SOUTHEAST ASIAN BLOGGERS NETWORK

Sunday, May 06, 2007

OUR TREASURES:
Southeast Asia's Largest Shopping Malls






I am sick and tired of hearing my Eurasian friends (who came from different countries here in SE Asia) who loves to bite each other’s head off discussing the most profound and the most socially relevant issue that our society should be taking seriously – the shopping malls.

Toby and Francine (Filipino-Americans), Sofia & Petey (Thai-Danish), Tommy (Swedish-Japanese), Morgan & Misha (French-Vietnamese) Harry (Thai-English) and Sugar (Thai-American) are all shaking heaven and hell to prove the largest mall in Asia. The Filipinos swear it’s SM Mall of Asia! They even offered us a free trip to Manila to see it for ourselves! The Thais are using the highest notes of their voices to assert that Siam Paragon is the largest. The Vietnamese are just satisfied with their statement that the biggest mall in Asia is definitely not in the Philippines nor in Thailand. Good call for them.

I didn’t participate to the very in depth, socially relevant discussion because I know better.

Here. Let’s settle this once and for all. Let’s do a countdown of the LARGEST MALLS IN THE WORLD! Not just in Asia, but in the whole damn world! I am sick and tired of hearing this non-sense discussion and seeing misleading statements on the internet, like this for example. Unless you’re stupid enough to say that Asia is not part of the world. Ha!

The 10 Largest Malls in the World (yes, Asia included, dammit!)


The 10th largest shopping mall in the whole world is CENTRAL WORLD PLAZA in Bangkok, Thailand. It has 2.6 million sq ft of GLA (Gross leaseable area is interior floor space leased for retail shops, services, restaurants, and entertainment, such as night clubs, video arcades, and cinemas.) It has 500+ stores, 21 cinemas, bowling lanes and restaurants and a convention center which is not included on the GLA. Website: http://www.centralworld.co.th/

I’m sure my Thai friends are not so excited about Central World’s ranking but hey, we still got Siam Paragon!

(Photo Credit: Pre-Mambo)


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SOUTH COAST PLAZA in Costa Mesa, California with 2.7 million sq ft GLA is at No.9.


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The 8th largest mall in the world is KING OF PRUSSIA MALL in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA with 2.8 million sq ft GLA. Oh this mall has been around since 1962!


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ZHENGJIS PLAZA (Grandview Mall) in Guangzhou, China has 3 million sq ft GLA but has 4.5 million sq ft total area is at No. 7.

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Oh shoots! It’s almost half way and Siam Paragon and SM Mall of Asia hasn’t been called yet! My Thai and Filipino friends must be ecstatic!

BEIJING MALL in Beijing, China comes at No.6. It has 3.4 million sq ft GLA is the 6th largest mall in the world! And it’s even in Asia too! Siam Paragon and the SM Mall of Asia must be in the Top 5! Wow!


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No 5 is BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia…I’m sure my friends had the shock of their lives! Malaysia? You bet it is! Berjaya Time Square has 3.4 million sq ft GLA and a whopping total area of 7.5 million sq ft! Whoa! That’s huge! It has 1,000+ stores, 45 major restaurants, a theme park, and 3D Digi IMAX theater. Website: http://www.timessquarekl.com/aboutus.html


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CEVAHIR ISTANBUL in Istanbul, Turkey lands at No 4! It has 3.8 million sq ft GLA and total area of 4.5 million sq ft. considering the size of this mall, it only has 280 stores! Those are real HUGE stores, aren’t they? Whew! The 4th largest in the whole world!


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Oh shoots, its No. 3 already! Siam Paragon and the SM Mall of Asia must be ranked here! Oh are they so excited?!

The 3rd largest shopping mall in the world is WEST EDMONTON MALL in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (oh my friends must be a bit jittery by now). West Edmonton has 3.8 million sq feet of GLA and a total area of 5.3 million sq ft.


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This is it! It’s either Siam Paragon in No. 2 or SM Mall of Asia! Only 2 left in the countdown. Could it be that they are the largest shopping mall in the world?

No. 2 is JIN YUAN (Golden Resources Shopping Mall) in Beijing, China. It has 6.0 million sq ft GLA and a total area of 7.3 million sq ft!



