Fans of celebrities may never get a chance to see their heroes in the flesh, but luckily for them the opening of a branch of the London-based Madame Tussauds wax museum in Bangkok will offer enthusiasts a chance to hold hands or lock lips with Hollywood heart-throbs like Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp or football studs David Beckham and Steven Gerrard.
Joining Brad Pitt, Michael Jackson, Angelina Jolie and Mitr Chaibancha at a presentation yesterday are Chadatip Chutrakul, CEO of Siam Piwat Co, and Paul Williams, general manager of Madame Tussauds Bangkok. APICHART JINAKUL
The 500-million-baht attraction, located on the sixth floor of Siam Discovery, will be opened to visitors on Dec 4.
Housed in 3,000 square metres, it will feature more than 70 wax figures including Princess Diana, Barack Obama, Angelina Jolie and famous Thai figures such as M.R. Kukrit Pramoj, Khaosai Galaxy, Tata Young, Mitr Chaibancha, Theeradej Wongpuapan, and Anne Thongprasom.
Madame Tussauds has been granted a permission to create wax likenesses of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol and Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother to be displayed in the Royal Hall as well.
The ticket price is 700 baht for adults and 500 baht for children to enter the wax museum and it expects 500,000 visitors generating 275 million baht in revenue the first year of operation.
Merlin Entertainment Group now operates 62 attractions and six hotels in 12 countries over three continents. Its attractions include Sea Life, the world's largest aquarium, Legoland, the London Eye and the Legoland Discovery Centre.
"Though the country had political unrest in May, we strongly believe in Thailand's economy and domestic travel encouragement programs implemented by the government. Apart from Madame Tussauds, we're also looking to develop a Legoland Discovery Centre in Thailand in the future," said Paul Williams, general manager of Madame Tussauds Bangkok.
A Legoland would cost between 300 million and 500 million baht.
In addition to Thailand, Mr Williams also plans to launch Legoland Park, another Merlin brand, in Malaysia in 2012.
Chadatip Chutrakul, CEO of Siam Piwat Co, the operator of Siam Discovery, said that apart from Madame Tussauds, Siam Discovery would house more than 20 famous restaurants and the Ice Planet skating rink costing 180 million baht.
