BANGKOK – The giant statue that caused a stir in Bangkok in the middle of the year when it was unable to cross the pedestrian bridge on Ratchadapisek Road on August 9 drew people’s attention to the “Kru (Guru) Guy Kaeo”, who is revered by some people as a bearer of hope and a lucky charm.
But at the end of the year, before December 30, Kru Guy Kaeo and other statues were removed from the facade of The Bazaar Bangkok hotel.
The installation of the Kru Guy Kaeo statue was an attempt to create a selling point for the hotel in the Ratchadaphisek area in the hope of attracting people to worship the sacred objects. The removal of the statues was also for business reasons.
The removal on the morning of December 28 was chaotic for 30 minutes when Mr. Thepparit Pansook, managing director of Kru Guy Kaeo, confronted the lawyer of Bangkok Night Bazaar Co, Ltd, the owner of the land, for refusing to remove the statues.
The statues were moved out when the lawyer of the new hotel management stated that the area of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) could not be leased. Therefore, the old management’s leasing of the area was not possible.
Later, Mr. Pairoj Thungthong, Managing Director and major shareholder of Suan Lum Night Bazaar Ratchadaphisek Co, Ltd, held a press conference and stated that the installation of the Kru Guy Kaeo and other statues was done as part of the company’s reorganization plan at the bankruptcy court headed by Mr. Charn Tulyaphisitchai. The company’s board of directors did not agree with this.
The company’s board of directors then filed a lawsuit with the bankruptcy court alleging that the transfer of the land in front of the hotel to the statue for subletting was in breach of the SRT lease agreement and that there were also irregularities in Mr. Charn’s management.
As a result, the court ordered the reorganization plan to be annulled and allowed Mr. Pairoj’s management took over the company on November 30, 2023. Mr. Charn was removed from all positions and paid a fine of 1,330,000 baht to the SRT. In addition, the installation of the Kru Guy Kaeo and other statues was also in violation of Bangkok’s laws. After this, there will be a civil lawsuit seeking additional damages.
Mr. Pairoj said the new board agreed that the statues had to be removed because Chinese tourists and people in the neighborhood were afraid. Unlike when the hotel put up cute-looking dinosaur statues that were a symbol to Chinese tourists and called the hotel “Dinosaur Hotel”
“We must remove all Kru Guy Kaeo statues because this is a hotel, not a shrine to black magic,” he said.
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