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Published on January 13, 2008

The latest case in point is the Cyber World Tower on Ratchadaphisek Road, one of Bangkok's new business and entertainment districts.

Construction and decoration of the twin towers, 47 and 43 stories respectively, were near completion and a soft opening was planned for March this year. But a fire broke out last Wednesday morning, engulfing large sections of the towers. An initial police investigation suggested that it was an accident.

Situated right at the corner of Tiem Ruammit Road on a junction joining the busy Ratchadaphisek Road near Huai Khwang, the site was formerly owned by the Sri Vara Real Estate group, which planned to build its Sri Vara High-Tech Tower there in the 1990s.

Begun at the height of the 1997 economic and financial crisis, the project ran into trouble and later resulted in a non-performing loan, taken over by the state's asset-management company.

In 2002, the project was purchased by Montri Danpaibul, a former MP, in an auction and renamed Ratchada Square Tower. A few years later, the property was sold to Tippattna Arcade, a unit of TCC Capital Land controlled by liquor tycoon Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, which planned to continue construction of the unfinished twin office towers.

In June 2006, the new owner signed a Bt4-billion contract hiring Rue-tha to finish the construction work. The project was due to be completed by the end of 2007.

For Panupong, the geomancy of this place is rather unfavourable as it is situated right on one of the large turnoffs next to the T-shaped junction joining Ratchadaphisek Road.

"The way of wind and water, which governs the flow of energy, is not good and that means it's not good for business. On the other hand, business premises situated on the opposite side, such as Robinson department store and Carrefour hypermarket, have been doing quite well over the past years.

"According to the art of fengshui, evil forces hit premises on that turnoff. A good example is that, about two decades ago, business premises in Bangkok's Phra Khanong/Klong Ton area used to be doing good business but the fortunes shifted when the fly-over bridge was built along New Phetchaburi Road crossing the Klong Ton intersection.

"When such a large bridge cuts across the area, it's like a big structure being dropped into the river where the flow of energy is abruptly disrupted. In other words, we could say that the original road was like a prosperous river but all of a sudden its flow was cut into two halves. The consequence was that all business premises on the river banks were badly damaged. Today, business in that area is not as brisk as it used to be.

"In fact, it's rather difficult to improve the geomancy when business premises or residences are built next to large turnoffs on T-shaped junctions like the one on Ratchadaphisek Road. For example, if your house is right on a T junction, your place could be hit by a careless driver or the place would be dusty most of the time to due lots of traffic. Or the site could be easily expropriated for road expansion etc.

"The logic is just that simple. The location is basically bad for your mental and physical health," Panupong said.

Developed 4,000 to 5,000 years ago in China, fengshui might have derived from survival instincts and common sense, as ancient people studied the formations of the land and the ways of the wind and water to determine the best location for survival.

According to Panupong, the placement and layout of physical objects in our environment has an impact on the flow of energy in our lives, but many people are unaware of fengshui principles.

In short, fengshui and related disciplines help you manage and arrange the environment to suit your best interests.

As for the troubled Cyber World complex, the fengshui master recommended that new entrances be built on the sides of the complex to counter the weakness of its location.

Nophakhun Limsamarnphun

 nop1122@yahoo.com

The Nation