Wax museum, ice rink at Siam Discovery

RETAILING

Siam Piwat Co, the operator of the Siam Discovery and Siam Center shopping complex, will join hands with new tenants for a 1-billion-baht investment on world-class magnets and a store facelift.

Asia’s third Madame Tussauds ice museum, a 2,000-square-metre Ice Planet ice rink and an exhibition hall are to replace the EGV movie theatres at Siam Discovery.

Three new world-class magnets will replace the EGV movie theatres, whose contract has expired. They are Madame Tussauds wax museum, Ice Planet ice skating rink and a multi-purpose exhibition hall. All are scheduled to open in the second half of the year.

Of the total investment, about 500 million baht will come from Merlin Entertainment, the operator of the wax museum, 180 million will come from Ice Planet and 350 million will come from Siam Piwat Co.

Chadatip Chutrakul, the chief executive of Siam Piwat, said the Madame Tussauds will be the tenth worldwide and third in Asia after Hong Kong and Shanghai. It will feature 70 celebrities and is scheduled to open in September.

She expects it will draw 8,000 tourists per day, increasing tourists to the complex by 25%. The proportion of tourists is forecast to rise to 40% from 35%.

''Foreign tourists have increased since November of last year. They spend about 6,000 baht per visit at our shopping centre,'' she said.

Steven Kalayanamit, the chief executive of Ice Planet (Thailand) Co, said his company plans to open its 2,000-square-metre rink with a live band in September.

About 300 million baht of Siam Piwat's investment will be spent on a store facelift, particularly a facade destined to be an architectural landmark of Bangkok. The store makeover will start in March and be completed in October this year.

The remaining 50 million baht will be used to develop a 1,500-sq-m exhibition hall on the eighth floor scheduled to open next year.