Rumours on Suan Lum Night Bazaar

[DeHaro-old]

A friend who is living in Bangkok just told me that the contract for the night bazaar ended in March 2006. They want to close it and build a huge shopping center and condominiums on that ground. Right now the shop owners are somewhat like occupying the place half-illegally ( no contract anymore )

I always loved to stroll through the little shops at night and have a beer in the arena afterwards. I would miss that.

[AMARETTO-old]

Source: Bangkokpost : June 2, 2006:

Developers shortlisted for Suan Lum

Retailers ordered to leave by next April

POST REPORTERS

Three leading property developers have been shortlisted to develop the 127-rai Suan Lum Night Bazaar site, according to the Crown Property Bureau.
The three _ Central Pattana Plc, Sansiri Plc and TCC Land _ were among eight candidates reviewed in the first round.
Chirayu Israngkul na Ayutthaya, the director-general of the Crown Property Bureau (CPB), which owns the prime central Bangkok site, said it would choose one or two developers to transform the land.
"We will carefully consider the financial strength, design, project viability and foreign partnership of each candidate, as the whole development will require a huge investment budget of up to 100 billion baht,'' he said yesterday.
Dr Chirayu declined to say when the project would be finalised, but said development plans should include a mix of residential condominiums, a hotel, commercial plaza, entertainment and an art and cultural centre.
The CPB is confident that once the new development on the land, which formerly housed the Armed Forces Academy Preparatory School, is finished, it will become a Bangkok landmark.
Dr Chirayu said the development project may be delayed as the bureau was preparing to file a legal case against P Con Development (Thai) Co, the operator of the Suan Lum Night Bazaar.
P Con's lease for the site, now used by 3,000 retail stores, expired on March 31. But it failed to transfer the property back to the CPB on April 1, while its plan to remove shops from the site is unclear.
''We don't want to pressure retail shop owners and we will allow them to gradually move out by April [of 2007]. But it doesn't mean that we will renew their leases,'' Dr Chirayu said.
The CPB is open for negotiations with P Con and hopes legal action will remain a last resort to settling the dispute with the company.
Apart from the Suan Lum site, the CPB is preparing to develop a 70-rai plot between Lang Suan sois three and five as a residential complex on its own. There are 240 tenants leasing the land at present.
The CPB has plans to increase its rents for commercial purposes, while the rents for residences would stay the same. Currently, the bureau has 2,400 lease contracts in Bangkok and 10,000 in the provinces.


Source : THE NATION : June 2, 2006:

Short list for redeveloping Suan Lum

TCC Land Co Ltd, Central Pattana Plc and Sansiri Plc are on the short list to win a bid for the management of a future mixed-use commercial development to replace the Suan Lum Night Bazaar on Rama IV, according to a source who is close to the deal.
The winner will be announced in April 2007. The project will call for an investment of up to Bt10 billion.
Earlier, seven property developers offered their proposals to develop the Suan Lum Night Bazaar into office buildings, retail areas, residential and entertainment complexes.
They included TCC Land Co, the property arm of beverage tycoon Charoen Siriwadhanabhakdi, Sansiri, Natural Park, Siam Piwan Co in partnership with MBK, Central Pattana, City Realty and the Maleenont Group.
The lease between P Con Development (Thai) Co Ltd - which developed the 120-rai plot on Rama IV into the Suan Lum Night Bazaar - and the Crown Property Bureau (CPB) expired on March 31, 2006. But P Con Development could not yield the land to the bureau on time. As a result the bureau had to delay its decision for a final deal with another property developer to establish new integrated projects at this location.
"We have set up a period to move all buildings and shops out of the Suan Lum Night Bazaar by the end of April 2007 or 10 month from now. If they don't do anything, we will turn to the legal process," Chirayu Issarangkun Na Ayutthaya, director of the bureau, said at a press conference yesterday.
The Crown Property Bureau, an agency that manages assets for the monarchy, is also considering developing its 15-rai plot at Rang Suan Lumpini on Wireless Road into a retail or residential complex next year. This project will involve negotiating with existing renters to jointly develop the project, he said.
He added that the bureau's policy was to develop its assets into profitable ventures and have a good relationship with its renters and the Bangkok community.
"Profit is not our goal," Chiraya said. "We want to take part in developing communities which are located on our land and to pursue social goals. We plan to set up a budget of up to 30 per cent of our income to develop our communities - up to 100 now - and achieve social targets such as education. We also plan to renovate old buildings and oldest fresh market in the Kingdom."
The bureau expects revenue of nearly Bt10 billion this year. Eighty per cent of its revenue will be in the form of dividend payments from its three subsidiaries: Siam Commercial Bank, which pays dividends of Bt3 per share, Siam City Cement Plc, which pays Bt15 per share, and Daves Insurance Plc, Bt12 per share. Rental fees from 34,000 contracts around the country comprise the rest of its revenue. 24,000 of its rentals are in Bangkok.
Chirayu said that the bureau now had 34 communities under development through "Baan Mang Khong", a joint venture with the government to provide housing for low-income earners. "Ruam Samakee on Ramkamhaeng 29" is the first project completed in the development under Baan Mang Khong.
The CPB is also considering adjusting rents to support low-income individuals who have rental contracts with the bureau. These represent 8,000 contracts, which have to be renewed this year, out of 24,000 in Bangkok.
"We had a plan to increase rental fees to nearly the market level but now the cost of living increase following the oil price rise has caused us to adjust our rental fees lower than our target, depending on location and our renter's income," he said.
Meanwhile, a Bt10-billion plan to renovate the middle of Ratchadamnoen Road into a shopping and cultural area has continued to develop based on a draft by the National Economic and Development Board.
Chirayu said that after the Government Lottery Office decided to move from Ratchadamnoen Road the way was open to develop the area according to plan.
"We believe that this project will be completed by 2008, the year to celebrate His Majesty the King's 80th birthday," he said.


