فندق إيراوان

خلال فترة ما بعد الحرب العالمية الثانية ، تبنت حكومة رئيس الوزراء بلايك فيبونسونغخرام سياسةً لدعم قطاع الضيافة لمواكبة ازدياد السفر الجوي الدولي. ^{[ 1 ]} ثم أُطلق مشروع حكومي، بمبادرة من وزير المالية برايون بامورنمونتري ، لبناء فندق فاخر حديث لاستضافة بانكوك للمؤتمر الخامس والأربعين للاتحاد البرلماني الدولي عام 1956. وقد نُفذ هذا المشروع من خلال مؤسسة حكومية، هي نقابة الفنادق والشركات السياحية التايلاندية، التي تأسست عام 1953 برئاسة قائد الشرطة فاو سريانوند . ^{[ 2 ]}

كانت الشركة تخطط في الأصل لبناء الفندق على زاوية تقاطع سالا داينغ التي تشغلها حديقة لومبيني ، لكن الفكرة رُفضت. وبدلاً من ذلك، تم اختيار موقع في الزاوية الجنوبية الشرقية لتقاطع راتشابراسونغ في مقاطعة باثوم وان . واستحوذ مكتب إدارة ممتلكات التاج ، الذي كان يملك الأرض، على حصة أقلية في أسهم الشركة كجزء من عملية الشراء. ^{[ 2 ]}

Construction began shortly after, but the project was plagued by delays and accidents, and costs rose from the planned 20 million baht (US$1M) to 100 million ($5M). Rumours that the setbacks were caused by malevolent supernatural causes gained traction, and advice was sought from Luang Suwichanphaet, a naval physician and mystic. He stated that the building's foundation stone had been laid on an inauspicious date, and recommended that a shrine to the Hindu god Brahma (known in Thai representation as Phra Phrom) be built to appease the gods and ward off the evil fortune.^[3][4] This was done as construction of the hotel was completed in 1956, and the Erawan Shrine would later become a highly famous spiritual landmark.^[3][4] The hotel building was designed in the applied Thai style,^[5] with an ornamented gabled roof topping the four-storey structure housing 175 (later expanded to 250) guest rooms. It was opened by Phibunsongkhram on 9 November 1956, a week prior to the IPU conference.^[3][4]

The hotel initially struggled in its operations due to a lack of expertise among Thai staff, but was successfully turned around when Chalermchai Charuvastr, an army general who had just become the first director of the Tourist Organisation of Thailand (now the Tourism Authority of Thailand), was brought on to oversee its management in 1960. Chalermchai promoted hospitality career paths for young women, and pushed to make Thainess a distinctive atmosphere at the hotel.^[3] Its interior was redone, Thai cuisine featured in its restaurant, and employees would now wear Thai-style costumes. This positioning would be replicated by new establishments such as the Siam InterContinental and the Dusit Thani hotels in the following years.^[6]

The Erawan prospered in the 1960s, hosting many foreign dignitaries and celebrities, but declined over the 1970s as it was unable to face rising competition from private enterprises. From 1979, the company board explored several plans to revive the hotel, and after several years it was finally decided to demolish the hotel for redevelopment under a private joint venture. The plan was approved by the Cabinet in 1985, and the Erawan finally closed down on 2 January 1988.^[2][7]

رُسّي عقد إعادة التطوير على شركة أمارين بلازا (التي تُعرف الآن باسم مجموعة إيراوان )، وهي المالكة لمبنى أمارين بلازا المجاور . وافتُتح الفندق الجديد تحت علامة حياة التجارية في عام 1991، باسم جراند حياة إيراوان . ^{[ 8 ]}