1 minute ago, RJRS1301 said:

Before the halluciagens wear off??

...and realize i actually have to pay back that loan.....

17 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

According to the OP article, to be affluent and have high spending power, you just need to be earning 50K baht or better per month... Even a lot of the old codgers here on retirement probably can meet that target!!! Heck, the monthly requirement for retirement extensions is 65K.

 

and that probably explains why in every mall I ever go on, in any City in Thailand, the upmarket shops are invariably empty of customers,  My only conclusion is that malls here are massive money laundering projects, because the real economics just don't stack up. 

6 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

 

Thats the future I think, online shopping delivered to your door, and the number of abandoned malls continues to increase.

 

 

I follow the malls industry some, in part because I have some stock market investments in a couple of mall operators...

 

The bottom line for now is, the move to online has whacked a lot of the lower end, so-called B and C level malls in the U.S.  But the A level malls, the cream of the crop or so-called destination places, have been doing quite well even amidst the move to online. And people tend to continue going to those A level places for various reasons, even while they're buying online.

 

I don't know to what extent if any the U.S. malls market translates into Thailand. But I haven't gotten any impression that Central Pattana is struggling financially.

 

 

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

and that probably explains why in every mall I ever go on, in any City in Thailand, the upmarket shops are invariably empty of customers,  My only conclusion is that malls here are massive money laundering projects, because the real economics just don't stack up. 

I've had the same thoughts about Top Charoen.

 

There can be two or three of these in the smallest of towns, generally devoid of customers, just with the pretty girls in their rather fetching lavender uniforms sat around playing on their phones!

 

There can be more optometry stores in a small Thai village than a medium size US city.

 

I with you @Pilotman on the money laundering thing

Brave choice !...as many areas of such luxury malls already in Bangok or in Swampy Airport Duty Free are plainly empty. Thailand seems to target now people who can shell out 800K a month on luxury goods ? Fair enough. But those with such ca$h power would rather burn it in Monaco, St Tropez, London or Beverly Hills and maybe not in downtown Bangkok near the airport ? ....if I may...IMHO

7 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I follow the malls industry some, in part because I have some stock market investments in a couple of mall operators...

 

The bottom line for now is, the move to online has whacked a lot of the lower end, so-called B and C level malls in the U.S.  But the A level malls, the cream of the crop or so-called destination places, have been doing quite well even amidst the move to online. And people tend to continue going to those A level places for various reasons, even while they're buying online.

 

I don't know to what extent if any the U.S. malls market translates into Thailand. But I haven't gotten any impression that Central Pattana is struggling financially.

 

 

Thats true, one of the few malls I see thriving is in Mission Valley San Diego, which caters to the tourists and the rich Mexicans who would come across the border from Tijuana for their weekend outing.

 

The demise of the mall industry in the US has been closely linked to the demise of the so called anchor stores.

 

As Sears, JC Penney, Macys have struggled and closed stores, the loss of those lucrative rentals have basically hobbled the mall developers.

And it becomes a death spiral, since as those stores close, it depresses the foot traffic which in turn hurts the smaller retailers, and on it goes.

 

So you're right that in Thailand, so long as the Robinsons business', and the like don't falter the mall developers keep raking in the rental income.

 

It'll be interesting to see if ultimately as Thai's become more used to buying on line whether the country follows the US & Europe in a declining retail industry 

Edited June 2, 20197 yr by GinBoy2