Thailand's Fire-Damaged CentralWorld Complex To Reopen Sep 28

[webfact]

Thailand's fire-damaged CentralWorld complex to reopen September 28

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's CentralWorld shopping complex --the country's largest-- will reopen for shoppers September 28, according to Central Pattana president and chief executive officer, Kobchai Chirathivat.

CentralWorld, Thailand's largest shopping complex and the second largest in Southeast Asia, was set afire by allegedly disgruntled Red Shirt protesters after their protest leaders surrendered to police on May 19 as troops after a half-day of violence and the military closing in on Ratchaprasong intersection where the demonstrators had encamped since early April.

With over Bt2.8 billion invested in the renovation, Mr Kobchai said 80 per cent of the total area will reopen for shoppers, while the rest of the areas will reopen by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Zen Department Store, part of the CentralWorld's premises which collapsed after eight hours engulfed in flame, will be open in August next year.

Mr Kobchai confirmed that the building's structure was approved by Bangkok municipality's Public Works Department and certified safe by the Thailand Engineering Institute.

Central Pattana Plc (CPN) improved its security system according to international standard such as having smoke detectors installed in shops' areas and an escalator system equipped with security detection for customers.

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai, as CentralWorld's office building still functions normally and CPN postponed the renovation of its Central Plaza Lat Phrao, another main Central branch in the capital, to 2011.

He said Central Pattana's insurance company will conclude its compensation package by this year or early next year. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2010-09-16

[Guest]

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

[Sumgmt]

absolutely--what a crock!! How can anyone believe big government or big business "leaders"??

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

[rubl]

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

What he probably means is that only owners/renters of shops in the burned down parts suffer. Not the Central group or the families behind them.

[whybother]

absolutely--what a crock!! How can anyone believe big government or big business "leaders"??

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

As Mr Kobchai said,

as CentralWorld's office building still functions normally and CPN postponed the renovation of its Central Plaza Lat Phrao, another main Central branch in the capital, to 2011.

So, the office tower was still open, therefore no loss of income there, and the loss of income from the shops (rental) in Central World was covered by Central Lat Phrao not closing for renovations as they had planned.

Nothing to do with the government. Nothing to do with "leaders". Just economics and accounting.

[hyperdimension]

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

What he probably means is that only owners/renters of shops in the burned down parts suffer. Not the Central group or the families behind them.

Or could it be that insurance paid for loss of rental income from the shops inside?

In any case, it's the poor workers and small businesses who really suffered while the owners / shareholders have been sailing smoothly on.

Where's tonywebster who has a shop in there and blames the government for his losses, saying that the UDD "did what they had to do"? What a twisted mind.

Edited September 16, 2010 by hyperdimension

[dru2]

'Where's tonywebster who has a shop in there and blames the government for his losses, saying that the UDD "did what they had to do"? What a twisted mind'.

Hmm. Interesting. I had Mr Webster down as an educated man when he addressed me on Thai Visa as "Mein Fuhrer" a few weeks ago. Here's a sophisticated German-speaking citizen, I thought.. Perhaps I was wrong?

[random]

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

What he probably means is that only owners/renters of shops in the burned down parts suffer. Not the Central group or the families behind them.

Or could it be that insurance paid for loss of rental income from the shops inside?

In any case, it's the poor workers and small businesses who really suffered while the owners / shareholders have been sailing smoothly on.

Where's tonywebster who has a shop in there and blames the government for his losses, saying that the UDD "did what they had to do"? What a twisted mind.

I would love to see the post where tonywebsetr says he has a shop there, I know tony and I know he has clients there and I know his business was affected greatly by the closure, but he has never had a shop there and I doubt very much he would say he has shop there. tony worked wonders to keep his business going during that time, making sure he could pay his staff and overheads etc, and happily his tenacity during that time has meant his business is now back in profit.

Basically if you want to try and take the piss out of someone at least get your facts straight or you end up looking like either a liar or an idiot.

[jackr]

Waffle, waffle... anyway, well done for the quick turnaround, stick it up em.

