General manager Ray Kirit sits atop the Pyramid. (Photo by: PETER OLSZEWSKI)Lavish entertainment club targets upscale Cambodians
Thursday, 23 October 2008
Written by Peter Olszewski
The Phnom Penh Post
Like to boogie? With Egyptian-cum-Angkorian architecture, the elaborate new Pyramid Club steps up the nightlife options on the outskirts of Siem Reap
IT stands out like a mercurochromed thumb on the outskirts of Siem Reap, and it can't be ignored because it's so huge, so garishly coloured, so bizarrely architectured.
It's King Tut meets King Jayavarman, and it's the newest thing in town: the million-dollar Pyramid Mega Entertainment Club, a one-hectare-plus nightlife and leisure complex that will comprise a 350-person-capacity uber-flash disco with 16 VIP rooms, a bistro, a seafood restaurant, a beer garden and the ubiquitous karaoke lounge. Plus a first, not only for Siem Reap but also for Cambodia: an outdoor paintball centre.
As part of this year's rapid urbanisation of Siem Reap, the Pyramid complex is the first new kid on the block off and running in what is shaping up as an entertainment venue surge.
As for the King Tut-King Jayarvan architecture, Pyramid general manager Ray Kirit explains, "There is a law in Siem Reap that you cannot have a building without a touch of Cambodian culture in the design.
"We first started building it with an Egyptian pyramid theme, with the sphinxes, the King Tut mummies. We even brought papyrus scrolls from Egypt to copy for all the murals on the walls.
"But then we learned that we had to adhere to Siem Reap law, and that's why a different roof was built, to respect the culture. After we added Cambodian roofing and other touches, we discovered we even had to change the fencing in front of the complex."
Pretty scary
The complex is now almost ready for phase one of its launch, and October 31 has been earmarked for the disco and karaoke hall grand opening, with a golden Halloween costume party.
Ray Kirit, who served a two-year stint as general manager of Phnom Penh's Riverhouse Restaurant and Lounge, said the centre has cost "over US$1 million to date and that will probably double by the time it's completely finished".
The complex is owned by five Cambodian brothers, led by chairman Rithy Sear, who also owns Thai Cargo at Phnom Penh's Hong Kong Centre. Youngest brother Tony is the CEO.
Target market is mainly the young Cambodian professional class, a recently-emerged sector in Siem Reap that's once again linked to urbanisation and the swing away from Siem Reap being just a tourist town. Ray Kirit wants to attract add-on niches at both ends of his core market.
"One of our niche markets is one that only we are catering to in Siem Reap - Cambodian rich people. There aren't many places for them to go in Siem Reap. There are a few high-end restaurants, and after that it is just karaoke. They don't have a classy disco where they can hang out. Plus we will also provide VIP comfort. These people want their privacy, and they don't want to mingle. They want to be pampered.
"And even though that rich market is limited, mainly businessmen and officials, I think it's a market worth attracting."
At the other end of the spectrum, Kirit wants to attract "colours" - expats of different nationalities, including backpackers.
"Yes, even backpackers although they only want discounted drinks or will sit on one cocktail for three hours. But they know how to party, they know about disco clubs.
"And this is attractive to Cambodians who like to be in a party atmosphere where there are different colours, different cultures."
Fun and games
When it comes to new entertainment centres in Siem Reap, that's not all folks.
Also on the drawing board is the $75 million Hollywood-style The Kingdom of Dreams, an Angkor-themed water park and night-time entertainment venue that's a joint venture between Cambodian-based Creative Entertainment Ltd and US-based Bridge Capital LLC.
Soon tourists can come to Siem Reap to not only see Angkor the temples, but also to view Angkor the movie via an "Angkor Special Wide Screen Film Experience" in a 400-seat air-conditioned theatre. The $10 million "IMAX-type" movie, an historical opus, will be produced by Brad Krevoy's Motion Picture Corporation of America, best known for feature comedies a la Dumb and Dumber.
The theatre will be part of a 35-hectare complex that will feature yet more hotels - a five-star, 400-room hotel and a three-star, 200-room hotel - plus yet another shopping gallery, an indoor and outdoor foot massage area, a bar, a food court, a ten-screen multiplex cinema and the Lost City of Angkor Water Park. By day, this will be a "river' that takes tourists through Angkor-themed caves and stone carving outcrops, and at night a digital laser that will be projected onto the water.
Ground breaking for this venture is scheduled for January 2009.
IT stands out like a mercurochromed thumb on the outskirts of Siem Reap, and it can't be ignored because it's so huge, so garishly coloured, so bizarrely architectured.