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Do I need to continue to No.1? One of them could be either SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines OR Siam Paragon in Thailand…WHAT? You wanna take your chances?

The WORLD’s LARGEST SHOPPING MALL is NOT in the Philippines or Thailand, for christssake! Much more the largest mall in Asia? Ha!


Give it up already! Dammit!




MALAYSIA’s BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE IS SOUTHEAST ASIA’S LARGEST MALL, the 4th in Asia and the 5th in the world!




(Siam Paragon, in fairness, is No.16 in the World and SM Mall of Asia doesn't even get close to 20.)




Take that!


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22 Comments:

Qtheconqueror said...

Heya River,
according to this site: http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-the-world-s-largest-shopping-malls
SM Mall of Asia ranks seventh with 4.2 million square feet. I think the one website where you got that from wasn't updated.

According to this, Thailand's Central World is the biggest in SE Asia, with 5.8 million in comparison to Berjaya's 3.4 mill. Damn, this is confusing >_<.

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

I got it from Forbes.com baby. Nothing can be more credible than that. Yahoo Answers? Anyone can just put in whatever they like. Wikipedia? Almost the same. Thanks for the input babe. :-)

Qtheconqueror said...

Okay, I officially just got more confused. After what you said, I went over to the Forbes site and found this: http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/09/malls-worlds-largest-biz-cx_tvr_0109malls_slide.html
Here, SM Mall of Asia beats shit with everybody and ends up #3,SM Megamall ends up #5, Berjaya becomes #6 and SM North Edsa is #9. O_O wtf?! haha. Now I really don't know what to follow. >_<

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

Oh yeah? Cool! Y'know what? I think you're the one who left me that anonymous comment on my San Miguel entry, aren't you?

There's a word for it...wait let me think...I'll get back on you on that...

Sofia for BiSEAN said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

omfg! i see my name again on this fokken blog! lol. hey baby, i lost my phone. please cum over to my place N O W !!! I need you.

this q guy must be a filipino i'm pretty sure. they will never accept defeat. you aleady know that baby. ask him if he's ever been out of his country. they just believe whatever they see on the internet. poor thing.

you want me to fokken broadcast here what happened to us in their fokken country? but as promised to you, we won't talk about that ever.

morgan left for kl. let's follow! fokken cum here N O W !

Anonymous said...

อย่าคิดว่าเกย์เป็นตลาดใหม่ที่เงินเพียบเสมอไป...เพราะทาร์เก็ตจริงๆ นั้น พวกเขาฉลาดและมีรสนิยมมาก...ถ้าคุณจะขายของคนกลุ่มนี้ และมาแบบต่ำๆ ตื้นๆ...มีแต่เจ๊งกับเจ๊ง

Cypocalypse said...

Seriously, are the other ASEAN countries interested in this shopping mall arms race? Haha! I thought only the Philippines give a damn about this.

travelphilippines said...

im from the philippines and im actually in doubt about sm mall odf asia's claim. thanks biasian now i know they fool me hehe.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Im not the one to make arms race on which country has the largest mall in the world nor am I gullible. But I just checked out today on Forbes.com

Heres the link: http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-the-world-s-largest-shopping-malls

In this article it says 3 of the top 10 largest malls in the world came from the Philippines, 1 in Malaysia and a handful of it in China. No malls from Thailand made it to the top 10. The article is dated Sept 1, 2007. Now, I understand this bragging controversy may get on some people's nerves but I hope next time you write an article, please be factual.

http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-the-world-s-largest-shopping-malls

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

Free of regional bias? Here's a TIP FOR YOU, brainy SIMON...

Did you read MY article?

Did you see GLA? Gross Leaseable Area...

You didn't?

Check again...

"Shopping malls are made for trade and commerce...to lease its floor."

Floor area does not necessarily mean all of it is "LEASABLE".

What about the Largest Cities of the World? – the list would vary by land area, population, economy, etc.

I am sick and tired of people WHO ONLY SEE WHAT THEY WANTED TO SEE.

Now, SIMON...make a blog of your own and post THE LARGEST MALLS IN THE WORLD... IN GROSS LEASABLE AREA. That's what shopping malls are for, yes?

SHOPPING MALL, NOT A THEME PARK!

HOW DARE YOU SAY I SHOULD WRITE SOMETHING FACTUAL? YOU GOT A BLOG OF YOUR OWN? LET ME SEE!

