Amarin Plaza ( th, อัมรินทร์พลาซ่า) is a shopping mall and office building complex located in the
Ratchaprasong
Ratchaprasong ( th, ราชประสงค์, ; also spelled ''Rajprasong'') is the name of an intersection, and a shopping district named after it, in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, adjacent to the Siam area, at the BTS Skytrain's Chit L ...
shopping district in the city centre of
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
. It comprises a five-storey shopping mall podium with over 300 shops, above which rises the twenty-two-storey Amarin Tower.
Amarin Plaza opened in 1985, with the
Sogo department store as its main anchor. The building, designed by
Rangsan Torsuwan
Rangsan Torsuwan (born 1939) is a Thai architect, known for many buildings during Bangkok's period of explosive growth from the 1980s to early 1990s.
Rangsan graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of Chulalongkorn University and attained a M ...
, features a
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
design combining Greco-Roman elements with a
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
glass façade, which became a commercial success and a sensation among developers but was heavily criticized within architect circles. The complex was operated by the Amarin Plaza Company, which later became
The Erawan Group
The Erawan Group is a hospitality company of Thailand, formerly known as Amarin Plaza PCL. The company and its affiliates operate hotels, office buildings and shopping centers. The Erawan is headquartered in Bangkok and listed on the SET100 Index ...
, until 2007, when it was sold to Gaysorn Group. It is now part of the
Gaysorn Village
Gaysorn Village (previously Gaysorn Plaza) is a building complex in the Ratchaprasong area of Bangkok. It also includes the Gaysorn Tower, an office tower block, and the Amarin Plaza shopping centre.
The shopping mall building has five levels wi ...
complex.
History
Development
Amarin Plaza was the first property of the Amarin Plaza Company, now known as
The Erawan Group
The Erawan Group is a hospitality company of Thailand, formerly known as Amarin Plaza PCL. The company and its affiliates operate hotels, office buildings and shopping centers. The Erawan is headquartered in Bangkok and listed on the SET100 Index ...
. It was the first real estate venture by the
Vongkusolkit family
The Vongkusolkit family ( th, ว่องกุศลกิจ) is a Sino-Thai business family. It does business in the sugar, coal and hospitality industries through its major holdings Mitr Phol, Banpu and The Erawan Group. The family, headed b ...
, whose primary business was in the sugar industry through the
Mitr Phol Group. Isara Vongkusolkit conceived the project after being offered a deal with the
Srivikorn family, who owned the land, and the family partnered with the
Wattanavekin family to establish the company in 1982.
The building, designed by architect
Rangsan Torsuwan
Rangsan Torsuwan (born 1939) is a Thai architect, known for many buildings during Bangkok's period of explosive growth from the 1980s to early 1990s.
Rangsan graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of Chulalongkorn University and attained a M ...
, features the juxtaposition of Greco-Roman elements—including
Ionic columns, a
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
and
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
s—with a modernist glass curtain wall. According to Rangsan, he did not set out to create a
postmodern design, but adapted according to what he expected would appeal to tenants' tastes. In fact, some of the project owners opposed his design, but he insisted, guaranteeing that it would sell, or he would forfeit his fees and also come up with a new design for free.
It was a great success; the project sold 80 percent of units before construction began.
The building's design became a sensation among
Thai architects and developers, starting a trend where Greco-Roman elements were widely used to signify a project's prestige. However, it was heavily criticized within architect circles as an inappropriate use of classical elements, which fit poorly especially in the Thai context.
Construction began in 1983, but initially faced problems with its
piling
A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural element ...
system, prompting the owners to switch from concrete drilled piles to a bored system. This then made very slow progress due to the soil structure, and the construction was again switched to steel drilled piles, which faced more problems as the construction was halted by a court order as the neighbouring
Erawan Hotel
The Erawan Hotel ( th, โรงแรมเอราวัณ) was a luxury hotel in the Thai capital Bangkok. It was one of the first modern hotels built to accommodate the expansion of international air travel, and was operated by the governme ...
sued over noise pollution.
Despite the setbacks, the project's advance payments provided it with financial security, and it was accordingly able to reduce its loan from
Siam Commercial Bank
Siam Commercial Bank ( th, ธนาคารไทยพาณิชย์; ) is a Thai bank that was founded on 30 January 1907.
History
SCB was founded as the "Book Club" on 4 October 1904 by Prince Jayanta Mongkol, a brother of King Ch ...
, initially estimated at 270 million
baht
The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...
