Foreign Property News | Posted by Aye Myat Thu
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's new ultra-luxurious Iconsiam shopping complex opens its doors on Saturday, shrugging off a decline in tourist arrivals and political uncertainty ahead of next year's elections.
"I wanted to build something that would tell the million stories of 'Thainess'," says Chadatip Chutrakul, chief executive of Siam Piwat, the firm behind Iconsiam, a half-million-square metre (sqm) complex sits on the banks of Bangkok's Chao Praya River.
Developers have $4 billion in retail investments in the pipeline, outstripping new projects in Jakarta, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Bangkok is expected to add more retail floor space than any city in Southeast Asia this year.
Siam Piwat’s malls at the centre of Bangkok's shopping district were closed off at the height of civil unrest that ultimately led to Thailand's 2014 military coup.
"There were mobs in front of our shopping centres...we closed for three months - I survived," she said in an interview with Reuters. "We announced [Iconsiam] three weeks after the coup."
New retail projects are being planned even as Thailand prepares for elections that senior government officials have said would likely be on Feb. 24.
The elections will pit supporters of the military and royalist establishment against populist political forces led by the Puea Thai Party that was ousted by the military in a 2014 coup.
Thailand's political turmoil discouraged tourism growth, which also slowed after a boat accident killed dozens of Chinese tourists in July, but these concerns have not deterred developers.
Siam Piwat's Chadatip says she believes there are good opportunities in Thailand and tourism will recover.
Ref: Property Report