It's King Tut meets King Jayavarman, and it's the newest thing in town: the million-dollar Pyramid Mega Entertainment Club, a one-hectare-plus nightlife and leisure complex that will comprise a 350-person-capacity uber-flash disco with 16 VIP rooms, a bistro, a seafood restaurant, a beer garden and the ubiquitous karaoke lounge. Plus a first, not only for Siem Reap but also for Cambodia: an outdoor paintball centre.
As part of this year's rapid urbanisation of Siem Reap, the Pyramid complex is the first new kid on the block off and running in what is shaping up as an entertainment venue surge.
As for the King Tut-King Jayarvan architecture, Pyramid general manager Ray Kirit explains, "There is a law in Siem Reap that you cannot have a building without a touch of Cambodian culture in the design.
"We first started building it with an Egyptian pyramid theme, with the sphinxes, the King Tut mummies. We even brought papyrus scrolls from Egypt to copy for all the murals on the walls.
"But then we learned that we had to adhere to Siem Reap law, and that's why a different roof was built, to respect the culture. After we added Cambodian roofing and other touches, we discovered we even had to change the fencing in front of the complex."
Pretty scary
The complex is now almost ready for phase one of its launch, and October 31 has been earmarked for the disco and karaoke hall grand opening, with a golden Halloween costume party.
Ray Kirit, who served a two-year stint as general manager of Phnom Penh's Riverhouse Restaurant and Lounge, said the centre has cost "over US$1 million to date and that will probably double by the time it's completely finished".
The complex is owned by five Cambodian brothers, led by chairman Rithy Sear, who also owns Thai Cargo at Phnom Penh's Hong Kong Centre. Youngest brother Tony is the CEO.
Target market is mainly the young Cambodian professional class, a recently-emerged sector in Siem Reap that's once again linked to urbanisation and the swing away from Siem Reap being just a tourist town. Ray Kirit wants to attract add-on niches at both ends of his core market.
"One of our niche markets is one that only we are catering to in Siem Reap - Cambodian rich people. There aren't many places for them to go in Siem Reap. There are a few high-end restaurants, and after that it is just karaoke. They don't have a classy disco where they can hang out. Plus we will also provide VIP comfort. These people want their privacy, and they don't want to mingle. They want to be pampered.
"And even though that rich market is limited, mainly businessmen and officials, I think it's a market worth attracting."
At the other end of the spectrum, Kirit wants to attract "colours" - expats of different nationalities, including backpackers.
"Yes, even backpackers although they only want discounted drinks or will sit on one cocktail for three hours. But they know how to party, they know about disco clubs.
"And this is attractive to Cambodians who like to be in a party atmosphere where there are different colours, different cultures."
Fun and games
When it comes to new entertainment centres in Siem Reap, that's not all folks.
Also on the drawing board is the $75 million Hollywood-style The Kingdom of Dreams, an Angkor-themed water park and night-time entertainment venue that's a joint venture between Cambodian-based Creative Entertainment Ltd and US-based Bridge Capital LLC.
Soon tourists can come to Siem Reap to not only see Angkor the temples, but also to view Angkor the movie via an "Angkor Special Wide Screen Film Experience" in a 400-seat air-conditioned theatre. The $10 million "IMAX-type" movie, an historical opus, will be produced by Brad Krevoy's Motion Picture Corporation of America, best known for feature comedies a la Dumb and Dumber.
The theatre will be part of a 35-hectare complex that will feature yet more hotels - a five-star, 400-room hotel and a three-star, 200-room hotel - plus yet another shopping gallery, an indoor and outdoor foot massage area, a bar, a food court, a ten-screen multiplex cinema and the Lost City of Angkor Water Park. By day, this will be a "river' that takes tourists through Angkor-themed caves and stone carving outcrops, and at night a digital laser that will be projected onto the water.
Ground breaking for this venture is scheduled for January 2009.
11 comments:
Yes, it sound good, but the country run by gangster CPP
Who trust the gangster?
This gangster turned Cambodia to the lawless country.
