Will Ikea ever open in Bangkok

[wichenburi]

I have been reading for years that Ikea are going to open in Bangkok, But following the troubles, I wonder if it will be put off again, or Is it going to happen. On the Ikea website shows land ready for building and a promised open date of 2011. What do you think.

I want to buy the RED kitchen they sale.

[Scandinavian]

I don't think they can open in 2011. The place will be huuuuuuge, but who knows, they might pull it off.
This is very overdue, I was suprised to not see IKEA here when I came 10 years ago.

[Blake7]

I saw an advert in bangkok post by ikea looking to recruit staff so guess they plan to open soon

[blue]

you had too much sun in dubai is you're fretting over what kitchen to have ...
now pull your self together and stop thinking about branded goods.

[Lorenzo]

Plenty of cheap low quality furniture in Bangkok already

[Humbert]

I hate cheap scandinavian furniture. Index and SB are both much better anyway if you like that style.

[Butterfly]

SB have better style but won't last as long

[slimboyfat]

The Swedish food market is the only thing worth going to Ikea for.

[Humbert]

SB have better style but won't last as long

Both make their casegoods from MDF with veneer or plastic laminate. Solid wood is the way to go if you want permanence.

[Davis Knowlton]

The furniture is overpriced crap, IMO. Get teak or some other hardwood and have a local craftsman make what you want. I have a lot of furniture made thirty or more years ago - still as good as new (actually better than the crap you can by now).

[Nostradamus]

Index and SB are both much better anyway if you like that style.

I had some Ikea furniture in the UK and it lasted ages and was much better quality than Index/Winner stuff I have bought here.

I have two Index desks that are of extremely poor quality and a Winner TV cabinet and drawers in the bedroom that are very cheap and nasty.

[Scandinavian]

Index and SB are both much better anyway if you like that style.

Haha absolute bollocks. Index is the worst crap out there, you can't start comparing that to Ikea.
Ikea would NEVER have made it this big if they had been selling garbage like SB and Index.

[Humbert]

Haha absolute bollocks. Index is the worst crap out there, you can't start comparing that to Ikea. Ikea would NEVER have made it this big if they had been selling garbage like SB and Index.

Since when does big equal good quality. Ikea is particle board crap.

[Marmite the Dog]

My old Ikea bead was solid wood. Cheaper and better quality than anything I have seen in Index.

[Takeovers]

I am not a big fan of IKEA, the items that are good usually don't come cheap.

But the kitchens are quite ok. I considered them when we bought our new kitchen.

I do wonder if the chip boards stand up to the hot humid climate of asian countries though. I would much prefer teak wood. IKEA has solid wooden fronts but the bodies would be chip boards.

Maybe fronts from IKEA added to custom made wooden bodies would be an option?

My wife secretly laughs when people in the Philippines are proud of their imported IKEA furniture.

[Humbert]

The really good kitchen systems manufactured in Thailand use moisture resistant subsurface panels. Modernform and SB make very good kitchen systems.

The product design, product range, visual presentation and store layout of SB and Index Living Mall are vastly superior to Ikea.

[Scandinavian]

The product design, product range, visual presentation and store layout of SB and Index Living Mall are vastly superior to Ikea.

That's your opinion, totally different from mine. Have you ever been to an Ikea mega store? I don't think so.

How come Index has not opened hundreds of stores around the world if they are so "vastly superior"?

A local budget manufacturer is what it is, with not even an English webpage.

Same goes for the Thai made "Index" motocy helmets, cheap and locally made. They do the job, barely.

[Humbert]

That's your opinion, totally different from mine. Have you ever been to an Ikea mega store? I don't think so.

As a matter of fact I have. And I have designed many home furnishings and furniture stores as an SVP of design for Federated Department Stores in the US.
I have a lot of respect for what SB in particular is doing and have a totally different opinion than you have based upon a 30 year career in retailing.

[Pnow]

They have most of there products produced here in Thailand. Why they never started earlier is beyond me.
Index better starts gearing up for this.

[Humbert]

Same goes for the Thai made "Index" motocy helmets, cheap and locally made. They do the job, barely.

Different companies. Index motorcyle helmets has nothing to do with Index home furnishings.

[Humbert]

They have most of there products produced here in Thailand. Why they never started earlier is beyond me.
Index better starts gearing up for this.

As a matter of fact Pottery Barn, Macy's, William Sonoma and a huge number of others manufacture their products here. Thailand is a major world supplier of housewares and home furnishing products.

[Thai Pom]

If believe their site is being prepared at the South West section of the Bang Na Trad and Eastern Ring Road intersection. It is a huge site.

[terry57]

The Swedish food market is the only thing worth going to Ikea for.

Too true, bloody good innit.

[escaped]

They have most of there products produced here in Thailand. Why they never started earlier is beyond me.
.

May be for the same reason that several multinationals moved out of Thailand after having their products produced here.

[Humbert]

May be for the same reason that several multinationals moved out of Thailand after having their products produced here.

Wouldn't doubt that the same factories that produce SB and Index also produce Ikea. The Thai furniture brands all do contract work for companies abroad. When it comes down to it, the only thing that differentiates them is design and marketing. Basically, its just particle board, laminate and various hardware items.