[IAMSOBAD]

Red shirts plan to delay the reopening with a new shoplifting party on 9-19-2010!

Please claim your items at the Temple next door.

Free parking for red leaders wives.

[asiawatcher]

I think as a symbolic return against the red thugs, this is well done. They should do some red flag burning when they run the Chinese Dragon dance on the opening. I will buy red flags to burn for them and gift them! I think most of Bangkok would agree.

The reds have no place in Thai society.

[tropo]

I've never been there and would like to visit there once they reopen. Which BTS station is nearest to Central World?

[IAMSOBAD]

Chidlom or chitlom depending on the sign.

They cant even agree on spelling!!!!

[tropo]

Chidlom or chitlom depending on the sign.

They cant even agree on spelling!!!!

Thanks! I was trying to decide between Chitlom or Siam. How far is the walk from Chitlom station to the shopping mall? I'll coming north from Ekkamai station.

Edited September 16, 2010 by tropo

[Familyonthemove]

Chidlom or chitlom depending on the sign.

They cant even agree on spelling!!!!

Thanks! I was trying to decide between Chitlom or Siam. How far is the walk from Chitlom station to the shopping mall? I'll coming north from Ekkamai station.

It's half way between Chdlom and Siam stations. From your direction it's simpler to get off at Chidlom and walk along the Skywalk from the station to Central.

[rodcourt49]

I think as a symbolic return against the red thugs, this is well done. They should do some red flag burning when they run the Chinese Dragon dance on the opening. I will buy red flags to burn for them and gift them! I think most of Bangkok would agree.

The reds have no place in Thai society.

<snip>Central Pattana Plc (CPN) improved its security system according to international standard such as having smoke detectors installed in shops' areas and an escalator system equipped with security detection for customers.<snip>

What !!..you mean to tell us they didn't have any smoke detectors installed before..how about installing Red-shirt detectors as well..

[SomTumTiger]

Lets hope the UDD mouthbreathers don't burn it down this time...

[Neonben]

Although you cant believe Government or Business leaders, what he's saying wouldn't surprise me, everytime i've been there each shop is empty there only seem to be people shopping in the department store bit and lots of people just looking around, people only go there to be seen in a "fancy" location, It's the same in Paragon.

absolutely--what a crock!! How can anyone believe big government or big business "leaders"??

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

[corkman]

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

You have to laugh!

If revenues have not been affected, then whats the point of reopening a property that does not create revenue?

TIT I guess.............

[hyperdimension]

Where's tonywebster who has a shop in there and blames the government for his losses, saying that the UDD "did what they had to do"? What a twisted mind.

I would love to see the post where tonywebsetr says he has a shop there

Here are the posts from the thread "Thai PM Abhisit Sued For Attempted Murder" where tonywebster talks about his business and about not laying off staff et cetera, from which I had assumed that he has a shop there:

Well I can tell you that my business suffered greatly, and is still losing income and will until centralworld reopens, however I see the issue for what it is, thai people wanting democracy returned and to get away from the dictatorship the current unelected government have turned the country into, in their desire to hold onto the power the did not win and do not deserve.

What did I do? well I sucked it up and made sure none of my staff lost their jobs.

sell you tat elsewhere my friend, because I am not buying it, just like I don't buy the tat that your friend abhisit is trying to sell. I can't wait for the day that his world caves in on him and the proof is laid bare for all to see.

You comments about people losing jobs does indeed reek of ignoring the deaths, just like the stupid comments written on the wall outside centralworld along the lines of 'come back soon centralworld, we miss you' totally missing the fact that many unarmed protesters were murdered by the government/army, the shopping mall is more important to some than the fact that thai people trying to make the country a democracy again were murdered in cold blood, also in a temple.

The figures are published, as I say seek and you will find them or are you afraid that they will show how one sided it was and show the government rhetoric that the army were defending themselves will be blown out of the water? I am sure those poor medics and reporters were such a threat that the army just had to murder them, right?

