Central Group is spending 3 billion baht on the development of a new lifestyle retail mall at Wong Amat Beach in Pattaya this year.
Pong Skuntanaga, Central Group's head of corporate business development, said the company is developing Wongamat Beach Village on a 13.5-rai plot of land. Construction of the one-storey lifestyle retail mall will be divided into two phases.
The first phase will open by the end of this year, with the second phase scheduled to open in 2023.
According to Mr Pong, the company will also have an additional 50-rai plot in the same area for future development. Further details have yet to be disclosed.
Wongamat Beach Village is under the auspices of Central Group, which handles the development of new retail concepts. It is currently responsible for 10 retail projects, including CentralFestival Phuket, Jing Jai Farmer's Market Chiang Mai, China World in Wangburapha, Platform Wongwianyai, and Porto De Phuket.
Up to now, Central Group has fetched 3 billion baht in revenue from its retail projects.
Mr Pong said Wongamat Beach Village is one of the retail developments under Central Group's roadmap to develop a new retail mall every 2-3 years. Each new mall to be developed in the future requires an investment of 500 million baht to one billion baht, depending on the location and the land the company owns.
"According to the Central Group's policy, each project we are developing has to gain profit both for the developer and the shop owners," Mr Pong said. "Moreover, each retail project under the group will be differentiated from other retail projects under our group and those in the market."
According to Mr Pong, Wongamat Beach Village is a new "unique natural beach park & lifestyle mall", providing 29 premium Thai and international restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, lifestyle stores and a supermarket. Each unit will have a space of 100-200 square metres. He said it will be a unique destination that presents Pattaya from a new perspective, featuring fun, art, music and outdoor activities.
The company is targeting quality Thai and foreign travellers with high purchasing power, local residents, Bangkokians, people from other provinces, expatriates in Pattaya as well as tourists. It aims to appeal to families, couples, and groups of friends, with the aim of attracting at least a million visitors a year, based on the estimated 16 million people who visited Pattaya in 2019.
Mr Pong said Pattaya was chosen because the national income of people in Chon Buri ranks among the top five provinces, alongside Bangkok, Rayong, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Moreover, Central Group has recognised the importance of developing and growing the basic infrastructure of Pattaya in an integrated and well-rounded manner, to prepare it for the government's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) Development Plan. Pattaya has a lot of potential and readiness in various aspects, he said.
"Wongamat Beach Village will add value to Pattaya, and stimulate its economy through tourism, so Pattaya can be an international hub of economy, trade, investment and tourism, following the government's EEC development plan," Mr Pong said.
