Bangkok luxury hotel Dusit Thani’s redevelopment will retain ‘Thainess’, say owners
- In 1970 the Dusit Thani opened in Bangkok, a luxury hotel emphasising ‘Thainess’
- The decision to close the hotel wasn’t easy, but the management say its character won’t change when it is redeveloped
Bangkok’s Dusit Thani hotel – a much loved landmark in the Thai capital since it opened 49 years ago – has closed to make way for a redevelopment its management insists will leave much of the building’s heritage and legacy intact.
The Dusit Thani (Heavenly City) was one of the city’s first five-star hotels when it opened for business on February 27, 1970. From day one the luxury hotel emphasised “Thainess”, from exceedingly polite service in the lobby to the golden spire atop the roof (modelled after Bangkok’s famed Temple of Dawn). At the time, most Bangkok establishments were emphasising Western modernity, and Thailand was awash with American military personnel fighting communism in nearby Indochina.
The Dusit Thani was the vision of Chanut Piyaoui, who opened her first Bangkok hotel, the three-star Princess, in 1948. Over the next seven decades, her company evolved into a multinational hospitality group with 29 hotels in 18 countries – nine self-owned and 20 managed.
Dusit International also manages 240 luxury villas in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, since last year’s purchase of Elite Havens – a leading provider of holiday rentals in Asia.
For Chanut’s son, Chanin Donavanik, 63, the decision to tear down the hotel to make way for a bigger, mixed-use development was the toughest in his career – but ultimately inescapable.
“We have been losing ground to a lot of new hotels,” says Chanin, the group’s former CEO and now chairman of the executive committee. “When my mother dreamed about this hotel she wanted the brand to be the best. We are trying to keep our status and we cannot do that unless we have a drastic change.”
