The New Pantip Plaza: Reopens next month

Pantip Plaza, Bangkok's most famous electronics mall to re-open after massive two-year, 300-million-baht renovation.

TECHNOLOGY

The New Pantip Plaza: Reopens next month

15/07/2016
Suchit Leesa-nguansuk

Pantip Plaza, Bangkok's most famous electronics shopping mall, will open its doors to customers early next month after a massive two-year, 300-million-baht renovation.

Dubbed the Tech Life Mall, the renovation is intended to demonstrate the transformative power of the emerging "Internet of Things".

Asset World Estate, a subsidiary of TCC Land, the operator of Pantip Plaza, announced it will open its new Tech Life Mall on Aug 8.

The 36,000-square-metre mall will boast 300 IT dealers occupying half of the total space.

CO-WORKING SPACE FOR START-UPS

The remaining display space has been reserved for gadgets, gaming, a co-working space for startup companies, enterprise solution products and restaurants.

A "co-working space" is a shared working environment, often a cross between an office and a cafe, that allows independent freelancers to escape the isolation of working alone and have a more social environment, with other people, to work in (see here).

NEW BUSINESS PLAN

The new renovated mall is planning to attract more teenagers, not just hardcore computer consumers as it did previously.

The average time customers spends in the mall is expected to increase from 1.5 hours to 3.5 hours.

The company expects the number of visitors to increase to 35,000 per day after that number dropped to 20,000 during the renovation period and a general slowdown of shopping malls for computers.

Rental fees have been raised by an additional 3-5% and the new mall expects to break even within five years.

NO MORE PIRATED SOFTWARE

In what may be a surprise, Pantip also hopes to become a mall without pirated software.

However, stores selling pirated CDs and DVDs have been gradually disappearing for many years anyway.  

Most software, games or books, legitimate or pirated, are downloaded over the internet these days.

NEW SKYWALK FROM CENTRALWORLD & BTS

One drawback to Pantip Mall is that the mall is not located next to a Skytrain or subway station, unlike Fortune Town IT Mall which is located next to the Rama IX subway station.

A new Skywalk linking CentralWorld and the Skytrain to Platinum mall should make it easier for people to walk to Pantip Mall which is only a short walk down the street from Platinum Mall (see here).

THE SYN HUB 
the first time in a so-called Syn Hub, including:

1. A co-working space for tech startups.

2. An e-sports area powered by Intel Microelectronics (Thailand).

3. Business solutions supplied by Com Seven Co.

4. A Microsoft experience store.

Niti Mekmok, managing director of Synergy Technology, the owner of Syn Hub, said digital technologies are creating new paths for manufactures and reshaping most industries.

The 20-million-baht Syn Hub provided various innovative technologies ranging from 3D printers, mechanics supporting the Industrial Internet of Things, embedded electronic systems design, and radio frequency identification (RFID) systems.

Syn Hub also features a co-working space with 60 seats. The company charges 280 baht a day to use the space.

"It's the right time to invest as the Thai government is pushing for the development of a digital economy," said Mr Niti.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/1036021/pantip-plaza-to-reopen-following-renovation

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