Pricey plot earmarked for city common - The Nation
Bangkok will have a new public park located on one of the most expensive pieces of land in the country that will host the historic Kanchanapisek and Songdham pavilions.
To honour His Majesty the King and to provide more green space for Bangkok, the Crown Property Bureau has given a 20-rai land plot behind the Pathum Wanaram temple and the luxurious shopping malls Siam Paragon and CentralWorld to the government, said Aviruth Wongbuddhapitak, assistant director-general of the bureau.
The market price of the land plot was around Bt500,000 per square wah, he said. The Central group recently won an auction for a land plot, which previously contained the British embassy, for Bt950,000 per square wah. The Central land is not far from the site where the new park will be located, though the former is on Ploenchit Road while the latter is located deeper inside from the main road.
Aviruth said a road had already been completed that will allow the new park access to Rama I Road alongside the Pathum Wanaram temple, in addition to a previously built road behind CentralWorld that connects the park to New Petchaburi Road.
Based on an estimated of about half a million baht per square wah, the park is estimated to cost Bt4 billion.
"This means if we were to use the land for commercial purposes, it would need to yield a return of at least 5 per cent per annum [to better interest rates], and this is equivalent to almost a million baht a day," Aviruth said.
Besides being situated in the heart of Bangkok's shopping district, the new public park will host the Kanchanapisek and the Songdham pavilions, which were built for the Golden Jubilee celebration, and for the Royal funeral ceremonies for the Princess Mother Srina-garindra Boromarajajonani.
Bureau officials said the government was responsible for the construction of the new park, which should be completed sometime next year.
Aviruth said the bureau has been known for its role in developing major commercial projects mainly because of the controversial nature of the projects. But in fact most of its actual tasks have involved maintaining and developing land plots with no potential for commercial development.
"Incomes from commercial developments have been spent to support these communities for which we have charged very low rental fees," he said.
The bureau has about 20,000 rai of land, roughly 20 per cent of which is situated in Bangkok.
"We have brought only a small proportion of the land for commercial development, probably only 600-700 rai of the total. The largest is a 127 rai plot [on which is located the Suan Lum Night Bazaar]," Aviruth said.
The Crown Property Bureau has been known for its low profile. During the past couple of years, the bureau has handed out a few plots of land in prime sites for building public parks, including Santiphap near the Victory Monument and Santi Chaiprakan, on Phra Arthit Road. But most people are unaware of the donations.
Pichaya Changsorn - The Nation
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