Chinese-style market to open in Bangkok's suburb

BANGKOK - A unique shopping complex is being built as a Chinese-style market in the southwestern outskirts of the Thai capital city which will not only lure local shoppers but foreign tourists.

Thanongsak Manothamraksa, CEO of JSP Property Co, the real estate development firm which runs the $267 million shopping complex, disclosed over the weekend that the Chinese- style market, called Sampeng 2, is scheduled to open early next year.

Most of the 1,000-plus booths in the market have been bought in advance by vendors of clothing, footwear, jewelry, decorative items and souvenirs from China Town and other shopping areas.

The merchandise, including those directly from factories in the outlying provinces, will be traded in both wholesale and retail to the shoppers.

The architectural structure of the buildings inside the 56-acre shopping complex will be partly built in Chinese style, featuring red-tiled roofs, according to the CEO.

Restaurants serving Thai and Chinese foods will occupy one of the several trading zones while a fresh-water lake will be built to accommodate a Thai-style "floating market" where both vendors will peddle their Thai food in rowing boats, ready to be served to customers on the banks of the lake, he said.

"The Sampeng 2 shopping complex will obviously give different ambiance and feelings from modern-day department stores to the local people as well as foreign tourists, especially the Chinese, who will visit daily," he said.