Top-Quality Options For Big Events

Waterhouse Coopers, with 85 participants, Deutsche Bank with 110 and Citigroup with 135, have all recently used the upscale facilities at the 370-room property.

RIVERSIDE PROPERTIES
Across the other side of the Chao Phraya stands the 740-room Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel and Towers, the biggest property of an impressive riverside grouping that includes the Oriental Bangkok, the Shangri-La Bangkok and the Millennium Hilton.
Forward bookings continue to make confident reading for planners considering Bangkok for business events, with 700 delegates from Titan visiting in April and Hewlett-Packard and Regis Corporation committed to 120-person and 450-person events respectively in November.
With a general election in Thailand likely to be held late this year or early 2008, the forward
bookings that are in place offer an indication that Bangkok very much remains in the minds
of regional corporate business planners.
This can also be evidenced in the business waiting to happen at the Central World Hotel
and Bangkok Convention Centre, one of the most eagerly awaited additions to the Bangkok CEI scene this decade. Located in the heart of Bangkok, the facility will open in two stages starting from July 1 when the Bangkok Convention Centre will open its doors. This will be followed by the opening of the 505-room Central World Hotel in April 2008. The Bangkok
Convention Centre will feature 5,400 sqm of space with a ceiling height of 13.5 metres
and a pre-function area of 1,700 sqm.
It will soon be in action, hosting the Thailand Research Expo in September and the Bangkok Gems Show in October, followed by a conference by the Glaucoma Society of Thailand in December for 600 delegates.
The positive CEI outlook is also mirrored by events that recently took place at the country’s
two major exhibition centres. Last year, IMPACT hosted over 300 events welcoming over 15 million visitors, a figure that will grow this year despite the uncertain political situation, says general manager Loy Joon How.

LARGE EVENTS
Recent events held at IMPACT include the Thailand International Furniture Fair and Interior Design Fair (193 exhibitors and 29,000 visitors) in March and the Bangkok International Gift Fair & Bangkok International Houseware Fair (754 exhibitors and 118,000 visitors) in April.
The last six months have been buoyant for competitor BITEC too, located 12km from
the new Suvarnabhumi Airport. Both international and Thai-focused shows have produced successful results, with leading regional agriculture and livestock event VIV Asia in March welcoming 21,800 delegates from 84 countries and the Bangkok International Motorshow in April seeing 1.7 million visitors pass through its doors.
BITEC business development director Sarnit Karunyavanij is confident that Thailand has a great business events future. “The Thai economy will regain its momentum in the next couple of years,” he says, adding that by this time a Skytrain will be in operation right by the facility, furthering growth prospects.