Today I went to the Central Festival mall at around 10:30 am. Lo and behold, it was still not opened even though it is supposed to open at 10 am on the weekend.

 

There was a long queue of motorcyclists waiting to get into the car park blocking the entrance.

 

I asked the guard why the delay, he said it's due to the Coronavirus that the mall is opening an hour later starting today.

 

There was noticeably less people there than in past months. I could see quite a few westerners, the Chinese are virtually gone.

It closed a little earlier today as well.  It looks like 8PM is the new closing time on Saturday.   If you want to eat at a restaurant, plan to be there by 7:30 or before.  Quite a few weren't accepting new diners after that.

That place has really gone down hill in the last few years. Thirty years ago it was the only mall in Chiang Mai I believe and was a bustling sort of place. Now almost  whole floors are empty and it's like some sort of ghost town.

11 minutes ago, nglodnig said:

That place has really gone down hill in the last few years. Thirty years ago it was the only mall in Chiang Mai I believe and was a bustling sort of place. Now almost  whole floors are empty and it's like some sort of ghost town.

Central Festival hasn't been in Chiang Mai 30 years ago, it opened about 6 years ago

54 minutes ago, nglodnig said:

That place has really gone down hill in the last few years. Thirty years ago it was the only mall in Chiang Mai I believe and was a bustling sort of place. Now almost  whole floors are empty and it's like some sort of ghost town.

 

I just went to Kad Suan Kaew this afternoon at 1 pm.

 

Most of the shops were empty of customers except for a few farang.

 

The streets were eerily quiet too.

 

1 hour ago, LukKrueng said:

Central Festival hasn't been in Chiang Mai 30 years ago, it opened about 6 years ago

Woops, my bad, mea cupla mea culpa ???? - it's always been "Central" to me - I suppose I mean "Kad Suan Kaew" but I've always thought of it as "Centrum" as I believe that was the old name? And the one by the airport - again I think of it as "Airport Plaza" but I think THAT's changed its name as well - to CENTRAL Airport Plaza? So where is Central Festival then? If it's the one by Highway 11 that's the wrong side of town for me and my bicycle.

So where is Central Festival then? If it's the one by Highway 11 that's the wrong side of town for me and my bicycle.

21 minutes ago, nglodnig said:

 

Superhighway 11 and Kaeonawarat Rd. 118 Yes northeast side.

You bicycle at this time of year? You are a very hardy fellow. 

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7 minutes ago, PeteDaKat said:

You bicycle at this time of year? You are a very hardy fellow. 

I would like to agree with you but that is definitely outside of my normal range, whatever the season. Ten kilometre radius normally, fifteen on a good day. 

I went to Central Festival again, what a big change from a few days ago.

 

1. The main entrance is closed. Everybody has to use the basement entrance.

 

2. Only two floors are opened, the basement floor and the floor where all the banks are. All the other shops are sectioned off with tapes.

 

3. Most of the shops are closed except for Tops and the food stalls. There is no dine-in anymore and you have to take-away. There was a row of 20 Grab motorcyclists sitting there waiting for orders.

 

4. We can't use escalator now and must use the lifts which is partitioned into 6 sections for us to stand.