Treats for the rich and famous
Siam Paragon rewards its ultra-big spenders with a trip to Japan
TO MOST OF US, spending more than Bt30 million at a shopping mall over a three-month period would seem impossible. But Thailand’s billionaires not only can but do – and they even get rewarded for their extravagance.
Of the 20,000 invitation-only members of Siam Paragon’s Platinum M Card, the 15 biggest spenders, each of whom spent at least Bt10 million during the mall’s campaign that ran from October to December, were recently thanked by the grateful retailer with an all-expenses paid culinary journey to Tokyo.
The big spenders, among them Hataithap Theeratada, Suree Puttachairoj, Pisits Laosiriratana, Nareerat Chinthammit, Arunya Oulapathorn, Kongkiat Opaswongkarn and Wichai Poolworaluk, accompanied by their partners spent four days and three nights in the Japanese |capital
“Despite the global economic slowdown, spending by our Platinum M Card members increased 28 per cent over last year. We were delighted to spend Bt9 million on this exclusive trip to thank them for their custom. Last year we organised a similar gourmet trip to Hong Kong. This time we selected the finest restaurants in Tokyo,” says Saruntorn Asaves, an executive of Siam Paragon Shopping Centre.
“I’m addicted to shopping and buy almost everything – cars, brand-name clothes, jewellery, home decorative items and accessories like glasses, belts, bags and shoes. I once bought a chandelier for Bt7 million and donated it to a temple. I’m also crazy about anything marked as limited edition,” confides Hataithap Theeratada, one of the top five spenders.
The members travelled to Tokyo in the business-class section of Thai Airways and stayed at the Peninsula Hotel in the Ginza area. The first gourmet destination was Seryna Mon Cher Ton Ton, regarded as the number one teppanyaki restaurant and renowned for its premium Kobe beef.
At Musashi Sky Restaurant 634, the group enjoyed French-style cuisine with an Asian twist perched 345 metres up Tokyo Sky Tree. They also dined at Chinese restaurant Akasaka Ishingo Ginza-Shinkan, which is famed for its Shanghai-style shark fin dish.
They sampled the sushi at the Michelin-starred Kyubey, tucked into an haute cuisine kaiseki dinner at Kitaohji and enjoyed shabu-shabu at Imahan, which serves premium Japanese beef derived from Tajima cattle.
“This is my second trip with Siam Paragon. It is very impressive and the treatment is very exclusive. Siam Paragon is the one-stop-shopping destination for the high-end brands. I bought my Rolls-Royce and Bentley there,” says Pisits Laosiriratana, the founder of River Engineering, operator of several flood protection projects for both the private and public sectors.
