Tall & Urban News

The new Dusit Thani Bangkok Hotel will be part of a large, mixed-use complex planned for the site of the original Dusit Thani, a much loved landmark in the Thai capital since it opened 49 years ago.

At the intersection of Rama IV and Silom roads it sits just across from Lumphini Park. The site, covering 3.8 hectares, is owned by the Crown Property Bureau – the investment arm of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun and one of the largest land holders in Thailand. Dusit Thani’s management approached the bureau in 2017 to discuss the proposed redevelopment and the possibility of leasing additional land adjacent to the hotel.

The bureau agreed, expanding the site by 25 percent and providing Dusit Thani International with a seven-year right to develop the land, followed by a 60-year leasehold, at an undisclosed price. Since then, the clock has been ticking.

Details of the project, which has been dubbed Dusit Central Park, were announced at a press event co-hosted by Dusit Thani Public Company and project partner Central Pattana – part of the Central Department Store Group.

Upon completion in 2023/24, the project will comprise the 39-story, 250-room Dusit Thani Bangkok Hotel, a 69-story Residences condominium, an 80,000-square-meter Central Park Shopping Complex and 40-story Central Park Offices. The entire investment in the 440,000 square meter site is estimated at 36.7 billion baht (US$1.16 billion).

There will be plenty of competition for Dusit Central Park because mixed-use complexes have become all the rage in Bangkok of late. Just down Rama IV Road, construction is under way on One Bangkok, owned by Thai liquor and property tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi. Also situated on land owned by the Crown Property Bureau, Charoen’s mixed-use development is slated to open in 2020.

With easy access to both the underground MRT and overhead BTS railway networks, management claim that Dusit Central Park will have “unrivalled connectivity”. It will become the future “Super Core CBD” with easy access to the four main Bangkok districts – Ratchaprasong Road (north), Charoen Krung Road (south), Sukhumvit Road (east) and Yaowarat Road in Chinatown (west). An extension of the MRT subway is scheduled to open later this year, providing easy access to Chinatown and the historic Rattanakosin district

The management hope that Dusit Central Park will outshine all its mixed-use rivals thanks to Dusit Thani’s legacy and a number of innovations, such as green space in the complex and rooftop gardens. All 250 rooms in the new Dusit Thani Bangkok Hotel will have views of Lumphini Park, as will all the condominium units in the Residences.

The Dusit Thani (Heavenly City) was one of the city’s first five-star hotels when it opened for business in 1970. At a time when most Bangkok establishments were emphasizing Western modernity, and Thailand was awash with American military personnel, from day one The Dusit Thani emphasized “Thainess” –from exceedingly polite service in the lobby to the golden spire atop the roof, modeled after Bangkok’s famed Temple of Dawn.

The luxury hotel was the vision of Chanut Piyaoui, who opened her first Bangkok hotel, the three-star Princess, in 1948. Over the next seven decades, her company evolved into a multinational hospitality group with 29 hotels in 18 countries – nine self-owned and 20 managed.

Dusit International also manages 240 luxury villas in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. For Chanin Donavanik, group’s former CEO and now chairman of the executive committee, the decision to tear down the hotel to make way for a bigger, mixed-use development was ultimately inescapable. “We have been losing ground to a lot of new hotels … When my mother dreamed about this hotel she wanted the brand to be the best. We are trying to keep our status and we cannot do that unless we have a drastic change.”

Management announced the redevelopment plan in 2017, saying the hotel would close its doors for the last time in April 2018. The date was postponed to January 2019 after a deluge of messages from guests and customers. Some expressed concerns about whether the new building “could possibly embrace our heritage and continue our legacy,” says Suphajee Suthumpun, Dusit International’s CEO since 2016.

Dusit Thani became an integral part of the Bangkok experience, not only for tourists but also Bangkokians. More than 20,000 couples were married in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom over the decades.

The new hotel will preserve or replicate much of the old structure’s heritage. There will be a golden spire on the rooftop and an indoor waterfall. The Hindu/Buddhist shrine near the junction of Silom and Rama IV roads will be kept, as will the banyan tree planted decades ago.

For more on this story visit South China Morning Post.