Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
In 1974 the company’s hotel interests expanded further through the acquisition of a 49% interest in The Oriental, Bangkok. Through the management of both The Mandarin in Hong Kong and The Oriental, in Bangkok, the Group was in an unusual position of having two “flagship” hotels. In 1985, the Company rationalized its corporate structure by combining these two properties under a common name, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. The hotel opened its renowned Oriental Spa in 1993 and finished a complete renovation of its rooms and suites in 2003. In 2006, The Oriental, Bangkok celebrated its 130th anniversary.
To meet this demand, Captain Dyers, an American, and his partner J.E. Andersen identified a need for a respectable hotel with good accommodation, a bar, and a western menu to meet the needs of travelers and businessmen visiting Siam. In the 1870s, the board of the Oriental Hotel decided the opening of the new River Wing in 1876 as the official establishment date of the Oriental Hotel. His various business ventures led to him becoming a much-respected member of the Western community in Siam. In 1881, 29-year-old Hans Niels Andersen, a Danish businessman, bought the premises. Barnes, opened a hotel called the Oriental Hotel. Several years later, a partnership of Danish captains opened a replacement hotel.
To compete with popular clubs and a new local bar called Chez Eve, Krull established the Bamboo Bar, which soon became one of the leading bars in Bangkok. Italthai had been founded in the mid-fifties by Giorgio Berlingieri, an Italian born in Genoa, and Dr Chaijudh Karnasuta, a Thai. In 1967, fearful that Thailand would fall to the communists, Krull sold her share to Italthai which at the time was well on its way to becoming one of the country’s most significant mercantile groups eventually totaling some 60 companies involved in almost all aspects of the Thai economy. It featured the city’s first elevator and was home to the Le Normandie Restaurant. In 1958 the ten-story Garden Wing was built.
The hotel’s restoration and restocking offered Thompson an opportunity to put to use his architectural and artistic abilities. Thompson soon left the partnership over a plan to build a new wing, though he stayed on in residence at the hotel for some time. The hotel reopened for business on 12 June 1947. Krull turned out to be a natural hotelier and during her reign restored the hotel to its position as the premier hotel in Thailand.
The first major event that the hotel hosted was a grand banquet on 24 May 1888 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. After personally inspecting the hotel’s facilities in December 1890, King Chulalongkorn decided the hotel was up to the standard necessary to host visiting royalty. She sold the property in 1932, but during WWII, it was leased by the Japanese Army and used as an officer’s club (under management by the Imperial Hotel of Tokyo). Marie Maire took over ownership of the hotel in 1910 and immediately set to work renovating it. Once WWI ended, Allied prisoners who thought the hotel still belonged to Japan occupied and vandalized it.
