are higher quality foods with restaurants catering to about 50% Thai restaurants and the rest are Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese restaurants.
Shops and services
Basement: Street food style food court
Ground Floor: Clothing and shoes, gold, jewelry, restaurants, KFC, Buffet
Floor 1: Clothing and shoes, sun glasses, beauty, cosmetics,
Floor 2: Fashion accessories, bags, shoes, bank, ATM machines, and salon
Floor 3: Unique clothing, handmade, bakery, coffee, dessert
Floor 4: Restaurants (4 Food Center), gadgets and mobile accessories
Floor 5: Cosmetic treatment, manicure, pedicure, eyelash/hair extension
Floor 6: Movie Theater, arcade, karaoke, 4D movies
Pros
- A hidden shopping paradise for many, not too many tourists, that mainly caters to young local crowds.
- Great shopping for small, medium size teenage girls or twenty-something women. No selection for plus size or senior women.
- Most shop owners do not speak or know very little English, but they always have a calculator to type in the price. This can be a bad thing.
- Trendy fashions and good quality clothing.
- Great for budget shoppers, great varieties and inexpensive.
- Lots of women fashions, some men's too. About 80-90% are women's fashions.
- Good selection of restaurants (Thai (50%), Korean, Japanese, Western), fast food chains throughout the building.
- Good movie theater on the top floor, about 100-140 baht per person.
- Central World Lad Phrao is 15 minutes' walking distance away. There is an overhead bridge inside the Union Mall that will you take you to Central World Lad Phrao for further shopping.
- If you like shopping at Platinum Mall or MBK, you will enjoy Union Mall.
- Good fit in your itinerary on the same day if you’re visiting Chatuchak Market. Union Mall is just one- or two MRT Stations away from Chatuchak Market (depending where you get on MRT from Chatuchak Market). Perfect if you want to try something new and shop comfortably in an air conditioned building. You can shop here before heading to Chatuchak Market.
- There are many dressing rooms; you can try out everything before you buy it, unlike MBK or Platinum.
Cons
- The location, Union Mall is further away from the city center, not close to Sukhumvit Road, but easily accessible through MRT. About 20-30 MRT ride from the Sukhumvit Road area.
- No selection for plus size women.
- Mainly caters to teenage girls and young women. Not many shops for men's fashion, so men, be prepared to be bored.
Women and men fashions
Winter jackets and sweaters
Mobile phone, tablets, computers, laptops and accessories
Floor 5: Cosmetic treatment, manicure, pedicure, eyelash/hair extension
Basement: Street food style food court
Authentic Thai food, desserts and coffee shops can be found in the basement level. Get your cash card at the front desk in order to pay for your food. Some shops do not accept cash card and only accept cash only. Each dish costs about 40-60 baht, and all the food stalls are mainly written in Thai.
KFC and McDonald’s are on the ground floor. A&W is on the second floor.
Other western friendly restaurants with English menus are on the fourth floor.
Floor 4: Restaurants (4 Food Center), gadgets and mobile accessories
Floor 6: Movie theater, arcade, karaoke, 4D movies
On the sixth floor are the movie theater, karaoke, and an arcade. A movie ticket costs 100-140 baht per person, the 100 baht are the lower seats and the 140 baht are higher level seats.
You can watch the latest Hollywood movies here in English as well as Thai. I watched the latest Star Wars movie, and it felt like a private screening because there was hardly anyone in the theater during the day-time.
The theater was clean, well maintained, although the screen is a little bit smaller, still overall great value. I would recommend it.
Overhead bridge to Lad Phrao CentralPlaza
On the 2nd or 3rd level (don’t remember), there is an overhead bridge to Lad Phrao CentralPlaza. About 15 minutes apart.
Lad Phrao CentralPlaza is a larger and more upscale mall than Union Mall. You may do further shopping at this mall.
How to get there
Using MRT (subway): Get off at Phahon Yothin MRT Station and Exit #5 up the escalator.
Address: Chatuchak, จังหวัด กรุงเทพมหานคร
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I love this mall, although it’s kinda far from the rest of the malls and further away from the down town core of bkk, but easy accessible with the MRT. It is still my favourite how budget mall in all of bkk.