Like I said sell it elsewhere

edit to comment on your snipe about making profit, we are not making profit, I am juggling to make sure I don't lay anyone off, thats what people do, they don't whine and moan, they see the protests for what they actually were rather than what the dictators want you to believe, they knuckle down, they help their staff, they don't panick, they replace the lost custom as best they can, they work harder, you however just seem to sit at your computer throwing false accusation and being all 'woe is me'. pathetic in all honesty, the figures are there for you but you can't even be bothered to find, you would rather hope your ambiguity convinces someone else of the same low level intellectual standing.

So he did not specifically state that he has a shop there, but it sure sounds like it from reading those posts. But anyway, that is not my point. You know what my point is, that he supports the UDD even though they were the ones who burnt down Central World, causing his business to suffer.

[hyperdimension]

I know tony and I know he has clients there and I know his business was affected greatly by the closure, but he has never had a shop there and I doubt very much he would say he has shop there. tony worked wonders to keep his business going during that time, making sure he could pay his staff and overheads etc, and happily his tenacity during that time has meant his business is now back in profit.

These statements are all irrelevant to my point.

Basically if you want to try and take the piss out of someone at least get your facts straight or you end up looking like either a liar or an idiot.

My incorrect assumption does not change the point I was making. He blames losses from his business (that appears to be tightly connected with Central World) on the government, when it was clearly the UDD who incited the property destruction and looting, so he should be blaming the UDD and the protesters. I maintain my opinion that he has a twisted mind.

Here are excerpts of the UDD's terrorism speeches that specifically include incitement to burn buildings and loot shops, with specific mention of Gaysorn and Central World:

Edited September 17, 2010 by hyperdimension

[rubl]

Just to annoy about every one here, read the 'vancouversun' article from the 15th this month. It has a brief on Chandler Vandergrift who was injured on May 19 here in BKK.

Don't know if I'm allowed to post the link, but you should be able to find it with what I wrote.

[MikeyIdea]

The closure of CentralWorld since April has not affected the company's revenues, said Mr Kobchai,

The closure didn't affect company's total revenue. You must consider the word revenue used and who stated that, that was the CEO. What happened was that they re-scheduled and delayed projects to compensate. His statement only covers revenue, not balance sheet...

The group is huge, the office building behind the department store (where I work), the whole conference centre and most other businesses they own were more or less unaffected. The hotel chain wasn't unaffected but the Centara hotels and resorts have excellent reputation so they did certainly not go into the red because of the lower tourist numbers. Known to be among the best family and children hotels in Thailand, they have excellent occupancy rates

I like the sea of yellow flags they always have up outside the conference centre (at the back of the department store sort of), a circle of only yellow flags. They dare to show their colours after what happened to them and I respect them for that

Good Luck Central Group

[random]

so hyperdimension

at no point did tony say he has a shop there or even intimate he has a shop there, as for his leanings on the issue I say good on him, he has his principles and sticks to them based on what he considers best for the Thais and not just for him.

He is allowed to have his opinions and I would say the fuc_k are you to question those opinions, and then you say he has a twisted mind, flaming if ever I saw it.

I am guessing you have never sat down with tony and a conversation with him, he is an eloquent educated man that suffered a lot during those protests but at all times he could see the reasons behind them, and he didn't moan and cry about it like some of the people on here that were only affected in so much as there was a curfew and they couldn't drink past a certain time, he continued to work harder as did his staff to ensure that he laid nobody off, added to this he received no compensation from the government.

As for the burning of the buildings, he has his own thoughts on that and on who started the fires and on who had the most to gain, meet him and talk with him and listen to what he actually knows, maybe if you have proof that he is wrong you can bring it with you and I know for a fact he will listen, that's the point, he has an open mind and doesn't just believe everything he reads in the propaganda press.

anyway I guess if you want to meet him send me a pm and I will let you know where he drinks, I spoke with him last night and he will not post on here anymore due to the moderating and the bias shown to some posters, he is also cancelling his advertising on here, but I am sure he will happily sit down and talk, you might learn something rather that make wrong assumptions based on 2 posts.

