Lebua Hotel seems to thrive on controversy. The hotel is now involved in a lawsuit with the general manager of The Oriental over a message Kurt sent to his managers to escort Lebua spys out of his hallowed property. Not everybody is pleased with the Lebua for their background, nasty temperament toward their more venerable neighbors, and their insatiable appetite for publicity, no matter good or bad. And most of it is bad.
The
International Herald Tribune had this to say about their upcoming feast.
"Bangkok's Lebua hotel, which is organizing the dinner, is no stranger to publicity - or to Michelin-starred chefs. Last year, it put on a decadent feast billed as the meal of a lifetime for $25,000 a head. Six three-star Michelin chefs were flown in from Europe to cook the 10-course meal, each plate paired with a rare vintage wine.
On April 5, the Lebua is offering another 10-course spread, this time for free. The hotel has invited 50 of its biggest-spending customers to the dinner prepared - it hopes - by three top-ranked Michelin-starred chefs.
There is one twist. Before dinner, guests will be jetted to a poor village in northern Thailand to spend the afternoon soaking up the sights of poverty. The dinner and full-day excursion will cost the hotel $300,000."
The Electric Newspaper goes over some of the lawsuit filed by Lebua Hotel against the general manager of The Oriental.
"It's a battle of the stars. Bangkok's five-star hotels, that is. With back-stabbing, snubbing and animosity worthy of a TV soap opera, Bangkok's famed Oriental hotel is now embroiled in a defamation suit filed by a competitor.
The lawsuit, filed on 17 Jan, highlighted the nastiness behind the scenes at some of the world's top luxury establishments. News of the spat was made public yesterday after The Oriental's general manager appeared at the Bangkok Criminal Court for a preliminary hearing.
Mr Kurt Wachtveitl, the general manager, is accused of defaming Bangkok's lebua hotel in an internal memo warning that the competitor was on the prowl for qualified hotel staff. The lawsuit is a first for Thailand's hotel industry and stands to harm the reputation of hotels across the country, the Thai Hotels Association said.
According to The Nation, Thai Hotels Association president Chanin Thonawanik was quoted as saying: 'What will the world think of Thailand when the world's best hotel is involved in a lawsuit? 'This is (a) first in Thai hotel history and will certainly damage our reputation.'
In the memo dated 30 Nov 2006, Mr Wachtveitl accused the lebua of poaching 26 employees from The Peninsula Hotel, another five-star competitor, and expressed concern that The Oriental could be targeted next. 'Effective immediately, no management members from lebua ... are allowed at The Oriental,' the memo signed by Mr Wachtveitl and sent by e-mail to department heads said, according to the court complaint. The memo added: 'Should you come across any of their management members in the hotel, please make sure they are escorted out of our premises immediately.'
The Nation reported that the lebua has filed two complaints, including a criminal case accusing The Oriental of forwarding the memo to general managers at nine other Bangkok hotels."
The
International Herald Tribune also reported on the messy lawsuit by upstart Lebua against Thailand's most historic hotel.
"Bangkok's famed Oriental hotel is embroiled in a defamation suit filed by a competitor, highlighting the back-stabbing and animosity that thrives behind the scenes at some of the world's top luxury establishments.
The lawsuit was filed Jan. 17 but only made public Tuesday, a day after The Oriental's general manager appeared at the Bangkok Criminal Court for a preliminary hearing. Kurt Wachtveitl, the general manager, is accused of defaming Bangkok's lebua hotel in an internal memo warning that the competitor was on the prowl for qualified hotel staff.
The lawsuit is a first for Thailand's hotel industry and stands to harm the reputation of hotels across the country, the Thai Hotels Association said. The Oriental consistently ranks among the best in the world in surveys. In the memo dated Nov. 30, 2006, Wachtveitl said the lebua poached 26 employees from The Peninsula Hotel, another 5-star competitor, in two months and expressed concern that The Oriental could be targeted next."
But Chris Baker, guest columnist at
New Mandala really gets down to the details of what's going on, but leaves much unanswered. So who is this Rasi Bualert?
"The principal owner of lebua is the family of Rasi Bualert. She always gets tagged as “arms dealer” which seems a bit unfair. Too narrow. Their real estate empire went spectacularly bankrupt after 1997, but they kept going by refusing to repay their creditors. Last June, the Supreme Court ruled that they had to repay 10 billion baht to Bangkok Bank, but I don’t know whether they complied. Their biggest debt was to Krung Thai. The Bualert acquired the building now housing lebua from the developer and architect Rangsan Torsuwan after he was charged with masterminding the attempted murder of the chief judge of the Supreme Court."
The Nation has some background on Rasi Bualert financial problems a few years ago.
"Bangkok Bank has filed a bankruptcy suit against high-flying businesswoman Rasri Bualert and her associates for failing to honour debts totalling almost Bt10 billion. Nine other defendants named in the lawsuit are D Five Co, Charoen West Enterprise, Royal Charoen Krung, Kongchai Bualert, Anand Chanthrakul, Sa-nguansri Dejpornthewan, Parichart Puchatham, General Sawat Phatchuenjai and General Prathuang Wongchan.
The Bankruptcy Court has agreed to hear the case and scheduled June 22 for the first hearing. In its court filing, Bangkok Bank charged that D Five and Charoen West Enterprise had borrowed money from its branches, with the other defendants acting as guarantors. The total debt, principal plus interest, owed to the bank is Bt9.72 billion. The bank said it had asked the defendants to settle the debt but had not received any payment. It believes the defendants now have more debts than assets, making them liable to bankruptcy proceedings."
The New York Times also mentions Rasri Bualert and her financial shenanigans, along with other Thai millionaires who refuse to repay their debts and somehow stay in business to the present day.
"Workers are, for example, putting the finishing touches on the 63-story Royal Charoen Krung Tower. Promoted as Southeast Asia's largest building, the tower, a 3.6-million- square-foot monolith with residential time-share and commercial space, looms over the pharmacies and jewelry shops around it.
First scheduled to open in 1996, the Royal Charoen Krung fell behind schedule in part because Rangsan Torsuwan, the flamboyant architect who designed and owned it, was forced to sell it.
The buyer was Rasri Bualert, a real estate tycoon and Thailand's only female arms dealer. Ms. Rasri helped pay for the project with a loan from the government-run Krung Thai Bank, a loan that is now among the nonperforming loans that account for at least 60 percent of the bank's overall portfolio. Last year, auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers, reporting that the bank had weak lending standards, singled out the loan as a glaring example.
Ms. Rasri declined to be interviewed for this article. Krung Thai officials did not return phone calls."
Links of Interest:
The International Herald Tribune had this to say about their upcoming feast.
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