Touring Thailand's Convention Centers

The Queen Sikrit National Convention Center

Thailand takes the meetings, incentives, conventions and events (MICE) industry seriously. Consider that the Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, created in 1994, reports directly to the prime minister’s office. This advantage shows in its ability to do things like create special customs entry lines for convention and exhibition attendees at a spectacularly large and efficient new airport or even give VIPs a motorcycle police escort from the airport to their hotel. 

There were 680,000 MICE visitors to Thailand in 2010, and ICCA ranked Thailand fourth in Asia after China, Japan, and Korea in terms of the number of delegates arriving. Of course, strong support for the industry isn’t the only reason Thailand comes out strong. It's definitely a value destination, and its rich cultural heritage, reputation for friendliness and great service, and the fame of both cosmopolitan Bangkok and the beaches of Phuket (now well recovered in the wake of the 2004 tsunami) give the small nation its spot on many bucket lists. 

Still, particularly in America, “Thailand is quite well known as a general tourism destination, but it is still being introduced to the MICE market,” says Akapol Sorasuchart, president of the TCEB.

Bangkok has many great convention facilities—more and, frankly, better than many international cities its size and larger. We couldn’t get to all of them in the time allotted (notably Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall, Royal Paragon Hall, and the 60th Anniversary of His Majesty the King's Accession to the Throne International Convention Center). Here are the ones Successful Meetings toured:

The Impact Arena, Exhibition, and Convention Center is one of the newest and largest in Asia, and its Challenger Hall claims the title of world’s largest indoor column-free space. The five-building complex in the Bangkok suburbs has a massive 1.5 million square feet of indoor floorspace spread out across five main facilities, as well as a brand new hotel, the 380-room Novotel Bangkok Impact, at the heart of the sweeping, airy, and modern complex. The four-star Novotel, which opened this year, has two executive floors with a lounge, a wellness spa, pool, and fitness center. 

The two main event spaces are the 11,000-seat, 43,000-square foot Impact Arena—the main large-scale concert hall in Bangkok, which has hosted acts ranging from The Black-Eyed Peas to The Rolling Stones—and the 366,000-square-foot Aktiv Square outdoor amphitheater, which can hold up to 40,000. 

The main buildings are laid out in parallel, with wide and convenient bus lanes for easy access—a frankly more convenient layout than many large-multi-building complexes. To the right is the longest building, the eight-hall, 500,000-square foot Impact Exhibition Center, which also has six function rooms and the 1,000-person Phoenix ballroom. The Arena is at the far end. 

To the left of the loading road, the 323,000-square foot Impact Convention Center has a 120,000-square foot main hall, 18 meeting rooms and the 21,500-square foot Grand Diamond ballroom, as well as a large reception area. Beyond it is Impact Challenger, the 640,000-square foot, column-free exhibition hall. Divisible into thirds, it also holds 16 function rooms and the elegant and ornate 38,000-square foot Royal Jubilee ballroom, equipped with state-of-the-art A/V and high-end speakers, and an IR simultaneous translation system. The lobby is nearly 100,000 square feet. Finally, there is another huge outdoor space, the 1 million-square foot Impact Lakeside, which (unsurprisingly) overlooks a lake. 

The facilities have many high-tech touches, from large LED lobby screens to a half dozen restaurants including fine-dining establishments rarely found in convention centers. While it is too far out to be on the city’s BTS Skytrain metro system, there is a large shuttle service as well as substantial parking.

Just 15 minutes from Suvarnabhumi International Airport and connected to a recently extended BTS Skytrain, the Bangkok International Trade Exhibition Centre (BITEC) is on the city’s east side, just seven miles from the city center. 

At the end of 2012, it will launch an expansion plan, adding some 215,000 square feet of exhibition space and 20 more meeting rooms by 2015. “The trend is moving to more meetings,” says Sarnit Karunyavanij, the business development director. The expansion won’t include a hotel, because, with its location and the new rail connection, “delegates would like to stay in the city center or riverside,” Karunyavanij says. 

The facility has the capability to handle high-end groups, adds Karunyavanij, pointing to the 28,000-person Herbalife Extravaganza incentive program it hosted in May and a recent 10-course seated Chinese-style meal for 8,000. 

BITEC totals more than 580,000 square feet set within 68 acres. Its six halls and 19 meeting rooms can take up to 20,000 delegates. On the ground floor, the 345,000 sf, divisible exhibition hall can hold about 2,000 booths in six event halls (four connected, with a total of 205,000 square feet. The second floor holds a divisible, 19,000 square foot grand hall and 16 meeting rooms, ranging in size from 900 square feet to 2000 square feet, and substantial pre-function space. 

Bangkok’s first major convention center, the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, is definitely a distinctive place. The Thai styles, colors, and artwork lend it a very local feel. Beginning with the triangular glass entrance and large stylized flame statue, this is definitely not one of those convention centers that make you feel you could be anywhere.  

Open since 1991 and named for the country’s revered queen, the publicly owned, privately run 700,000 square foot facility has its own dedicated subway stop that is just one stop from the BTS Skyway in the central business district. 

The total exhibition space is more than 215,000 square feet, including the divisible main plenary hall, which is nearly 50,000 square feet and can hold 6,000 theater style. The main ballroom is 9,500 square feet and can hold 700 theater style. Other facilities include an 83-seat auditorium, four meeting rooms, six boardrooms, and the 5,600-square foot Lotus room surrounded by seven breakout rooms. 

Located right on the river and accessible by a very short ferry ride as well as by road, the Royal Thai Navy Convention Hall has a beautiful outdoor plaza and boat landing with spectacular views—shared by some indoor function rooms—across the river to the ornate, gilded buildings of the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple.

Its four meeting and event spaces total 50,000 square feet. The largest, at 18,700 square feet, can hold 3,200 people theater style or 1,000 for a banquet.

Centara Hotels & Resorts, which has 47 properties in Thailand and runs two convention centers in Bangkok. The first was attached to none of our hotels, the Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld, and the (entirely separate) Soiftel Centara Grand Bangkok and Bangkok Convention Centre.

The Centara Grand and Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld boasts a five-star hotel attached to a convention center and a mall so large it can’t really be called a mall at all, but more of an indoor entertainment, retail and dining zone. And it’s all right in the heart of the city, convenient to mass transit and in walking distance of hotels with some 2,000 total rooms. 

The Bangkok Convention Centre attached to this complex has more than 100,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, and can accommodate up to 6,000 attendees. The divisible main convention floor is more than 56,000 square feet and can seat 6,000 theater-style, while the 10,000 square foot World Ballroom can hold 800 for a banquet. There are 15 meeting rooms that can seat 10 to 400 theater style, and a 19-seat boardroom. And it’s all connected to CentralWorld via the latter’s 15-cinema movie theater complex, the largest of which seats 800.  

The five-star Soiftel Centara Grand Bangkok and Bangkok Convention Centre is a smaller meeting facility, located on the fifth floor of the Central Plaza Shopping Mall. The BCC has a 27,000 square foot exhibition hall capable of seating 3,800 theater-style. The hotel has the 13,000-square foot Vibhavadee ballroom, which seats 1,800 theater style, as well as 13 meeting rooms. 

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