The Circle Ratchapruk Shopping Village

The Circle Ratchapruk Shopping Village (or The Circle Lifestyle City) has been open for more than a year, maybe around April 2011, but we never heard of it until recently and it still looks brand new. This is what you would call a ‘themed shopping village’ and reminds instantly of the very successful Palio in Kao Yai but with a southern France flair.

The Circle Ratchapruk is also pet friendly, which seems to be the latest way to attract a young audience from Bangkok and if it is not as detailed as Palio it is at least very close to Bangkok. The Circle obviously applied a very good principle that works extremely in Thailand when opening a shopping place, especially it’s located far from everything: Bring the food and they will come. Get a lot of restaurants, large, small, fun, fa(s)t food…. then add the shops around, this is often a recipe for success, while the other way around doesn’t always work.

The Circle Ratchapruk does have plenty of restaurants, many of them are franchises and large brands MK Suki, S & P, and even a drive-thru McDonald. Some names start to be familiar, Madame Heng, Secret Recipe. Lots of Japanese restaurants! Pang Shabu Shabu, Tohkai Yakiniku, Katsu King, Kasa Japanese restaurant, Dotonbori Ramen and a Korean Restaurant Kimju Royal Korean Cuisine. Few more top of the line places: Greyhound (this one is called Ground Hey… fun twist), Hong Min Chinese restaurant, Scoosi.

The Circle is an open-air mini-village, 62 shops and 40 kiosks spread on 6,950 square meters with partly covered areas and parking for 500 cars. None of the shops looks the same and it’s a fun place to walk around, take photos, sneak inside and… even buy stuff!

Shopping is very teen and young family oriented with a good range of selection for everyone, young fashion, accessories, sexy underwear, good wines, a pretty good photo equipment shop, an Apple store, a library, Boots pharmacy and a rather small Tops supermarket. Plenty of banks, so you can get rid of your banking duties between a coffee and a lunch. Last but not least, a nice range of pet shops with a real wide collection of products.

As The Circle Ratchapruek target essentially young families, a lot of space, activities and educational shops is dedicated to kids.

It’s outside Bangkok, not too far, but you definitely will need a car to get there.