Well in summary you got it wrong, clearly you don't read posts properley, clearly you read what you want to read into posts and if it doesn't fit in with your view of that person you change the content of the post in your mind, and then when its pointed out you are wrong you decide to say that the other poster has a twisted mind, why don't you just say "yeah I am sorry, I got it wrong whilst trying to score brownie points, what an arsehol_e I can be".

ps, you make a point that my comments are irrelevant to you post, a little hypocritical since your post contained to relevant facts whatsoever about tony.

Edited September 17, 2010 by random

[whybother]

^ he doesn't post on here as tonywebster anymore anyway.

[random]

^ he doesn't post on here as tonywebster anymore anyway.

He told me he doesn't post on here anymore, I take that means he does not post on here under his name or a pseudonym, unless you are suggesting something against forum rules which the moderators can check anyway.

[thaihome]

so hyperdimension

at no point did tony say he has a shop there or even intimate he has a shop there, as for his leanings on the issue I say good on him, he has his principles and sticks to them based on what he considers best for the Thais and not just for him.

He is allowed to have his opinions and I would say the fuc_k are you to question those opinions, and then you say he has a twisted mind, flaming if ever I saw it.

I am guessing you have never sat down with tony and a conversation with him, he is an eloquent educated man that suffered a lot during those protests but at all times he could see the reasons behind them, and he didn't moan and cry about it like some of the people on here that were only affected in so much as there was a curfew and they couldn't drink past a certain time, he continued to work harder as did his staff to ensure that he laid nobody off, added to this he received no compensation from the government.

As for the burning of the buildings, he has his own thoughts on that and on who started the fires and on who had the most to gain, meet him and talk with him and listen to what he actually knows, maybe if you have proof that he is wrong you can bring it with you and I know for a fact he will listen, that's the point, he has an open mind and doesn't just believe everything he reads in the propaganda press.

anyway I guess if you want to meet him send me a pm and I will let you know where he drinks, I spoke with him last night and he will not post on here anymore due to the moderating and the bias shown to some posters, he is also cancelling his advertising on here, but I am sure he will happily sit down and talk, you might learn something rather that make wrong assumptions based on 2 posts.

Well in summary you got it wrong, clearly you don't read posts properley, clearly you read what you want to read into posts and if it doesn't fit in with your view of that person you change the content of the post in your mind, and then when its pointed out you are wrong you decide to say that the other poster has a twisted mind, why don't you just say "yeah I am sorry, I got it wrong whilst trying to score brownie points, what an arsehol_e I can be".

ps, you make a point that my comments are irrelevant to you post, a little hypocritical since your post contained to relevant facts whatsoever about tony.

If he is an educated rational man, they why did he continue to post such false, irrational political rhetoric, even when proven time and again how wrong he was.

Personally I think he quit posting because the retainer he was getting from Amsterdam & Peroff ran out.

TH

[hyperdimension]

He is allowed to have his opinions and I would say the fuc_k are you to question those opinions, and then you say he has a twisted mind, flaming if ever I saw it.

We are allowed to question opinions here. My opinion is that when UDD leaders incite property destruction and looting and the protesters go on to burn down your shop (or shops on which your business relies upon for income) and even clap and cheer while it burns, it's quite twisted to then blame the government.

Didn't the government offer some compensation to help businesses who suffered from the protests? Did he turn down the offer in proud defiance?

It's the UDD, who were directly responsible for the destruction of Central World, who should be paying compensation, yet they and Pheu Thai seem not to claim responsibility for anything, thinking that they have done absolutely no wrong whatsoever.

As for the burning of the buildings, he has his own thoughts on that and on who started the fires and on who had the most to gain, meet him and talk with him and listen to what he actually knows, maybe if you have proof that he is wrong you can bring it with you and I know for a fact he will listen, that's the point, he has an open mind and doesn't just believe everything he reads in the propaganda press.

