"All the shops are ready for the airport's grand opening [on September 28]," Vichai said.

The company won a concession from Airports of Thailand Plc (AOT) to operate duty-free and tax-free shops as well as commercial spaces at the new airport, and to run a downtown shop.

"We re-ceived these concessions for 10 years of operations," he said.

It has in-vested Bt20 billion in four major areas - duty-free shops, commercial spaces, a downtown duty-free complex and a training centre.

CEO Vichai Raksriaksorn said last week that Bt500 million had been spent on the company's duty-free shops and Bt265 million on its tax-free shops located in inner areas of passenger terminals at the new airport.

The company is guaranteeing a Bt1.5-billion return to AOT for the first year of operation at the airport, and has already paid Bt2.4 billion in advance.

On July 29, when the airport welcomed the first commercial test flights, the airport shops racked up sales of Bt3.2 million in one day. The company is looking forward to another test day, this time for international flights, on September 1.

For the airport's commercial areas, the company spent Bt1 billion to design boutique zones covering fashion, Thai-made merchandise, food and beverages, money exchange, massages, refreshments and world brand names.

Consulting and architectural firms from three countries were hired for more than Bt100 million to help develop the retail sections.

The new complex on Rang Nam Road near the Victory Monument consists of a duty-free emporium, 400-room Novotel King Power Hotel, the company's new head office, a theatre, restaurants and a warehouse.

A budget of Bt4.5 billion was earmarked for the office, hotel, theatre, food court and duty-free centre, while the storehouse used up Bt5 billion.

"It will be a one-stop service satisfying all of a tourist's needs. We plan to open the duty-free store and the restaurant on August 18 and the headquarters in October. The hotel and theatre are set to open next year," Vichai said.

The Bt400-million King Power Training Institute located in Samut Prakan's Bang Bo district will be used for internal training - especially in languages and sales practices - for more than 4,000 sales clerks working at the shops.

"I have found that Thai sales staff are not as skilled as in Hong Kong or Singapore, particular in foreign languages. This is a big threat factor for a retail business. So I aim to enhance their proficiency in at least four languages - English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese," he said.

The company is working with many educational institutions, such as Rajabhat University Suan Dusit, for the training courses.

It has been in the duty-free business here for 18 years via five subsidiaries - King Power Tax Free, King Power Duty Free, King Power International, King Power Hotel Management, and King Power Marketing and Management.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation