
That darned old truth is such a slippery sardine that it sometimes takes the news media quite a while to get hold of it. While the rest of the world watches the big American newspapers and TV news channels comically chasing shadows and holograms in their reports on President George Bush’s trip to the Middle East (hilariously described as “historic” and “aimed at restoring peace”), here in Bangkok we have plenty of chuckles too. Maybe more.
There was a rather humongous fire last Wednesday at an office tower on Ratchadaphisek Road, damage from which was first estimated at Bt100 million and then downgraded by the owner to “minor”. This probably doesn’t include the cost of fixing 10 BMWs and Jaguars sitting in a car dealership below.
Cyber World Tower is actually a pair of 40-something-storey towers owned by TCC Land, an arm (or possibly a leg) of Charoen Sirivadhana- bhakdi’s Thai Charoen Commercial Group, which flogs liquor and Chang beer.
Nation photo
Version 1 in the press: The towers were the horns that grew out a complex that contained the long-closed Tokyu department store and, under TCC’s stewardship, were being renovated ready for reopening, um, last month. Version 2: The former Srivara High-Tech Tower, home of the long-defunct Tokyu department store, had changed hands several times and, under TCC’s stewardship, the towers were being built ready for opening, um, last month.
Renovated and/or built for what? Well, the newspapers couldn’t say, and it would have perhaps been egocentric of my paper, The Nation, to mention that its shareholders were recently looking at this very site as a potential new home. It would have been a little embarrassing to report this, too, since The Nation has been backward in coming forward about the sale of its existing headquarters in Bang Na to — guess who? — Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.
Well, what started this “towering inferno” and/or “minor fire”? An investigation has been launched, so we’ll just have to wait and see. If it’s the kind of investigation I think it is, we’ll wait forever. Not to worry: The Nation had the cause nailed down within 36 hours — bad feng shui.
Ah, yes, the ancient Chinese geomancy system. No, says The Nation, which knows a thing or two about the subject, feng shui is based on the ancient Chinese art of geomancy. Anyway, Panuwat Panvichartkul, profiled in the paper in 2004 as “seemingly the busiest and richest” of Thailand’s feng shui “masters”, said Cyber World Tower was doomed by its physical positioning.
Panuwat, whose office is called the Science of Life Institute, blamed “two large turn-offs”, although it probably sounded better when he said it in Thai. The “turn-offs” are a convergence of two other thoroughfares into Ratchadaphisek Road, which he said steers “bad luck” and “negative forces” in the towers’ direction.
“The location is just not good,” he said, “even though there used to be a waterfall in front of the complex and two giant red balls were placed on the mezzanine floor to act as dragon’s eyes to protect the surroundings. Still, the mishap took place … There’s more!