Thai embassy in Singapore may become high-rise complex

Posted on May 4, 2004 by admin
Thai embassy in Singapore may become high-rise complex - TNA, October 2, 2005 |
[This story has come up about every year since Thaksin came to power.]
...The embassy now occupies over 11 rai of land (2.5 rai = 1 acre) and is situated on Orchard Road, the most important business area in the island state.
...As the land is situated in a prime area and could fetch not less than Bt 10 billion, the ambassador said the government has no plan to sell the land, but, instead, had set up the 'Thailand Team' to consider utilizing the land in order to gain maximum benefits.
He said if the embassy property is to be developed as the planned 30-storey hotel and exhibition centre, it would have to pay land development fees amounting to about 140 million Singapore dollars and pay for a property developer to handle the project.
The top Thai envoy in Singapore said the 'Thailand Team' was also considering another option--turning the Thai Embassy to Singapore to become a grand business building complex, but not so high as the first option.

Earlier: Redevelopment study on Thai Embassy site completed - The Business Times, May 4, 2004
More about the prime Thai Embassy site on Orchard Road in Singapore: The Thai government is unlikely to sell the land outright because it has historical significance. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) bought it for the country in 1893. At that time, it cost a mere $9,000...

Earlier: Redevelopment plan for Thai embassy - Bangkok Post, September 11, 2003
Anyone who has ever been to the Thai Embassy in Singapore is usually surprised to find it in one of the prime locations on Orchard Road. For years people have wondered why there was not an attempt to redevelop the site. Last week, the Thai Prime Minister, an astute businessman, took one look at the site and revived the idea of developing the area: Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said the embassy--rambling old colonial housing and an office building in a large compound--was an eyesore. But it was in a prime area on Orchard road, a main shopping centre. Former Thai envoy to Singapore, Asada Jayanama, who was posted there from 1989-90, ordered a feasibility study into putting up a 24-floor building... Proposals include a shopping centre to promote goods made by small and medium sized enterprises, including the one tambon-one product scheme, and tourism, or swapping it for another area.
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