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Siam Square
13°44′39.95″N 100°31′59.3″E / 13.7444306°N 100.533139°E
Siam Square (Thai: สยามสแควร์, pronounced [sā.jǎːm sā.kʰwɛ̄ː]) is a shopping and entertainment area in the Siam area of Bangkok, Thailand. The square is located at the corner of Phayathai Road and Rama I Road and is owned by Chulalongkorn University, managed by its Property Management Office, known as "Chula Property". It is connected to nearby shopping centers and shopping districts, such as MBK Center, Siam Paragon, and Ratchaprasong shopping district, by a skywalk.
The area of Siam Square, which belongs to Chulalongkorn University, was originally full of wooden houses and slum areas, until a fire incident evacuated the villagers from the area.[better source needed] After the fire, General Prapas Charusatien (Thai: ประภาส จารุเสถียร) director of Chulalongkorn University at that time, decided to develop the area of Siam Square into a commercial place in order to prevent the slum community that originally resided there from returning. The Southeast Asia Company was the first to develop this area as an open-air shopping mall. The first building was constructed in 1962 and finished in 1963, with Associated Professor Lert Urasayanan as the architect and Professor Rachot Kanchanawanit as the engineer.
The original name of the square was Pathum Wan Square (Thai: ปทุมวันสแควร์), because it is in Pathum Wan District. However, Kobchai Sosothikul, founder of Seacon Development Co. and owner of the project at that time, felt that the name was too small and renamed it to Siam Square after the whole country, Siam being the old name of Thailand.
Later in 1991, various tutoring schools began opening in the Siam Square area, targeting students from the many schools nearby.
Siam Square entered a period of downturn In 1996, when the Thai economy was in a state of recession from IMF debt. The nearby construction of the BTS Skytrain at that time also caused traffic jams that drove customers to other shopping districts. To combat this issue, Chulalongkorn University initiated a project to turn Siam Square into a center of technology and development, with many improvements to the area in 1999 and 2000. One such development was relocating the parking lot behind the Lido cinema to the Witthayakit Building, opening up the space for outside companies to invest in developing the area, which became known as "Center Point" and served as a center of recreation for teenagers.
Siam Square is maintained by the University Property Management Office of Chulalongkorn University. It has been compared to a "one-tenth miniature" of Bangkok in terms of catering for diverse needs, with over 4,200 shops in many styles and also many other types of services including many successful Thai businesses, tutor schools, restaurants, cafes, fashion, art, design, and many new emerging businesses.
The customers or visitors vary from young-aged school and college students to office workers and foreign tourists, although most are students coming to attend the tutoring institutions concentrated in the area: at least 30 schools are located here, making Siam Square the number one tutoring center in the country.
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Siam Square AI simulator
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Siam Square
13°44′39.95″N 100°31′59.3″E / 13.7444306°N 100.533139°E
Siam Square (Thai: สยามสแควร์, pronounced [sā.jǎːm sā.kʰwɛ̄ː]) is a shopping and entertainment area in the Siam area of Bangkok, Thailand. The square is located at the corner of Phayathai Road and Rama I Road and is owned by Chulalongkorn University, managed by its Property Management Office, known as "Chula Property". It is connected to nearby shopping centers and shopping districts, such as MBK Center, Siam Paragon, and Ratchaprasong shopping district, by a skywalk.
The area of Siam Square, which belongs to Chulalongkorn University, was originally full of wooden houses and slum areas, until a fire incident evacuated the villagers from the area.[better source needed] After the fire, General Prapas Charusatien (Thai: ประภาส จารุเสถียร) director of Chulalongkorn University at that time, decided to develop the area of Siam Square into a commercial place in order to prevent the slum community that originally resided there from returning. The Southeast Asia Company was the first to develop this area as an open-air shopping mall. The first building was constructed in 1962 and finished in 1963, with Associated Professor Lert Urasayanan as the architect and Professor Rachot Kanchanawanit as the engineer.
The original name of the square was Pathum Wan Square (Thai: ปทุมวันสแควร์), because it is in Pathum Wan District. However, Kobchai Sosothikul, founder of Seacon Development Co. and owner of the project at that time, felt that the name was too small and renamed it to Siam Square after the whole country, Siam being the old name of Thailand.
Later in 1991, various tutoring schools began opening in the Siam Square area, targeting students from the many schools nearby.
Siam Square entered a period of downturn In 1996, when the Thai economy was in a state of recession from IMF debt. The nearby construction of the BTS Skytrain at that time also caused traffic jams that drove customers to other shopping districts. To combat this issue, Chulalongkorn University initiated a project to turn Siam Square into a center of technology and development, with many improvements to the area in 1999 and 2000. One such development was relocating the parking lot behind the Lido cinema to the Witthayakit Building, opening up the space for outside companies to invest in developing the area, which became known as "Center Point" and served as a center of recreation for teenagers.
Siam Square is maintained by the University Property Management Office of Chulalongkorn University. It has been compared to a "one-tenth miniature" of Bangkok in terms of catering for diverse needs, with over 4,200 shops in many styles and also many other types of services including many successful Thai businesses, tutor schools, restaurants, cafes, fashion, art, design, and many new emerging businesses.
The customers or visitors vary from young-aged school and college students to office workers and foreign tourists, although most are students coming to attend the tutoring institutions concentrated in the area: at least 30 schools are located here, making Siam Square the number one tutoring center in the country.