Central Festival -- opening this Thursday now

[elektrified]

Just got back .Yes its a full opening today not a partial opening like Promenade done .It was wall to wall of high class Totty .The food court was good and parking the car was not a problem .

More like high-class wannabees.

[elektrified]

Good for Salad Concept. That's a local business I really have a lot of respect for. I hope they hit it big there. The owner's got some creativity and determination. She's also pretty hot!

Indeed it's an excellent business model. The owner is a very nice lady (and hot!~)

[Jowels]

Does anyone know if the IMAX cinema and Fun Planet are open yet?

[zippydedodah]

Fun Planet was closed... a bit of work to be done there and possibly a month away from opening, as is the ice rink.

I think the IMAX cinema was open, at least it was not advertised as closed... but then with thais...you never know.

remember the thai sign: Closed! same same as Open, but different

[Ulysses G.]

It's totally open but for a few shops (the ice rink is not ready yet).

But one question: What is the deal with all these Japanese restaurants? Eight of 10 food places there are Japanese. I don't get it.

Trend? but in all fairness, the Japanese have a huge presence just South of CM and CM is where they live and spend - my condo building is chocka with Japanese, lovely people and their food is excellent too.

Those restaurants that are everywhere are not Japanese restaurants by any stretch of the imagination. They are a Japanese-style Thai food restaurant.

I must disgree. They do sell items that would not be sold in Japan, but most of the basics, sushi, sashimi, ramen, tempura, etc. are little different from what you would get at a cheap Japanese restaurant in Japan. I am very grateful that we have places like Zen and Fuji here as I missed decent Japanese food for many years until they started opening in Chiang Mai.

[Microwave]

Word has it that KSK will become one big 500 lane bowling alley, the largest bowling alley in all of Southeast Asia. Chiang Mai will thus become known as the bowling hub for Southeast Asia, if not all of Asia. Bowlers the world over will flock to Chiang Mai to see such a spectacular venue!

[khwaibah]

CM108 has done an excellent job of coverage on this advent. But where are the two major local English news outlets,nothing.

http://www.cm108.com/bbb/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=1122

[anto]

CM108 has done an excellent job of coverage on this advent. But where are the two major local English news outlets,nothing.

http://www.cm108.com/bbb/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=1122

Some good photos on that site .

[LarryBird]

The Swensen's girls look fun.

[CMKiwi]

Drove past yesterday....chaotic traffic so I just continued on my way. Saw a total of 3 vehicle accidents.... silly season is approaching. All accidents were between Thais with 2 of the accidents involving motorbikes, naturally no one was wearing a helmet.

Will possibly look at this new mall in a months time when the hype dies down and the traffic congestion eases.

Be careful out there people....

Edited November 15, 2013 by CMKiwi

[daoyai]

Looked at all the pics, cool, now I know I will never need to go there.

[elektrified]

It's totally open but for a few shops (the ice rink is not ready yet).

But one question: What is the deal with all these Japanese restaurants? Eight of 10 food places there are Japanese. I don't get it.

Trend? but in all fairness, the Japanese have a huge presence just South of CM and CM is where they live and spend - my condo building is chocka with Japanese, lovely people and their food is excellent too.

Those restaurants that are everywhere are not Japanese restaurants by any stretch of the imagination. They are a Japanese-style Thai food restaurant.

I must disgree. They do sell items that would not be sold in Japan, but most of the basics, sushi, sashimi, ramen, tempura, etc. are little different from what you would get at a cheap Japanese restaurant in Japan. I am very grateful that we have places like Zen and Fuji here as I missed decent Japanese food for many years until they started opening in Chiang Mai.

I'm not talking about Zen and Fuji, UG. I'm talking about the 6 or 7 new chains that have recently opened around town. I don't know the names - Miyoki may be one - not sure if that is the name or not and a ton of others. They are more like high-end moo kata joints.

[hellodolly]

Well I am with you on the Promenade. As it is there is a much more relaxed laid back feeling there than I find in other Malls.

Maybe that's because it's empty.

Actually it just seems that way because it is big and roomy wait until the little kiosks

start going up. Not saying there are a lot of people but there is more there than it looks like.

Central Festival will definatly have an affect on the lower end stores.

Am hoping the I Max will have some different shows. Looking forward to that.

Haven't seen an I Max in years. Not sure what the difference is as the one I saw was

in the Science Center in Seattle and might have been special it was awesome.