(US$10.8M at the time), to less than 100 million ($4M). The security also gave it advantage over competitors such as
Pantip Plaza
Pantip Plaza is an indoor IT shopping mall located on New Phetchaburi Road in Ratchathewi district, Bangkok, Thailand. It has branch locations in Nonthaburi, in Bangkapi, and in Chiang Mai.
Stores
The mall has two anchors, IT City, which oc ...
, which opened a few months earlier.
Operations
Amarin Plaza opened in 1985, with the
Sogo department store as its anchor—the Japanese chain's first international branch. This prompted
Mahboonkrong Center
MBK Center, also known as Mahboonkrong ( th, มาบุญครอง; , ), is a large shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand. At eight storeys, the center contains around 2,000 shops, restaurants and service outlets.
In 2009, MBK Center manage ...
—another competitor which opened the same year—to also introduce the
Tokyu Department Store
is a Japanese department store chain owned by Tokyu Group.
Stores Japan
*Shibuya Honten (flagship store)
* Kichijoji
* Tama Plaza
*Sapporo
Closed Branches
*Shibuya Toyoko (Shibuya Station), closed down on March 31, 2020.
Closed Branches outsid ...
.
Amarin Plaza also featured the first
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
branch in Thailand, which was allocated a prime spot at the front of the building.
Sogo became the household name by which people referred to the building. However, it faced heavy losses in its first few years as the number of newly opening departments stores brought intense competition. Sogo would continue to operate, opening a second location at the
Grand Hyatt Erawan
The Grand Hyatt Erawan is a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. It opened in 1991, replacing the ailing government-owned Erawan Hotel, on a corner of Ratchaprasong Intersection in the modern city centre. It is jointly owned by Thai hospitality com ...
hotel (a sister property which replaced the original Erawan in 1991), but closed down soon after Sogo in Japan scaled down its international operations in 2000.
In 2007, The Erawan Group sold Amarin Plaza to the Srivikorn-owned Gaysorn Group (which operated what was then
Gaysorn Plaza on the opposite side of the road), as the impending end of the property's thirty-year lease limited renovation prospects. The mall has undergone several major renovations, and was incorporated as part of the rebranded
Gaysorn Village
Gaysorn Village (previously Gaysorn Plaza) is a building complex in the Ratchaprasong area of Bangkok. It also includes the Gaysorn Tower, an office tower block, and the Amarin Plaza shopping centre.
The shopping mall building has five levels wi ...
retail complex in 2017.
Facilities
Amarin Plaza is located on
Phloen Chit Road
Phloen Chit Road ( th, ถนนเพลินจิต, also spelled Ploenchit, ) is a major road in central Bangkok. Located entirely within in Lumphini Subdistrict of Pathum Wan District, it runs a short distance of between Ratchaprasong Int ...
, near the southeast corner of
Ratchaprasong Intersection
Ratchaprasong ( th, ราชประสงค์, ; also spelled ''Rajprasong'') is the name of an intersection, and a shopping district named after it, in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok, adjacent to the Siam area, at the BTS Skytrain's Chit L ...
, in Bangkok's
Pathum Wan District
Pathum Wan ( th, ปทุมวัน, ) is one of the fifty districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. It lies just beyond the old city boundary of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, and was a rural area on the eastern outskirts of the city when roya ...
. It is connected via skywalk to the Chit Lom Station of the
BTS Skytrain
The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain ( th, รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส '' TS'), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a ...
, as well as the other Gaysorn Village buildings opposite and the many other shopping malls in the area. It also has a direct footbridge to the neighbouring Grand Hyatt Erawan. Amarin Plaza features of gross retail area in its five storeys, which houses over 300 shops.
It is particularly known for Thai arts and crafts shops, and also has a large food court.
Amarin Tower has of office space for rent in the 22-storey building.
See also
*
List of shopping malls in Bangkok
The following is a list of notable shopping malls in Bangkok, Thailand:
A
* Amarin Plaza, Ratchaprasong
* Asiatique, Saphan Taksin BTS Station
C
* Central Embassy, Phloenchit
* Central Bangna, Bang Na
* Central Chaengwattana, Pak Kret
* ...
*
List of shopping malls in Thailand
The following is a list of notable shopping malls in Thailand, by province:
Bangkok
Chiang Mai Province
* Central Chiang Mai
* Central Chiang Mai Airport
Chiang Rai Province
* Central Chiang Rai
Chonburi Province
Chonburi
* Central Ch ...
References
External links
*
{{Shopping malls in Thailand
Shopping malls in Bangkok
Postmodern architecture in Thailand
Pathum Wan district
Shopping malls established in 1985
1985 establishments in Thailand