They Built That New Office Building At The Corner Of Asoke Intersection

[NoSpeakIt]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

[Sunbelt Asia]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[dantilley]

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

A long time hopefully

[NoSpeakIt]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

yes, hopefully there comes a time when these places are not profitable enough and are pushed out.

[tw25rw]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

yes, hopefully there comes a time when these places are not profitable enough and are pushed out.

Yes, and then hopefully all the evil hotels, shops and restaurants that rely on the same customers as the Soi Cowboy bars.

[NoSpeakIt]

you are fooling yourself kid. the majority of tourists are not going to soi cowboy. that is your false assumption.

[thaihome]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Agree, would not be surprised to see it go someday soon. Keep in mind it is there because the orginal was located where Emporium is now...

Exchange Tower is full as is most of the smaller ones up Asok towards Rama IV. The new building (something 21?) is going fast and could be full within this year. The other way down Asok is the Serm-Mit which is also full. Class A space in that areas is in very high demand.

TH

[tw25rw]

you are fooling yourself kid. the majority of tourists are not going to soi cowboy. that is your false assumption.

Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza (and the sex industry in general) are the major reason for tourists being in the lower Sukhumvit area. There's not much other reason to stay around there. Close it down and the local economy will be badly affected.

[tw25rw]

Agree, would not be surprised to see it go someday soon. Keep in mind it is there because the orginal was located where Emporium is now...

Do you mean that the predecessor to Soi Cowboy was where the Emporium is now? When was that?

[NoSpeakIt]

you are fooling yourself kid. the majority of tourists are not going to soi cowboy. that is your false assumption.

Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza (and the sex industry in general) are the major reason for tourists being in the lower Sukhumvit area. There's not much other reason to stay around there. Close it down and the local economy will be badly affected.

its central bangkok the area will do just fine without that

[bkkjames]

you are fooling yourself kid. the majority of tourists are not going to soi cowboy. that is your false assumption.

Soi Cowboy and Nana Plaza (and the sex industry in general) are the major reason for tourists being in the lower Sukhumvit area. There's not much other reason to stay around there. Close it down and the local economy will be badly affected.

its central bangkok the area will do just fine without that

Let me play along, the reason the new office tower (Interchange I think it's called) is being filled up quickly is

a) its convenient location next to the bts / mrt

there is shortage of Grade A office space in the CBD of Bangkok

or

c) the companies moving in there all have a 40+ expat boss who wants to be able to keep an eye on his girl from 20 floor up.

d) all of the above.

[Gary A]

Soi Cowboy has been there for thirty years. I don't go back that far but I do go back far enough to remember when Emporium was NOT there.

[bkkjames]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

The problem is that all these hotels are not close to the main CBD business area (Silom, Sathorn) and the only thing left to offer tourists on Sukhumvit is foot massages, copy t-shirts, crappy tailors. Asoke is hardly a tourist area. Building another office building or hotel on Soi Cowboy won't make the place anymore attractive.

While people form the ME may like to stumble down suk between dvd's stalls and t-shirts, it's hardly becoming a place for families or for business travellers looking to go experience the city after a day of meetings.

If I was a tourist, I would not want to stay at any of these hotels because of their location. Walk out of the Westin at 7 pm to go experience Suk traffic, and the most frustrating walk to nowhere along the odd numbered side of Suk towards Nana. Great experience, no wonder tourists to Thailand only stay 2-3 days in Bangkok before heading north or south.

Besides buying copy items at MBK, do tourists really spend alot of money visiting Siam Paragon? - they have big malls in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and London all selling the same crap. The prices are not cheaper in Thailand when it comes to brand names.

I don't think Cowboy is going anywhere soon unless the owner of that land thinks he can sell more suits and make more money in the process than the fees he gets for renting out the area currently.

[markuk]

i hope cowboy doesn't go too soon would have no-where to go tonight!!

[thaihome]

Soi Cowboy has been there for thirty years. I don't go back that far but I do go back far enough to remember when Emporium was NOT there.

Way before my time, but have it on reliable information that the original cowboy bar was located there in early ‘70’s. Maybe an urban myth who knows?

TH

[thaihome]

...I don't think Cowboy is going anywhere soon unless the owner of that land thinks he can sell more suits and make more money in the process than the fees he gets for renting out the area currently.

I agree, I don’t think Soi Cowboy is going anywhere soon. But I do think it won't be too long (5 years?) before the owner starts taking a hard look.

