Dhara Dhevi Hotel’s gutted spa building uninsured
This report was originally published by www.thainewsroom.com
THE FIRE that gutted the spa building of Chiang Mai’s iconic five-star Dhara Dhevi Hotel was extinguished several hours after it broke out at 2 a.m. on Wednesday but this structure is uninsured, Amarin TV said last night (Apr. 23).
It was only at 4 p.m. yesterday that the blaze was finally extinguished at this building, which consists of a group seven structures, after it was brought under control in the morning.
Officials were unable to inspect the ruins yesterday but are expected to do so today to investigate the cause of the fire and make a detailed survey.
The Office of Insurance Commission, whose officials inspected the destroyed building from a safe distance together with other officials and Mae Ping police yesterday, later said this hotel did not have insurance cover but there were no casualties and damage is being assessed.
The construction of Dhara Dhevi started in 2002 with Mr. Suchet Suwannamongkol, a car businessman in Pattani province who was passionate about collecting antiques and loved northern city, investing approximately 3 billion baht in building the luxury resort and hotel on 150-rai land plot with there being 123 rooms, Sanook.com quoted Thebangkokinsider as saying.
Dhara Dhevi’s design is entirely in the style of ancient Lanna architecture, creating a sense of luxury and mystery, with room rents starting from tens of thousands up to hundreds of thousands of baht.
At first Mandarin Group was selected to manage it but later all contracts and services were cancelled.
In late 2015, Inter Far East Energy Corporation Plc (IFEC) acquired Dhara Dhevi Hotel for 2.52 billion baht but after that there were internal conflicts throughout 2016-2018.
Then at the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, this luxury hotel mounted losses leading to its temporary closure with no money to pay employees. A petition was filed for business rehabilitation, but the Appeals Court dismissed it leading to bankruptcy procedure starting and permanent closure in late 2020.
The Legal Execution Department then announced the auction of this hotel at a starting price of 2.116 billion baht in 2023 and Inter Far East Thermal Power Co. Lt. won the auction at 3.594.62 billion baht, but there are still ongoing lawsuits because it did not have enough money to pay.
In early 2024 the Bankruptcy Court then appointed IFEC to rehabilitate the hotel. This work was completed early this year and it started generating income again while maintaining its Lanna architecture.
The area in front of the complex was developed as Kad Dhara Dhevi to be a new tourist landmark of Chiang Mai province and this was unveiled on Feb. 21 this year. Unfortunately it was followed by the fire at its spa building yesterday.
Photo: Amarin TV
This report was originally published by www.thainewsroom.com
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