Dusit Thani coming down

[reader]

From Khaosod English

 

BANGKOK — A shopping mall, condos, green space and more are coming to replace a 47-year-old landmark on the corner of Silom Road, which will be redeveloped into a mixed-use property, the Dusit Thani Group announced Monday.

 

Once the tallest building in Thailand, the Dusit Thani Hotel will be demolished and replaced with a complex consisting of a hotel, residences, an office space, a shopping mall and green space, according to the announcement. The 36-billion baht project is a partnership between the hotel group and Central Pattana, which owns 30 shopping malls nationwide under the Central brand.

 

Dusit Thani said the hotel will continue operating through June 2018. Development will then begin on the same land, the lease for which was recently extended another 60 years by the Crown Property Bureau. The new lease agreement will also add another 5 rai (8,000sqm) of land to the property.

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/bangkok/2017/03/07/bangkoks-dusit-thani-hotel-gets-date-wrecking-ball/

[emailbroken]

Thanks for the info. 

 

Have to say I'm fond of the place.  Not sure I'd stay in it ahead of demolition.  Would suspect place might not be well maintained.

[ozmouse]

Added to the list of sightseeing during my trip in april.  

 

Has been there the last 15 years i have been coming to BKK and never stepped in the door.  

 

Certainly will change the neighbourhood... 1 tourist hotel replaced with a massive mixed use complex. 

[fedssocr]

because if there's something BKK needs more of it's condos and shopping malls

[ChristianPFC]

Sad news. Another historical and architectural landmark will be replaces by an anonymous shopping mall / hotel / condo / whatever.

[spoon]

I actually really enjoyed my stay at dusit thani. My room was on the highest floor, with big balcony facing lumphini park. The bed is big and really comfortable and the bathroom has a big glass seperating the bedroom, and i can stay in my bed while watching the boy taking shower. If u never stay here, i highly recommend this place, especially when itll no longer be around soon

[reader]

I assume that the Dusit "annex" is also part of the project. In the photo, the annex is that gray building to the left of the tower. It's about a dozen stores high and houses many additional, lower-cost rooms. 

 

This will take 517 rooms out of the upscale market in one of the more popular business/tourist destinations in the city.  Good news for the rest of the industry in the neighborhood.

 

The Dusit is the first building you see that announces that you've arrived in Silom.  It's among the most indelible memories of my first trip. Will miss it.

[baobao]

I'm kind of sorry to see it go, too. I've only stayed there once back in 2012, and that splurge was primarily to see what all the fuss was about. 

 

Beachlover will be in cyber-mourning back in Nebraska - or wherever it was he actually trolled from. 

[Guest ronnie4you]

I've stayed there several times, mostly on my earlier visits. The piano lobby is fantastic. The rooms are okay, a suite once was quite nice. We had the cutest butler, but couldn't think of anything for him to do, so we had him get a copy of the movie Bridge over the River Kwai, which we had just visited. It was nothing like the story we learned on our visit.

Om my first visit, I went to the hotel barber to get a haircut, and he ended up cleaning my ears too. That was different.  Although the shop has been moved in the hotel, they still do ear cleaning.

[Alexx]

Makes me sad, too, but it seems inevitable. Land prices in that area have skyrocketed and the existing buildings simply don't make good use of that land plot by today's standards. There's no other way to fix that.