Message from president of Centara Grand at CentralWorld in Bangkok

After delibertly being set on fire by Red Shirt protestors, CentralWorld appeared to have been in ruins, once the flames were put out. This was horrible news for the tourism industry, as this shopping center is a major draw in the city of Bangkok. Upon closer inspection, however, the damage was not as bad as was initially thought.

Mr. Gerd K. Steeb, president of Centara Grand at CentralWorld in Bangkok, issued the following message:

“Whilst very saddened by the recent turmoil here in Bangkok, we are relieved to announce that the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld remained generally unharmed by the recent events; smoke damage being the major issue for the facility.

“We have thoroughly inspected the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld, and the hotel and convention centre need only to undergo deep cleaning for several days whilst awaiting Bangkok Metropolitan authority’s approval to reopen. We shall re-open for business on June 1, 2010.

“Certain areas of CentralWorld, such as the Zen department store, suffered severe damage, nevertheless the main CentralWorld building annexed to the hotel suffered only minor damages. The Bangkok Municipality has cleaned public areas and roads leading to and from Ratchaprasong intersection.

“For further updates, please visit our website at www.centarahotelsresorts.com or call 02 541 1234 extension 1402 or 02 769 1234 extension 6129.”