Chuvit Garden near Asoke

[MyFriend You]

On 1/13/2018 at 3:44 AM, dfdgfdfdgs said:

Most people have to live in a big city for work.  That's where the jobs are.  It's sad when those people can't get to a park after work because the traffic is so bad and there are so few of them.  In fairness there are bigger and better parks than this one at Asoke and Phrom Phong, but still, any green space is welcomed and we need more of it not less.

I am sure all the Big Foreign Players are looking at Lumphini Park and salivating, sharpening their bribery knives, just waiting for someone to get into office that will help them develop it...........No no down envelopes here  -  they will need suitcases     -     Bangkok needs another Mall!!!

[MyFriend You]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

AFAIK, the former beer bars area that Chuwit owned, had leased out, and later was bulldozed overnight by security forces, supposedly because the tenants didn't want to move out, WAS/IS the current Chuwit Gardens area at the corner of Soi 10.

 

He later developed the area as an (apparently privately owned) park, perhaps as a way of making amends for the bulldozing and/or to try to avoid the ultimate brief prison sentence that he finally ended up serving many years later for his role in the illegal bulldozing of the site.

 

But now the criminal court case is gone, he's served a brief prison sentence and been released, so apparently, it's OK to go back to business as usual or at least finally make a windfall off his original land holding.

 

BTW, the empty lot at the corner of Suk Rd and Soi 6 has just been cleared on its native vegetation in the past week or so, so it's down to clean bare earth right now --  kind of giving the appearance that someone's getting getting to do something there. But AFAIK, Chuwit has nothing to do with the Soi 6 corner.

 

They have cleared that property at least a dozen times over the past 6-7 years, I was always expecting to see cone concrete monstrosity start up, but never have.

[F4UCorsair]

 
I had the finest dosa I have ever eaten in Singapore....it was divine.

Was it at Komala Vilas in Serangoon Road, Little India?

There is no finer dosa on the planet, not even in India.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[smokie36]

3 hours ago, F4UCorsair said:

Was it at Komala Vilas in Serangoon Road, Little India?

There is no finer dosa on the planet, not even in India.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

No it was at MTR....far better dosas.

[smutcakes]

In the news today that Chuvit Park has been leased by Land & House who plan a mixed use project.

 

So office, hotel (presumably a Center Point) and retail.

[Jonmarleesco]

On 8/30/2016 at 9:01 AM, Thainess said:

Good! While they're at it, can they also close those other smelly, run-down city centre parks like Lumpini, Benjasiri and Benjakiti? Whenever I pass through them, the smell of the stagnant filthy water makes me retch. They are a severe public health hazard. I imagine you could die if you got splashed with any of that infected water and it went in your mouth, or you were bitten by one of those 2-metre long water lizards. Just think how many condo and office block and shopping mall developments you could fit inside them, especially Lumpini Park. Few people even use the parks (except Lumpini for jogging in the evening), so I say close them all and build some more much needed shopping malls. They are a waste of space and money.

Well said - in the spirit, I assume, in which you intended it should be welcomed ... 

[Jonmarleesco]

8 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

I am sure all the Big Foreign Players are looking at Lumphini Park and salivating, sharpening their bribery knives, just waiting for someone to get into office that will help them develop it...........No no down envelopes here  -  they will need suitcases     -     Bangkok needs another Mall!!!

Now why should they be foreign? Couldn't be that the Thais wouldn't, Heaven forbid, entertain bribery - would it?

[thedemon]

4 hours ago, smutcakes said:

In the news today that Chuvit Park has been leased by Land & House who plan a mixed use project.

 

So office, hotel (presumably a Center Point) and retail.

 

Probably not Centre Point because that is Quality Houses' serviced apartments brand.

[thedemon]

23 hours ago, Patanawet said:

Has everyone forgotten how this space became Chuvit Park?

It involved men in black and bulldozers. Many stallholders losing their livelyhoods.

Google it.

 

Up until the nineties it was an Esso gas station. The site was sold to a developer with a mortgage to Tisco Finance. The developer defaulted and Tisco took possession and in turn leased it short term to some shady characters that subleased to the stallholders.

 

Tisco then sold the site to Silver Star (controlled by Chuvit) who did not renew the short term lease and did not collect any rent. However the shady characters continued collecting rent from the stallholders.

 

It was a bunch of ugly illegal structures occupying prime land that they had no rights to.

 

That's how I remember it.

[Forethat]

16 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

I never remember or have heard of such a sign at the site. I don't think there ever was a court ruling that required him to develop the park. Rather, I think it was just a bit of public relations to curry favor with the public and perhaps the courts prior to his criminal case finally being resolved.

 

There was a stone plaque at the entrance saying the park was either built or given (don't remember the specific wording) by the Chuwit family. That stone plaque has been removed from the front wall of the area in the past few weeks, along with the decorative lamps and various other items -- though the large trees that line the area remain there, at least for the time being, but probably not for long.

 

Yea, that's what I suspected - I might have read that somewhere else and it was probably some incorrect speculations by the looks of it. 

 

I have spent countless hours there with my daughter when she was a toddler. I lived on Soi 10 for a couple of years and later moved to Soi 8, so I'm going to miss the park. The memories will have to suffice, unfortunately.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

9 hours ago, smutcakes said:

In the news today that Chuvit Park has been leased by Land & House who plan a mixed use project.

