|
Eventually, construction on the 200,000-square-metre (2.2 million
square feet) site bogged down in a talk-of-the-town lawsuit that
was only resolved by the arrival of 'white knight'investors from
the US and Singapore who got the massive project moving again.
The bad days are now history and the 3.5 billion baht centre is
expected to open its doors to the waiting public just a few days
before Christmas.
An Old Name
The origins of the name Jungceylon - an old name for Phuket - go
back to the early 16th century when Phuket was a busy port, a piece
of history echoed in the supermall's logo, a colorful, two-masted
Chinese Junk.
Doubts Dispelled
 |
| Khun Prawit Janyasittikul... |
|
Prawit Janyasittikul, Deputy CEO of Jungceylon, told Phuket.com,
"We in the management team are very proud to have chance to
run Jungceylon, which is the biggest shopping and entertainment
venue on the island.
"We are located on a very good, very well known spot. Patong
Beach, as we all know, is an international resort area. We'll have
customers from all over the world."
After opening, the company will continue to promote hard for at
least three months among both island residents and tourists.
In addition, it will be seeking to attract more "investors",
or tenants; with retail space of 75,000 square metres, there is
still plenty of room for more restaurants, jewellery stores, fashion
shops and other type of outlets.
Khun Prawit said, "In the past, there was some doubt and hesitation
on the part of some of the investors who were interested in being
our partners.
"I hope that once they have seen that Jungceylon is really
open, their confidence in the possibilities of doing good businesses
in Jungceylon will grow.
"When we do open, we expect to have 40,000 to 50,000 shoppers
a day," he added.
Already In
 |
| 200,000-square-metre
site... |
|
Jungceylon already has about 200 local and international tenants.
Just a sampling of these: Carrefour supermarket, Giordano, Time
Deco, Swarovski, Levi's, Swatch, Boot's the Chemist, Hanako Tokyo,
Sportsworld, Indochine restaurant, MK Restaurant, Fuji Restaurant,
Coffee World, Häagen Dazs, Au Bon Pain, Burger King and Krungthai
Bank.
Finding a place to park while shopping will not be a problem. There
will be spaces for 2,000 cars and 120 tour buses. But write down
the number of the bay you parked in or you may never find your car
again.
by Praewpayom Aikwanich &
Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen
|