Check out the parking. We found it crowded except for the parking lot on the out side it

had lots of room. Of course we were there on a Thursday around noon.

edit

Make it readable with out sliding the screen over.

Edited November 15, 2013 by hellodolly

[Jowels]

Fun Planet was closed... a bit of work to be done there and possibly a month away from opening, as is the ice rink.

I think the IMAX cinema was open, at least it was not advertised as closed... but then with thais...you never know.

remember the thai sign: Closed! same same as Open, but different

I was planning on taking my 5-year old son to Fun Planet tomorrow, so thanks for saving me a wasted journey.

[anto]

Fun Planet was closed... a bit of work to be done there and possibly a month away from opening, as is the ice rink.

I think the IMAX cinema was open, at least it was not advertised as closed... but then with thais...you never know.

remember the thai sign: Closed! same same as Open, but different

I was planning on taking my 5-year old son to Fun Planet tomorrow, so thanks for saving me a wasted journey.

Is that the childrens play area ?The bumper rides are up and running ,but i did not take note of the rest .

[zippydedodah]

yes, the bumper rides are up, the kids dance step machines are up, the motorcycles and cars that you drive with big screens, the catch what you can (claw) machines are working... but the play area for young children is definitely not up.

[Rotweiler]

Been a tad to close to your namesake?

Word has it that KSK will become one big 500 lane bowling alley, the largest bowling alley in all of Southeast Asia. Chiang Mai will thus become known as the bowling hub for Southeast Asia, if not all of Asia. Bowlers the world over will flock to Chiang Mai to see such a spectacular venue!

[neilrob]

I live within a stone's throw of Central Festival, so I was looking forward to it opening. I just went there and found it very disappointing. The building, inside and out, has no style or imagination. Promenada may not have many customers unfortunately, but at least it shows some imagination. Central Festival has all the style and imagination of a matchbox with tinsel draped round it. Even KSK is better architecturally, and KSK is a mess. But the worst thing about Central Festival is the acoustics. The noise level is deafening and there is no sign of any attempts at sound damping. How could anyone build a new mall and not take into account the acoustics of the design?

[khwaibah]

I live within a stone's throw of Central Festival, so I was looking forward to it opening. I just went there and found it very disappointing. The building, inside and out, has no style or imagination. Promenada may not have many customers unfortunately, but at least it shows some imagination. Central Festival has all the style and imagination of a matchbox with tinsel draped round it. Even KSK is better architecturally, and KSK is a mess. But the worst thing about Central Festival is the acoustics. The noise level is deafening and there is no sign of any attempts at sound damping. How could anyone build a new mall and not take into account the acoustics of the design?

Lets see..Karaoke Bars..Trucks with amps for voting.. house warming party..wedding party.,etc The louder the better is the motto in Thailand.

[anto]

I live within a stone's throw of Central Festival, so I was looking forward to it opening. I just went there and found it very disappointing. The building, inside and out, has no style or imagination. Promenada may not have many customers unfortunately, but at least it shows some imagination. Central Festival has all the style and imagination of a matchbox with tinsel draped round it. Even KSK is better architecturally, and KSK is a mess. But the worst thing about Central Festival is the acoustics. The noise level is deafening and there is no sign of any attempts at sound damping. How could anyone build a new mall and not take into account the acoustics of the design?

I think its very functional ,and was not expecting great Design .As for noise level ,its bound to subside after the first days excitement .

I do like the landscaping outside the Promanade ,but thats the only good thing i can say about the place .

I will be visiting the new Central a lot as i live nearby also .Will be going to eat there ,maybe watch a movie ,and brouse around the electronic shops .

[zippydedodah]

we went there opening day hoping for some good bargains... really, none to be had.

the wife is in the mood for a new samsung note 3 and we went to about 10 different shops at Central Festival and

none would even match, let alone beat, the price we have been quoted at Central Airport Plaza.

oh well, i really do like the new mall, believe the noise level will go away as the newness wears off and now i

have an Aeon ATM closer to me than superhighway tesco/lotus!

[Vero]

It's totally open but for a few shops (the ice rink is not ready yet).

But one question: What is the deal with all these Japanese restaurants? Eight of 10 food places there are Japanese. I don't get it.

Agree!

[khwaibah]

Some good photos of the parking cock up.