 

So office, hotel (presumably a Center Point) and retail.

 

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/01/18/sukhumvits-chuvit-garden-paved-mall/

 

Quote

 

Asked why the park was closed after he made much of gifting it to the public, 57-year-old Chuvit, a colorful figure who entered politics as a maverick reformer after getting rich as an owner of commercial sex venues, said enough time had passed.
 

“It’s time to renovate it. I might build it into something else. And it’s been a long time that it’s been a park, over a decade,” he said. “I went to jail and all that, too.”

 

 

Yes, he did his ploy to avoid or minimize his prison sentence for the illegal demolition of the businesses at the site --  before he later turned it into a park.

 

But now that he's served his prison sentence and gotten released early on a pardon -- apparently, his "gift to the public" doesn't serve any purpose anymore.

 

What do they call people who give "gifts" and then take them back???

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[toughlove]

Most people have to live in a big city for work.  That's where the jobs are.  It's sad when those people can't get to a park after work because the traffic is so bad and there are so few of them.  In fairness there are bigger and better parks than this one at Asoke and Phrom Phong, but still, any green space is welcomed and we need more of it not less.

Seriously, who goes park surfing after work lol... Get me to a bar asap!

[toughlove]

I remember when Trendy condos was open and selling. A selling point was that, in the future, nothing over 8 floors could legally be built. So their views were unblockable.

This is true and nothing had been built over that height.

[Patanawet]

3 hours ago, toughlove said:

On 13/01/2018 at 3:44 AM, dfdgfdfdgs said:

Most people have to live in a big city for work.  That's where the jobs are.  It's sad when those people can't get to a park after work because the traffic is so bad and there are so few of them.  In fairness there are bigger and better parks than this one at Asoke and Phrom Phong, but still, any green space is welcomed and we need more of it not less.

Seriously, who goes park surfing after work lol... Get me to a bar asap!

How about a park with a bar in it?

Seems to be illegal.

[dfdgfdfdgs]

14 hours ago, toughlove said:

Seriously, who goes park surfing after work lol... Get me to a bar asap!

 

People who don't drink?  Joggers?

[LALes]

17 hours ago, toughlove said:

On 1/17/2018 at 5:20 PM, elgenon said:

I remember when Trendy condos was open and selling. A selling point was that, in the future, nothing over 8 floors could legally be built. So their views were unblockable.

This is true and nothing had been built over that height.

Really?  Ask the Trendy owners on the west side of the building facing the pool about that.  They are now looking at

the 40 story Hyde building.

[toughlove]

Really?  Ask the Trendy owners on the west side of the building facing the pool about that.  They are now looking at the 40 story Hyde building.

 

That building the hyde was already being built before the trendy went on sale. It was no secret. It was then abondened and taken over again

[LALes]

Double monster towers by Noble going up just to the northeast of Trendy on Soi 15-19.  Just wait until the old houses on 15 are sold when the owner dies and the kids want the money.  The shell that became the Hyde was certainly not 40 stories in its decrepit state.

[toughlove]

Double monster towers by Noble going up just to the northeast of Trendy on Soi 15-19.  Just wait until the old houses on 15 are sold when the owner dies and the kids want the money.  The shell that became the Hyde was certainly not 40 stories in its decrepit state.

What does it matter what level the hyde was? It was there before trendy and it was being sold as 40 stories. I know 2 owners who totally freaked when it shut down.

 

I don't think the land for those houses are big enough to support a massive project. But who knows.

 

So far the 8 storie rule is in effect

 

[thedemon]

40 minutes ago, toughlove said:

What does it matter what level the hyde was? It was there before trendy and it was being sold as 40 stories. I know 2 owners who totally freaked when it shut down.

 

I don't think the land for those houses are big enough to support a massive project. But who knows.

 

So far the 8 storie rule is in effect

 

 

The height restriction only affects sites on relatively narrow Sois. The land on the corner of Soi 10 fronts the main road so I'm pretty sure it will only be restricted by the Floor Area Ratio which on that section of Sukhumvit is 10:1.

[dfdgfdfdgs]

On 1/13/2018 at 6:24 AM, Thian said:

I was in the park next to Emporium last week, nice park there with some great condo's looking at it.

 

That one's Benjasiri Park.  It's got a public pool you can use for 15 baht a time (plus 40 baht yearly membership) but need a medical check up first.  Most people don't know about that pool because you can't see over the wall where it is.  Beautiful pool fringed by palm trees.

 

Great for jogging too in the evening, some 10/10 eye candy and the laps are small enough it makes you feel better - 10 laps of Benjasiri sounds a lot better than 2 laps of Lumpini.

[jomtien99]

On 1/17/2018 at 12:57 PM, Patanawet said:

Has everyone forgotten how this space became Chuvit Park?

It involved men in black and bulldozers. Many stallholders losing their livelyhoods.

Google it.

yes I remember a ramshackle of noisy bars, massage shops, etc - isn't there enough sois full of that in Bangkok alreafdy? I do not condone the way businesses were removed from Chuvit's land but it was his land after all, and he spent time in jail for the way he did it. At least he turned it into a peaceful green space for over 10 years.