TH

[stumonster]

you are fooling yourself kid. the majority of tourists are not going to soi cowboy.

you're right . I think they are shopping for cheap bargains at the stalls that line the footpath on sukhumvit - lucky for their moral souls.

[ballbreaker]

Soi Cowboy has been there for thirty years. I don't go back that far but I do go back far enough to remember when Emporium was NOT there.

Way before my time, but have it on reliable information that the original cowboy bar was located there in early '70's. Maybe an urban myth who knows?

TH

Unless mistaken the Emporium use to be the Chokechai Building which was built around 1970.

[farangene]

Soi Cowboy has been there for thirty years. I don't go back that far but I do go back far enough to remember when Emporium was NOT there.

Way before my time, but have it on reliable information that the original cowboy bar was located there in early '70's. Maybe an urban myth who knows?

TH

Unless mistaken the Emporium use to be the Chokechai Building which was built around 1970.

Chokchai building is still on Sukhumvit, a bit further down past Soi 24. It now is the UOB bank bldg. Chokchai bldg was one of the landmark bldgs in Bangkok many moons ago.

[HarryHacker]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

I thought Soi Cowboy had multiple owners thus making it very hard to be redeveloped unlike say Nana Plaza which is owned by one family.

[onnut]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Agree, would not be surprised to see it go someday soon. Keep in mind it is there because the orginal was located where Emporium is now...

Exchange Tower is full as is most of the smaller ones up Asok towards Rama IV. The new building (something 21?) is going fast and could be full within this year. The other way down Asok is the Serm-Mit which is also full. Class A space in that areas is in very high demand.

TH

no its not. its only 30% full. there is a new tower going up next door to it as well, which is not going to be full for a long time yet.

[TopDogger]

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

A long time hopefully

Yeeeeep..

[TopDogger]

I agree, I don't think Soi Cowboy is going anywhere soon. But I do think it won't be too long (5 years?) before the owner starts taking a hard look.

TH

By which time the economy will be flat on its ass again, tourists will have left a long time ago, and no one will want to build a new office complex/hotel.

[NoSpeakIt]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

The problem is that all these hotels are not close to the main CBD business area (Silom, Sathorn) and the only thing left to offer tourists on Sukhumvit is foot massages, copy t-shirts, crappy tailors. Asoke is hardly a tourist area. Building another office building or hotel on Soi Cowboy won't make the place anymore attractive.

While people form the ME may like to stumble down suk between dvd's stalls and t-shirts, it's hardly becoming a place for families or for business travellers looking to go experience the city after a day of meetings.

If I was a tourist, I would not want to stay at any of these hotels because of their location. Walk out of the Westin at 7 pm to go experience Suk traffic, and the most frustrating walk to nowhere along the odd numbered side of Suk towards Nana. Great experience, no wonder tourists to Thailand only stay 2-3 days in Bangkok before heading north or south.

Besides buying copy items at MBK, do tourists really spend alot of money visiting Siam Paragon? - they have big malls in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and London all selling the same crap. The prices are not cheaper in Thailand when it comes to brand names.

I don't think Cowboy is going anywhere soon unless the owner of that land thinks he can sell more suits and make more money in the process than the fees he gets for renting out the area currently.

don't be silly. asoke is only a couple stations away from siam/chitlom and it connects to the MRT line. if soi cowboy goes, there will still be plenty of demand for hotels in this area. do you really think everyone staying at millenium is there for soi cowboy? what about all the business travelers? get real, kid. your stuck in a fantasy that the bangkok economy must rely on farang tourism and its just flat wrong. if anything, getting rid of thailand's image as a place for sex tourism for the dregs of Western society will only attract more tourists.

most tourists are not interested in buying sex, plus you can buy sex everywhere in asia but everyone in the west only associates sex tourism with thailand and the philipines.

i wish thailand would clean up its image and send all these farang out the door to cambodia.

[bkkjames]

so this is new building is very close to an area of farang bars... won't it be kind of weird?

The Fico Group owns the Grand Millenium Hotel and Fenix Tower on the other side of Soi Cowboy. I think its more weird that Soi Cowboy can compete with income generated on that side as well as the Interchange at Asoke and Sukhumvit also owned by the Fico Group which was founded by the Srichawala family.

How long before Soi Cowboy is more profitable as a Hotel than a bar area in a prime Sukhumvit CBD area?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

The problem is that all these hotels are not close to the main CBD business area (Silom, Sathorn) and the only thing left to offer tourists on Sukhumvit is foot massages, copy t-shirts, crappy tailors. Asoke is hardly a tourist area. Building another office building or hotel on Soi Cowboy won't make the place anymore attractive.

