Erawan Hotel

After initial struggles, the hotel prospered in the 1960s under the management of Chalermchai Charuvastr, who featured a Thai atmosphere in its decor and services, but declined in the following decades as it faced rising competition.

During the post-World War II period, the government of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram adopted a policy of promoting the hospitality industry in order to accommodate the rise in international air travel.

[1] A government project, initiated by finance minister Prayoon Pamornmontri, was then launched to build a modern luxury hotel for Bangkok's hosting of the 45th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference in 1956.

[2] The company originally planned to build the hotel on the corner of Sala Daeng Intersection occupied by Lumphini Park, but the idea was rejected.

[3][4] The hotel building was designed in the applied Thai style,[5] with an ornamented gabled roof topping the four-storey structure housing 175 (later expanded to 250) guest rooms.