Search

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2675

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Features

A Day Amongst The Crowds: Central Festival Opening Adrian Fleur Nov 15, 2013

[infernalman7]

Central department store itself has a massive launch sales. 20% off almost any item + 12.5% off for their member card point redemption + 5% additional from K bank cards.

And a month ago I spent almost GBP 100 on stationers in Muji London

[anonymouse]

Cajoled into taking a look after the kids finished school yesterday...its a mall, no revelations.

I liked the Central Food Hall - some nice bread at reasonable prices, the shop is comparable to Rimping

I liked the eye candy that was walking around

otherwise much the same as any other plaza,

Yes tons of faux Japanese restaurants, I let my wife decide which restaurant to eat at..bless her soul she took us to the cheapest option she could find that did a buffet at 100 baht a head but it was probably the worst ever restaurant I have ever eaten at, can't tell you the name of it but she was fooled by the pictures on the walls which aren't included in the buffet.

It would be nice to have a little more choice on the restaurants, there is a Thai seafood restaurant opening soon that has potential but it is not open as yet.

Everything else was much as expected, lots of high end shops, lots of Thais taking pictures of each other with their phones

Living in Doi Saket it will be useful for picking up the odd loaf of decent bread and for a visit to the cinema on occasion so it gets my vote for that.

[SPIKECM]

The place is very definitely a Mall right now. Prominada opened far too soon. I have been watching the construction at the Festival site over the last 2 years and two weeks ago no one would have believed it would open on schedule. But it did and almost all shops are open.. the main exception is the ice rink... will the ice be real or plastic? ....anyone know for sure?

The place brings a Bangkok style Mall to Chiang Mai... it is an unbelievable place.. I am not into shopping, but this enhances lifestyle in Chiang Mai... even if you just wander about and have a coffee. It is truly an exciting addition to what this city can offer. I like Prominada, but that place will surely run into financial problems now.. ...the only thing it has over the Festival is the kid's play area.. the food court is terrible... shops a waste of time compared to Festival.. mostly there is everything in Festival, apart from Rimping.... good thing now is that you will surely be able to park at all the Malls soon...and certainly this weekend at the Airport Plaza and Prominada! I think there will be major queues at the Festival today and Sunday... the traffic in Chaing Mai right now is the worst I have seen.. this city is bursting at the seams and the roads cannot keep up......that's another story though.....

Another Construction Zone with shops. The place won't actually be a mall for another 6 months.

Edited November 16, 2013 by SPIKECM

[anonymouse]

The place is very definitely a Mall right now. Prominada opened far too soon. I have been watching the construction at the Festival site over the last 2 years and two weeks ago no one would have believed it would open on schedule. But it did and almost all shops are open.. the main exception is the ice rink... will the ice be real or plastic? ....anyone know for sure?

The place brings a Bangkok style Mall to Chiang Mai... it is an unbelievable place.. I am not into shopping, but this enhances lifestyle in Chiang Mai... even if you just wander about and have a coffee. It is truly an exciting addition to what this city can offer. I like Prominada, but that place will surely run into financial problems now.. ...the only thing it has over the Festival is the kid's play area.. the food court is terrible... shops a waste of time compared to Festival.. mostly there is everything in Festival, apart from Rimping.... good thing now is that you will surely be able to park at all the Malls soon...and certainly this weekend at the Airport Plaza and Prominada! I think there will be major queues at the Festival today and Sunday... the traffic in Chaing Mai right now is the worst I have seen.. this city is bursting at the seams and the roads cannot keep up......that's another story though.....

Another Construction Zone with shops. The place won't actually be a mall for another 6 months.

Agreed pretty much everything is open and imho the Central Food Hall is comparable to Rimping but then again Star Avenue Rimping is a 10-15 minute walk from Central Festival if you are brave enought to take on the traffic

[Sicarius]

The Imax was open. Saw Thor 2. Movie was dissapointing but the theatre was pretty damn good. The screen is gigantic and the sound was awesome. Definetely worth going to.

[anonymouse]

The Imax was open. Saw Thor 2. Movie was dissapointing but the theatre was pretty dam_n good. The screen is gigantic and the sound was awesome. Definetely worth going to.

What was the cost?

[anto]

Went again briefly today .Noticed a huge stationery called B2S ,which has a large section with English books (stocked by Asia books /Bookazine ),and they also stock English language Mags .