So you / tonywebster think the government burnt Central World? Aren't the many Youtube videos around, like the one I have just presented, enough evidence that UDD protesters did the burning? Haven't you also seen the video of protesters clapping and cheering as they watched Central World burn, which suggests that they condoned the burning? Do you call these pieces of evidence "propaganda press"? Show me counteracting evidence that the government did the burning.

you might learn something rather that make wrong assumptions based on 2 posts.

I only assumed incorrectly that he had a shop in there, when in reality he has a business that relies heavily on Central World. It is a minor mistake that does not change my argument.

ps, you make a point that my comments are irrelevant to you post, a little hypocritical since your post contained to relevant facts whatsoever about tony.

My posts showed that tonywebster blames the government for his business losses due to the fires at Central World. My point is that I feel this is twisted way of thinking when there is overwhelming evidence that UDD protesters did the burning and no evidence that suggests that the government did. You made statements about how hard he worked and how nice he was to his staff et cetera, which are not relevant to my point. Edited September 17, 2010 by hyperdimension

[random]

so hyperdimension

at no point did tony say he has a shop there or even intimate he has a shop there, as for his leanings on the issue I say good on him, he has his principles and sticks to them based on what he considers best for the Thais and not just for him.

He is allowed to have his opinions and I would say the fuc_k are you to question those opinions, and then you say he has a twisted mind, flaming if ever I saw it.

I am guessing you have never sat down with tony and a conversation with him, he is an eloquent educated man that suffered a lot during those protests but at all times he could see the reasons behind them, and he didn't moan and cry about it like some of the people on here that were only affected in so much as there was a curfew and they couldn't drink past a certain time, he continued to work harder as did his staff to ensure that he laid nobody off, added to this he received no compensation from the government.

As for the burning of the buildings, he has his own thoughts on that and on who started the fires and on who had the most to gain, meet him and talk with him and listen to what he actually knows, maybe if you have proof that he is wrong you can bring it with you and I know for a fact he will listen, that's the point, he has an open mind and doesn't just believe everything he reads in the propaganda press.

anyway I guess if you want to meet him send me a pm and I will let you know where he drinks, I spoke with him last night and he will not post on here anymore due to the moderating and the bias shown to some posters, he is also cancelling his advertising on here, but I am sure he will happily sit down and talk, you might learn something rather that make wrong assumptions based on 2 posts.

Well in summary you got it wrong, clearly you don't read posts properley, clearly you read what you want to read into posts and if it doesn't fit in with your view of that person you change the content of the post in your mind, and then when its pointed out you are wrong you decide to say that the other poster has a twisted mind, why don't you just say "yeah I am sorry, I got it wrong whilst trying to score brownie points, what an arsehol_e I can be".

ps, you make a point that my comments are irrelevant to you post, a little hypocritical since your post contained to relevant facts whatsoever about tony.

If he is an educated rational man, they why did he continue to post such false, irrational political rhetoric, even when proven time and again how wrong he was.

Personally I think he quit posting because the retainer he was getting from Amsterdam & Peroff ran out.

TH

It has been proven wrong? wow, I thought is was still all being delat with and the blame passed from pillar to post, maybe you can let the government know its all been dealt with so they can stop trying to divert the blame in all directions apart from inwards.

[random]

I will let him know that you are happy to discuss his theories with him, send me a pm and I will arrange for you both to meet and you can both explain away to your hearts content. My issue was the blatant lie in your first post stating that he had a shop in centralworld and my issues now are your petty digs knowing full he doesn't post here, you have the chance to meet him and have a pleasant conversation with him. I know him as a nice guy and not just some person on a forum, make and effort, send me the pm and I will tell him you are happy to chat with him.

Also I would say my comments are relevant to your point, on another note many of the anti reds on here laid the blame for the burning and carnage at the hands of the government for not dealing with the situation sooner and allowing it to escalate, they never laid the blame for lighting the match but they took a large proportion for allowing it to get that far in the first place.

I await your pm with baited breath, You seem like someone that would enjoy a good conversation