Source: The Bangkok Post: Sep 9:

P Con won't move from Night Bazaar

Wants CPB to review its development plan
P Con Development (Thai) Co, the developer of the Suan Lum Night Bazaar whose lease contract with the landlord expired last April, has vowed not to move out of the property. Instead, the company asked the landlord, the Crown Property Bureau (CPB), to review its development plan.
It wants the landlord to either allow the company and over 3,000 tenant traders to stay on or provide a new site on Ratchadamri road for them.
Pairoj Tungthong, the company's CEO, met yesterday with over 3,000 tenants who have sub-leased trading space at the night bazaar from his company. He told the meeting he was ready to pay 2.1 billion baht for a concession to build a commercial complex on 40 rai of the land plot to compete with major developers.
''I will not leave the traders who have helped create this place,'' said Mr Pairoj, a former MP of the now-defunct Palang Dharma party.
Yesterday's meeting was called in response to a letter from the CPB, instructing P Con Development to return the property to the landlord by yesterday. The instructions contradicted the extension agreement, he said.
The CPB is about to choose a major developer that will be granted a concession to turn the prime 127-rai land into a commercial complex with a hotel and a condominium. One of the prospective contenders is Central Pattana Plc.
''My company and the traders have worked very hard to develop this land until it became popular. Now the CPB is going to give the whole concession to a rich corporation,'' Mr Pairoj complained.
CPB director-general Chirayu Isarangkul na Ayutthaya said yesterday that the letter instructing P Con Development to hand the property back by yesterday was a legal notification to the company.
In practice, the company and the tenant traders can continue doing business until next April, he said, adding that the company had agreed in the contract that it would move out after three years.
The CPB also said in the letter that the company had sub-leased the property out at an inflated price and built the structure without obtaining an official permit.
It had also failed to pay 32 million baht in property tax over the past years, according to the CPB.
Mr Chirayu said the CPB will allow the traders to stay on without paying any rental fees for the next six months if they sign a relocation agreement that will become effective in April next year.
Tenants will have until Oct 15 to sign the deal, otherwise they will lose the chance to continue staying rent-free, he said.
However, most of the tenants are unlikely to register with the CPB, especially after Mr Pairoj threatened to cut off the electricity and water supply.
Under the contract, the CPB leased out the property, once the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, to P Con Development for three years from 2003.
The contract expired in April this year, but the bureau agreed to extend the lease period for another year to allow the traders more time to find new trading sites, extending the deadline to April 1, 2007.
Jamras Ruengjam, 31, a tenant, said the traders do not want to leave now that the place has become well-known.