HIP, COOL AND HAPPENING

Over the past few weeks, one particular investment move from our shores — somewhat equivalent to Crazy Rich Asian’s Astrid going on a haute couture shopping rampage — has been the talk of the town. Thailand’s prominent real estate developer, Sansiri, has just invested 2.8 billion baht to buy shares in six of the some of the world’s hippest, coolest and innovative names: Standard International, One Night, Hostmaker, JustCo, Farmshelf and Monocle. It’s a result of stagnant sales back home and Sansiri’s strategy to offer an all-inclusive living solution to their customers, as their president Srettha Thavisin explains. To choose to invest in companies that are young, inventive and trendy, however, shows how the real estate giant has their sights set on the tech-savvy millennials of tomorrow.

The company’s increasingly international image that they’ve fashioned for themselves in the past few years clings to the eye, but they obviously can’t just sell New York-inspired, mega-luxe condos like 98 Wireless alone, you know. “I mean, I sell products from 1 million baht to a billion,” says Srettha. “I need to make sure that we have the appeal to all segments.”

The brands are a hotel chain (Standard International), phone app (One Night), home rental service (Hostmaker), co-working space provider (JustCo), DIY-farmat-home technology (Farmshelf) and a media empire (Monocle).

While Sansiri’s investment would obviously bring these names to Asia and Thailand at a much faster timetable, what’s just as significant is how these unconventional and tech-savvy companies could greatly alter the living, working, playing and partying landscape of Thailand into well, one endless party — and a convenient one to create.

Jimmy Suh, president of One Night application, is keen to bring over the “make a whole night out of it” mindset, which is still missing in Bangkok.

“It’s already in Tokyo to a higher degree,” he says. “I want to put fun and spontaneity to the forefront. I see the vibrant lifestyle of the millennials here and it would have been the perfect opportunity for One Night in Bangkok.

“People can celebrate those moments instead of commuting back an hour home and that just makes your night much more of a pinnacle — it’s a decision between should I go home or should I take this moment cause I’m feeling good and go to a beautiful hotel after this evening? One Night is a celebration of life and we do not want to say that everything needs to be planned ahead in order to be a remarkable moment.”

major markets and the arrival of One Night could offer good rates at the curated boutique gems which would have otherwise gone unoccupied during that night. The curation and selection process is crucial and only the consortium of cool will make the cut.

“Bookings and Expedia have things like 500,000 hotels, but who wants to look at 500,000 hotels?” adds his colleague and CEO of Standard International, Amar Lalvani. “We’ll do the research and would rather tell you what the best 10 hotels are in Bangkok.”

The Standard has always been a brand known to capitalise on playful yet stylish hospitality. Running the sort of hip hotel that cool retail behemoths like H&M would choose for their presser trips and usually host to the hottest, celebrity-packed parties, The Standard’s first hotel outside of the US is getting ready to open up in London next year — before Fashion Week in September too, adds Lalvani. It’s likely that one will also pop up in Bangkok eventually — and what a prime party addition Bangkok will have when it does.

“Some of the best hotels are here, but the way we do things is different so we want to bring a different type of hospitality here,” says Lalvani. Recently, the hotel has just launched The Standard Time, which allows guests to check in or out whenever they want.

“A new type of luxury that is very comfortable and for the next generation. A type of luxury that brings the community together and has more fun. And less formality. We also want to bring The Standard Residence where there’s perhaps a mixed-use of environment of both hotel and residential. To create a resident that brings people together in a similar way of people in a hotel to create an experience around the community would be interesting.”

The sense of community is likely to become tighter, should all plans materialise accordingly. JustCo may be the next Starbucks of co-working spaces, with two locations already secured, at AIA Sathorn and All Seasons Place. Their partnership with Sansiri will push for at least four offices next year, thus increasingly providing Scandi-chic spaces for like-minded individuals.

Tyler Brule, editor-in-chief of Monocle magazine, also discusses the community element. “I think everyone feels and talks about community engagement. We talked about bringing life back to the street, so that is something that we would like to deliver and bring.”

The upcoming highly-buzzed Monocle Residence in Bangkok and other Monocle-branded destinations would clearly be the amalgam of his magazine’s years of design journalism.

“What’s of particular focus and interest to us in the last decade is Monocle’s really been at the forefront of talking about urbanism. What makes cities succeed or fail? What passes for world-class in terms of architecture and industrial design? What does the neighbourhood of the future or shopping experience of the future look like? There have been times we have worked with illustrators and architects to think about this.”

With these purveyors of good taste at work, it’s an exciting time to be an outgoing, people-person in Bangkok, as many hip haunts around the city are in the making. Inside your own home, however, things will also be looking up. Next year, Farmshelf’s hydroponic indoor-farming units — the size of a bookcase — will be rolling out with Sansiri. Users will be able to grow their own food through the control of an app, with no skills or even soil required. Its CEO, Andrew Shearer, is keen to work on how this could factor into future condos, single family homes and hotels.

“Growing your own food is something that’s not currently done efficiently or cost-effectively so we want to bring that to Bangkok to open up a quality of fresh food that’s unavailable to certain areas in Thailand,” says Shearer.

Homeowners will also find it easier to open up their homes to short-term rents or home-sharing once Hostmaker arrives in Asia. Managing homes like hotels, the team offers services that offer assurance to the incoming guests and homeowner, be it interior design, guest welcoming or pricing expertise. Bridging the gap between the two groups, its CEO, Nakul Sharma, shares that the “one great tip” hosts can give to guests turns out to be the connecting force for homestays in the urban market.

“It may not be on the top 10 list, but guests were very likely to try recommendations like running in Regent’s Park or shopping at Camden Passage, which are very much off the beaten trail. We found those are connections that are very much unique to a travel homestay experience that we want to further ahead.”

The future seems to involve a lot of community engagement, stylish synergies and digital innovations. From the looks of it, living in Thailand’s going to be a whole lot more convenient, chic and fun.

THE AND ULD RATHER TELL YOU WHAT THE BEST 10 HOTELS ARE IN BANGKOK