While people form the ME may like to stumble down suk between dvd's stalls and t-shirts, it's hardly becoming a place for families or for business travellers looking to go experience the city after a day of meetings.

If I was a tourist, I would not want to stay at any of these hotels because of their location. Walk out of the Westin at 7 pm to go experience Suk traffic, and the most frustrating walk to nowhere along the odd numbered side of Suk towards Nana. Great experience, no wonder tourists to Thailand only stay 2-3 days in Bangkok before heading north or south.

Besides buying copy items at MBK, do tourists really spend alot of money visiting Siam Paragon? - they have big malls in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and London all selling the same crap. The prices are not cheaper in Thailand when it comes to brand names.

I don't think Cowboy is going anywhere soon unless the owner of that land thinks he can sell more suits and make more money in the process than the fees he gets for renting out the area currently.

don't be silly. asoke is only a couple stations away from siam/chitlom and it connects to the MRT line. if soi cowboy goes, there will still be plenty of demand for hotels in this area. do you really think everyone staying at millenium is there for soi cowboy? what about all the business travelers? get real, kid. your stuck in a fantasy that the bangkok economy must rely on farang tourism and its just flat wrong. if anything, getting rid of thailand's image as a place for sex tourism for the dregs of Western society will only attract more tourists.

most tourists are not interested in buying sex, plus you can buy sex everywhere in asia but everyone in the west only associates sex tourism with thailand and the philipines.

i wish thailand would clean up its image and send all these farang out the door to cambodia.

You are not Thai by chance are you?

[thaihome]

....Exchange Tower is full as is most of the smaller ones up Asok towards Rama IV. The new building (something 21?) is going fast and could be full within this year. The other way down Asok is the Serm-Mit which is also full. Class A space in that areas is in very high demand.

TH

no its not. its only 30% full. there is a new tower going up next door to it as well, which is not going to be full for a long time yet.

your 30% full is based on ...?

My statement is based on knowing a company that is talking to CBRE about moving there and was told there is only 2 1/2 floors still uncommitted.

Maybe our fellow member that seems to work for Frank Knight can voice an opinion...

TH

[tw25rw]

most tourists are not interested in buying sex, plus you can buy sex everywhere in asia but everyone in the west only associates sex tourism with thailand and the philipines.

So how many of the repeat tourists are non-sex tourists? What percentage of the people who have been back many times are non-sex tourists? In fact how many non-sex tourists come back at all?

[samran]

most tourists are not interested in buying sex, plus you can buy sex everywhere in asia but everyone in the west only associates sex tourism with thailand and the philipines.

So how many of the repeat tourists are non-sex tourists? What percentage of the people who have been back many times are non-sex tourists? In fact how many non-sex tourists come back at all?

quite a few actually. There was a report done by the Australian tourist commission on the role of repeat tourists a few years back. The surveys they did suggested that younger people, especially the backpackers were the most likely to return at various stages in their lives, each time spending more as they moved up the food chain (but over a shorter amount of time). The survey is useful given that demographic of traveller that they were looking at tends to come through SE asia on the way to Australia.

While they tended to stay in cheap accomadation on their first trip, they were generally from well of backgrounds, university educatied and willing to spend their money on activites rather than accomadation. As they moved into working life, they tended to revisit the places they visited when they were younger, and on a more frequent basis that you'd think - also bringing out their families and children etc for holidays.

In terms of getting rid of nana and cowboy etc...I'm all for it. The sooner that Thailand cleans up its reputation in this sense, the better off it will be. From personal experience, being based in BKK - while nice for me and my family - can somewhat be a disadvantage in a business sense. The sooner the reputation is wiped, the better. Increase foreign investment will more than replace the monies from the 'if it wasn't for me Thailand would fall in a heap' brigade.

[Payboy]

is talking to CBRE about moving there and was told there is only 2 1/2 floors still uncommitted.

if CBRE said so it must be true.....

[tw25rw]

In terms of getting rid of nana and cowboy etc...I'm all for it. The sooner that Thailand cleans up its reputation in this sense, the better off it will be. From personal experience, being based in BKK - while nice for me and my family - can somewhat be a disadvantage in a business sense. The sooner the reputation is wiped, the better. Increase foreign investment will more than replace the monies from the 'if it wasn't for me Thailand would fall in a heap' brigade.

I actually do have to defend Thailand's (and by extension my) reputation quite regularly as there is clearly more to the place than easily available and affordable women. However, I do believe that there are other things far more in need of cleaning up than the sex industry to generate foreign investment.