Tour an iconic 1970s Bangkok hotel reborn

Five years after the beloved original structure was demolished, a new incarnation of the Dusit Thani Bangkok – its rebuild led by Dragon Company – has opened not with fanfare but with the understatement and discretion on which the family-owned brand has built its reputation. Other than a traditional Thai blessing ceremony by Buddhist monks, the first day of operation was marked only by a few small on-site gatherings.

Inside the new Dusit Thani Bangkok, Thailand

When the original Dusit Thani Bangkok opened in 1970, it was groundbreaking in more ways than one. It was one of the first modern luxury hotels in Bangkok and the distinctive 22-storey building with a triangular footprint was the city’s tallest for a decade. The modernist façade, crowned by a golden spire, was the epitome of jet-setting elegance at the time. With its resolutely Thai brand of style and hospitality, the Dusit Thani Bangkok became one of the most beloved hotels for well-heeled locals too.

Replacing such a monument was not without its challenges. ‘It’s not just about creating a new hotel or an iconic destination,’ says André Fu, who was charged with the interior design, in his first exclusive interview about the project. ‘What intrigued me revolved around the notion of what Thai hospitality is in this day and age.’

Early conversations between Fu and Chanin Donavanik, who leads the second generation to run the family business, confirmed the owners’ brief to preserve their heritage and the atmosphere of the original property, as well as to highlight ‘a commitment to a bolder, forward-thinking evolution of the brand’, in the words of Fu.

It was an inspired choice to confer the responsibility on Hong Kong-born, British-educated Fu. But as an outsider looking in, he was impressed by the family’s ‘personal appreciation and pride in Thai culture, hospitality and craftsmanship’. It wasn’t the first time he has been called upon to give his cultural outsider’s perspective: he has also worked on high-profile projects like Mitsui Kyoto and Château La Coste in Aix-en-Provence.

Parallels in both structure and design that evoke a sense of place without creating a pale copy of the original are subtle but immediately recognisable. Like in the first Dusit, the almost hidden ground floor still includes a garden and water feature alongside drinking and dining options (the casual Dusit Gourmet and the Pavilion all-day dining space, as well as a bar). The main entrance is reached through a spacious covered driveway with a sculpted geometric ceiling one level above that, an extravagant use of space that other newly built hotels might choose to forego.

Somkiat Lo-Chindapong, deputy managing director of Bangkok-based Architects 49 – which established Dragon Company with OMA Asia Hong Kong – is quick to highlight those unexpected choices. The hotel is the first phase to open of Dragon Company’s Dusit Central Park complex, which will include residential, retail and office towers and spaces when it is completed in 2025. ‘[The buildings] are angled differently, they have different façades, they are not a cluster of similar buildings,’ like you would see in Singapore or Hong Kong, says Lo-Chindapong.

Another structural luxury that wouldn’t have been possible in the old hotel: all guest rooms are located on only one side of the 39-storey building, meaning that every room (as well as the show-stopping glass box Napalai Ballroom) overlooks the lush greenery of Lumpini Park. The statement ballroom, which will afford passers-by a glimpse of the goings-on inside, ‘gives the building a strong character’, says Lo-Chindapong.

The guest rooms themselves have 4m bay windows and daybeds that run the length of the room. The tones are muted rather than garish, dominated by natural wood, marble floors and a shade of mossy green, even found in the veins of some of the marble accents. The dedication to details includes an elongated hexagon pattern on the oak sliding doors that were lifted from the original hotel. The same shape is echoed in the hanging lampshades.

Much of the woodwork is made from interlocking wood panels using pa kon, the Thai craft of nailless carpentry akin to Japanese sashimono. The textile headboards reproduce elements from a mural that was a part of the original Benjarong restaurant.

The hotel is also a showcase for Thai artists. Witness the stunning 3.7m by 4.7m mural Dusit Samai by contemporary artist Sakon Malee that greets guests as they enter from the grand first-floor forecourt. Painted on a wood frame textured with cotton, clay and latex glue, the piece, the name of which means ‘Dusit and its time’, depicts scenes from the Buddhist tradition and from the life of the hotel. A closer examination of the lower right-hand corner of the piece reveals a grandmotherly silhouette, that of Thanphuying Chanut Piyaoui, the innovative founder of the hotel who passed away before the project was completed.

Dusit Thani Bangkok is located at 98 Rama IV Rd, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand, dusit.com