Thai Daimaru was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

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 ...

, operated by the Japanese department store chain

Daimaru is a Japanese department store chain, principally located in the Kansai region of Japan. The chain is operated by Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores, a subsidiary of J. Front Retailing. At one time Daimaru was an independent company, , hea ...

. It first opened on

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 ...

(at the current location of

CentralWorld CentralWorld ( th, เซ็นทรัลเวิลด์, styled as centralwOrld) is a shopping plaza and complex in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the ninth largest shopping complex in the world. The complex, which includes a hotel and office t ...

) in 1964, and famously introduced air conditioning and escalators to the

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

public. It reopened as part of the modern shopping mall

Rajadamri Arcade Ratchadamri Road ( th, ถนนราชดำริ, , ; also spelled Rajdamri) is a road in Bangkok. It runs a distance of in a north–south direction from Pratu Nam Intersection, where it meets Phetchaburi and Ratchaprarop Roads, to Sala D ...

in 1972, and later relocated to

Seri Center Paradise Park or formerly known as Seri Center is a shopping mall located in Prawet, Bangkok, Thailand. The retail giants Siam Piwat and MBK made a new joint-venture for new opportunities in the suburbs of Bangkok their Paradise Park Srinagarind ...

Srinagarindra Road The Srinagarindra Road ( th, ถนนศรีนครินทร์, , ) is a road named to honour the Princess Mother, Srinagarindra (the mother of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Great) during The Princess Mother's 7th Cycle Birthday Anniversa ...

when its lease expired in 1994. The store was initially very successful, but struggled to keep up with rising competition from Thai-owned companies in its later decades. With the fallout of the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

, Daimaru sold off its Thailand operations to Premier Group in 1998. Operations under the Daimaru brand ceased in 2000.

References

{{reflist Defunct department stores of Thailand Pathum Wan district 1964 establishments in Thailand 2000 disestablishments in Thailand Demolished buildings and structures in Bangkok