Bangkok 101
  • TRENDING
  • PEOPLE, PLACES & BEYOND
    • PLACES & BEYOND
    • PEOPLE
  • COLUMNS
    • Joe’s Bangkok
    • Now New Next
    • Bitchin’ in the Kitchen
    • Kitchen Backstories
    • Eat Like Nym
    • Into the Hood
  • FOOD, DRINKS, ENTERTAINMENTS
  • ART, DESIGN & CULTURE
    • BAM! BANGKOK ART MAP IS ONLINE!
    • Bangkok Art Map Facebook Page
  • TRAVEL
    • Pattaya101
    • Hua Hin 101
    • Phuket101
  • MARKET 101
  • ABOUT US
    • ADVERTISING
    • CAREER
Top Posts
All Thai’d Up: Luxurious Thai Menu at Decanter
Escape to SO Sofitel Hua Hin for a...
Treat your Love to a Splendid Valentine’s Voyage...
Number 1 Gallery Presents ‘The Opera of Metafiction’
Escape to Five-Star Pimalai Resort & Spa on...
La Lanta Fine Art Presents Group Exhibition Featuring...
Centara Grand at CentralWorld Rolls Out ‘The Place...
Anantara Chiang Mai Resort Wraps Up Challenging Year...
Emirates takes A380 experience to new heights
Kathmandu Gallery Examines Race Issues in New Photo...
100 Tonson Gallery Presents ‘House Calls’ by Pinaree...

Bangkok 101

  • TRENDING
  • PEOPLE, PLACES & BEYOND
    • PLACES & BEYOND
    • PEOPLE
  • COLUMNS
    • Joe’s Bangkok
    • Now New Next
    • Bitchin’ in the Kitchen
    • Kitchen Backstories
    • Eat Like Nym
    • Into the Hood
  • FOOD, DRINKS, ENTERTAINMENTS
  • ART, DESIGN & CULTURE
    • BAM! BANGKOK ART MAP IS ONLINE!
    • Bangkok Art Map Facebook Page
  • TRAVEL
    • Pattaya101
    • Hua Hin 101
    • Phuket101
  • MARKET 101
  • ABOUT US
    • ADVERTISING
    • CAREER
Joe's Bangkok

Bowing Out with Grace

written by Joe Cummings /CPA Media March 4, 2019
Thanpuying Chanut team

An iconic hotel bids farewell before returning in a different but familiar form.


How often do hotels organise events to celebrate their closing down? None that I know of, yet the iconic Dusit Thani Bangkok, during its 49th and final year of operation, did just that for all of 2018, right up until its last day of operation on the 5th of January 2019.

      I’m one of a multitude of Bangkok residents who remember when the 23-floor, 82-metre Dusit Thani Bangkok was still the tallest building in the city, a distinction maintained from 1970, the year it opened, until 1987, when 151-metre Baiyoke Tower grabbed the title. The latter was eventually eclipsed by Baiyoke Tower II (304 metres) and more recently the King Power Maha Nakhon (315 metres).

      Built on Crown Property Bureau land once occupied by the home of Chao Phraya Yommarat, the Dusit was the first modern luxury hotel in the country both owned and operated by Thais. Famed for having the most Thai ambience and service of any of the city’s major hotels, it also earned a reputation for innovation and imagination. In 1977, the hotel opened Bubbles, Bangkok’s first high-end discotheque, whose glittering glass dance floor quickly became a favoured spot for Thai celebrities and international DJs. Meanwhile, Mayflower, the hotel’s legendary Chinese restaurant, served as an important gathering spot for Thai politicos and their families.

      For the last night of Dusit’s operation, I took a room on the 12th floor, just to bid the grand old dame farewell. During the two days I spent knocking around the fabled grounds, with its waterfall terrace, hexagonal swimming pool and other landmark features, I was impressed not only by the pomp and nostalgia but by the strong sense of pride and solidarity the staff, parting guests, and last-day visitors shared.

      Brought in to oversee the transition as general manager, Titiya Xuto says that her most important task was to close the hotel as a legend and “not as a tired old dog or a property that needs to go away.”

      Despite being only a year away from shutting its doors forever, Xuto invested in new staff uniforms and other upgrades to the hotel. “We wanted to show the world that yes, we need to go away in order to come back stronger, but we will leave with a standing ovation and bow out with grace and elegance,” she says.

      Every month of the final year saw a different special event, culminating in a grand New Year’s Eve party called Journey Across Time, referencing both the end of the year transition and the Dusit Thani Bangkok’s enduring 49-year history.

      As for the future, the hotel will reincarnate on the same spot with a completely new Dusit Thani Bangkok, one that will stand taller than the original but reduce the number of rooms from 517 to 250 in order to bring up the luxury standards as high as possible.

      Over a period of several months before the original structure is razed, a team of art scholars under the direction of 20 professors from Silpakorn University’s Fine Arts Department is surveying the interior to collect and preserve all the most unique pieces of art and architectural details so that they can be displayed in the new Dusit Thani Bangkok. “We want the new hotel to be modern and relevant technology-wise,” says Xuto, “But at the same time we want to maintain and preserve the essence of the original hotel so that when people return to Dusit Thani Bangkok in four years, they’ll recognise it.”

      The roof of the new hotel will sport a recreated version of the original hotel’s iconic golden spire, and the hotel will be built closer to Rama IV Road so that every room has a view of Lumpini Park. Sharing the plot—which will be expanded from 19 to 23 rai—will be a mixed-use project that includes residences, offices, and retail space.

       During the construction, some of the 300 remaining staff members will be rotated to other properties while nearby on Soi Sala Daeng, a new enterprise called Dusit House will offer a bakery, restaurant, and catering services so that loyal customers can continue to enjoy favourite dishes from the original hotel’s many dining outlets.

Bowing Out with Grace was last modified: October 1st, 2019 by Joe Cummings /CPA Media

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
bangkokBangkok 101Dusit Thani Bangkokhotelthailand
0 comment
0
Facebook Twitter Google + Pinterest
Joe Cummings /CPA Media
Joe Cummings /CPA Media

Award-winning writer Joe Cummings was born in New Orleans but became one of Lonely Planet's first guidebook authors, creating the seminal Lonely Planet Thailand guide, as well as several other titles and updates for the region. Each month, he picks out his favourite cultural gems throughout Bangkok.

previous post
Smanrat Kanjanavanit
next post
Liberation

You may also like

faces of khlongtoey

An Interview With Faces of Khlongtoey Photographer

March 31, 2020
little india

India in Bangkok

January 8, 2020
Fredrik Divall

Tom Waller’s “The Cave” Hits Bangkok Cinemas

November 6, 2019
mono band

Mono Returns

September 9, 2019
crown water colour

Coronation of Rama X

May 17, 2019
Wat Paknam photo 4

Wat Pak Nam

January 10, 2019

A Day at the Stadium

October 10, 2018

Leave the Night On

August 31, 2018

Treasure Hunting

August 12, 2018

Cool Isaan

July 31, 2018

Michelin* Chefs Joe and Saki of 80/20 fishing in Koh Libong

Read the latest issue of Bangkok 101 Online Now!

Bangkok101 Mar-Apr 2020

Bangkok 101 Magazine Archive

Bangkok101 magazine archive

Follow Us

Bangkok 101 Magazine

Book Your Next Trip

About Us

  • Work with us
  • Subscribe to the magazine
  • Contact us
  • Advertise with us

Sign up for our newsletter

Keep in touch

Facebook Twitter Instagram Email RSS

© Copyright 2016 - Bangkok101 - developed by Webmajors

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.