Business light as 'Siam' malls reopen
Siam Paragon reopened its doors yesterday, but most shoppers decided to stay away.
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Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery and Siam Centre reopened yesterday in a lacklustre mood after the departure of the huge crowds demanding the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Only a few shops in the giant shopping centres resumed business and the number of shoppers seen walking in and out was small.
On Wednesday, the three up-market complexes closed to avoid a mass anti-Thaksin rally called by the People's Alliance for Democracy. But the demonstrators ended their protest yesterday, ahead of Sunday's snap election, and business cautiously began returning to normal. Siam Paragon department store opened its doors, but not all shops in the plaza area were trading. Jewellery shops noticeably remained closed, apparently reflecting their security-consciousness. A security guard at Siam Paragon said: "I am not sure if the protesters will come back. I just hope that they won't come back soon." He said that even though the complexes were closed on Wednesday, he had to stand by to protect the area. A 17-year-old girl who entered Siam Paragon to see a movie said she realised the complex had reopened while attending a cramming school across the road. "I am not afraid of the mob, even though they may come back again," she said. "They don't want to cause any damage to anyone." A few clients visited the Kinokuniya book shop and California Fitness at Siam Paragon at about 1.30am yesterday because they were not sure it would reopen in normal trading hours. Some food shops remained open on Wednesday night even though the majority of shops at Siam Square decided to avoid the rally. Protesters with anti-Thaksin banners crowded Coca Suki, Canton and KFC. While the malls lost money from their one-day closure, Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) reaped a record windfall from the rally. On Wednesday, the Skytrain operator took Bt11.5 million in revenue, carrying a record number of 546,597 commuters. Half of them were headed for Siam station. According to Anat Arbhabhirama, an adviser to the BTS board of directors, the number beat the previous record of 537,328 passengers carried on December 9, when Siam Paragon opened. "This is a new record for the company, which has been operating for six years and three months," he said. On Wednesday, BTS also sold tickets outside Siam station for the first time, because of the large number of passengers. The station was closed yesterday because of the massive crowds. Anat said that on a regular weekday, BTS usually served about 430,000 passengers. Nitida Aswanipont, Somluck Srimalee The Nation
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