Sofia for BiSEAN said...

Ha-ha-ha! Pisanu lost it! But I won't blame you, honey.

Simon...please don't mind if Pisanu said the "m" word. Maybe he's just really upset. We got a lot of email about this post and maybe he's just too tired of answering the same question over and over again.

Simon, you know what? Other countries don't give a shit who got the largest malls whatever.

Other countries are NOT HUNGRY FOR RECOGNITION. So, for your own sake sweetie...don't sound too concerned. Other countries will laugh at you. Ok, sweetie?

Muah!

Anonymous said...

I would not have actually left a comment to this post but Pisanu's response is so compelling with the "motherfucker" word. LOL

He actually got a point. People of other continets (like us here in Europe) defines shopping malla as shopping malls.

I also agree with him about the difference of shopping malls to theme parks.

Brent a.k.a. yourkidatheart said...

Hahahahahah! Tsk tsk tsk... what heated comments on malls. Shopping malls or theme parks... they're made/designed to make people feel better... Or spend. Whatever. But they're basically there to make people feel gooooood. Hehehe.

Anonymous said...

hi a pleasnt day...
wana comment on this maybe if this article are to be base on maybe there is a fact and fiction...about the largest mall in the worlds I think the mall in the Philippines rank the most and SM mall of asia rank with 3 I think if you read the article in the Forbes.com it bases on the GLA and pls read it well im so confused on wat or whose the right one...but I just say to Simon hes correct and I also research it on the net and the site give me the answer whose in the world ranks the largest and SM mall of Asia and SM north edsa and SM megamalls are on top and also the one in Malaysia Berjaya mall this is the only ASEAN countries make it to the least...what do u think...its just a comment dont be mad....

Anonymous said...

Any idiotic malls in any country can claim they are the largest mall in Asia and the world.

ANY OF THEM CAN. They are private companies and will do anything for publicity.

But only the Filipinos took it soooooooo seriously. My gahd, please... patawarin nyo na ang isyung ito!

Punyeta, iyan lang ba ang maipagmamalaki ng Pilipinas? Ang mga punyetang malls na yan na walang katigil tigil sa isyu ng palakihan?

Isa pang punyeta! Ilan bang turista ang pumupunta sa Pinas para mag-shopping? Punyeta! Hindi kaisng dami ng Malaysia, Singapore at Thailand.

Nagmumukhang tanga ang mga pinoy sa kakasagot nyo dito. Punyeta! Mahiya kayo.

Anonymous said...

You may need to update this... as you say, you're main reference is Forbes, but according to their latest feature, three malls amongst the top 10 largest malls in the world are in the philippines

Anonymous said...

oops i forgot to put in the link... here it is:

http://www.forbes.com/2007/01/09/malls-worlds-largest-biz-cx_tvr_0109malls_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=15000

Pisanu for BISEAN said...

This article was written May 2007 and the refereence is of course earlier than that.

Thanks for the input, Proud2be.

We cannot update this because this is a blog. It is chronologically written by date.

The best we can do is write another article. thanks again and thank you for your first comment. We'd like you to know it is always welcome and appreciated (as long as you leave a name =).

Anonymous said...

I really just don't get the big fuss about this whole thing. I'm not sayin I'm not proud to be a Filipino, and I believe Menchu is right.
Before we could brag about something, we have to do a reality check, please. Now i really can't blame why we are being criticized. I've read comments from previous blogs and it makes me think that we're bein egocentric - which is so 1900's! It's quite disappointing, really.
Sorry BISEAN guys. i do hope you do not generalize you're views on us Filipinos.

Anonymous said...

Another pathetic recognition-thirsty soul. Poor you, posh.

Disservice? Bwahaha! Who do you think you are? Do you even have a blog? Pucha ka.

Kawawa. Yan lang ba? Malls? Wala nang iba? Nobody cares. Umayos-ayos ka nga! Gumawa ka kaya ng sarili mong blog? Ikaw ang mag-update?

(The authors need not know the transaltion in English of my comment. It's for the "talangka" Posh)

Anonymous said...

***Posh Spice comment deleted. No more comments on this post after Menchu.

No comments about this post will be forwarded to the authors. So, don't waste your time.

-- Grant (BISEAN Blog Editor)

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