Cambodia rated the second worst place to visit.
stop complaining!! in any country it is normal for a nation to have its rich people and its poor people. just because some people are fortunate enough to be rich in cambodia, doesn't mean they have to travel outside of cambodia for vacation, holiday, entertainment and so on. so, stop your bitching; your tone of voice is only hurt the progression of moving forward toward making a modern nation of cambodia. cambodia is lacking of any entertainment center like this for too long already. so, to see cambodia now having these establishments, etc... is a good sign that there are changes in people's attitude, sign of the country is changing for the better, etc..., so, stop being one of those pessimistic, cynics, stupid individuals who are only good with bitching and whining and nothing else! if people have nothing good to say, then keep their mouths shut!!! remember, cambodia or the world doesn't revolve around people like your tone of voice. people in cambodia want these kind of thing so cambodia as a nation doesn't have to be lack behind most other nation. like it or not, get used to it. full speed ahead for cambodia. may god help bless cambodia forever!
cambodia should have law banning beggars in the country!! people need to have the change of attitude there, not stopping development! just because the civil war had for so long hindered cambodia's growth and progression, doesn't mean cambodia a nation should continue to be lack there of. people want these thing, so with ability, they can do whatever they want with their hard-earn money, given everyone respect and obey the law so no one gets hurt! i suggest people travel the world and see what cambodia lacks and make them available so cambodia can be like the rest of the developed world out there! a khmer person like me want to see cambodia grow for the better, not only for our people, but for our country as a whole. god bless cambodia.
To 12:56 AM and 1:02 AM,
Learn how to walk before you run. To be successful, Cambodia needs unity, safety and peace for every citizen. We need to grow as a country, not just the foolish and ignorant few.
The West would not fool to admire your brainless bitches who are trying to offer them disco. When they plan to visit Cambodia, they know about Khmer culture and tradition.
God would not bless Cambodia if the leaders don't care about them.
Get real and be a human being, not a beast!
In Cambodia a lot of thing improving
for the wealthy people to enjoys: entertainments,
prostitutions and drugs.
No improvement on the educations and the living
condition for the poor.
There are so big gap between the rich and poor.
Land grabs by the rich and powerful people.
In a recent report, Amnesty International estimated that 150,000 people around the country were now at risk of forcible eviction because of land disputes, land seizures and new development projects.
Cambodia is the lawless country.
With this multi-million dollars complex that's being built,... I wonder how many families are affected by all this. One thing comes to mind is.... land grabbing.
I agree with 2:29. There is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. Cambodians and their government will bypassed the poor and caters to the rich as General Manager Ray Kirit stated. These corrupted government officials continued to live their lavish lifestyle while majority of the poor is begging just to make ends meet. I guess they deserved a place to hang out too after an exhausting days of extorting. Thus, while a social clubs like this increased the cost for their establishment, you can be sure that the snake (government official) will constrict their ways
to meet their demand. As I have stated before; behind
every successfull business men (Cambodia) there is a shadow of corrupted officials behind it..... waiting to cash-in.
God bless my Khmer People!
^j^
To 12:56 pm and 1:02 am
You two must have money trees growing in your backyard.
Khmer usually don't help each other. They would use their money to wipe their bottom than give it to those that needed.
If they see one is drawning, they rather let it drawn quicker.
well, perhaps, the issue of the poor needs to be discussed further by lawmakers. khmer have to push these issue so that the gov't can hear it and do something about it, but don't just complain about it on the blog, if complain, make sure everyone that are effected complain to the right people, those who can actually make the difference, but to fight and bitch and whine about is useless. sometimes, i think some of us need to learn the proper protocol on how to do things and especially on how to deal or talk or communicate with people the right way, not the ignorant way.
this goes to show that life doesn't stop, does it? c'est la vie!
Give me a break all you pussies. All you talk about is how much you cared about the poor but have you actually done anything beneficial for them? Shut your self-righteous mouth if all you do is talk.
Oh I am so concerned about the poor Cambodian and this and that but that is all I'm good for, talking. When it comes to doing, I just like to sit back and watch others do.
Well, fuck all of you, ah all-talk and no walk, especially ah moun that told others to learn to walk before you run.
KHAMBODIA AND IT'S RELATION TO THE ANCIENT KHAMITES AKA EGYPTIANS AND KHAM / CAM MEANS BLACK . YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA THAT NAGA OR GOD IS THE CORRECT FORM FORM FOR THE DREADED N - WORD WHICH WAS CREATED BY WHITE SUPREMACIST ESPECIALLY IN AMERIKKKA . DID YOU KNOW THE SLAVERY OF THE BLACKS IN AMERIKKKA IS WRITTEN ON THE TEMPLE WALL IN ANGKOR THOM / WAT AND ANGKOR MEANS " HORUS LIVES " AND IS THE KHAMITIC / EGYPTIAN GOD OF LIGHT . I WOULD KNOW BECAUSE I AM HERU KHAMWER NEPHOROS ATEF IN AMERIKKKA....ASHAY YHWH ASAR !
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