TheMoodieReport.com

TheMoodieReport.com: "King Power lights up duty free with stunning new industry benchmark as Downtown Duty Free Mall opens � 18/08/06
Source: �The Moodie Report
By Martin Moodie; Treatment by Salina Christmas
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THAILAND - Friday 18 August: At 10.29 this morning King Power Group Chairman Vichai Raksriaksorn lit a candle to mark the beginning of a religious ceremony to open the new King Power Downtown Complex in downtown Bangkok.

In front of him on stage, resplendent in their bright orange robes, sat nine Buddhist monks who transfixed a large audience of guests, management and employees with chants of amazing intensity and rhythm.

EXPLORE KING POWER DOWNTOWN COMPLEX
Click on the thumbnail photos
The opening ceremony Fashion, accessories, toys

WatchesCosmetics and fragrances

Gifts, crystals, stationeryFood & beverage, souvenirs

Confectionery,fine foods Spirits, wine, tobacco
As they chanted, behind the stage a row of plasma screens flashed images of this profoundly ambitious retail, leisure and entertainment extravaganza.

It was a unique and very Thai moment, that saw tradition and belief intermingled with modernity and commerce. And as the monks gave their blessing to this extraordinary place, dubbed �the mantra of the East�, King Power was simultaneously propelling itself into a whole new league as a travel retailer.

Make no mistake � this is one of the world�s great duty free and travel retail facilities. The 10,000sq m retail offer (in which UK company The Design Solution played a key role in design terms) is the heart of a complex spread over 12 acres that embraces King Power�s new offices, a four-star hotel due to open next May, a restaurant and a the"