If you’ve visited any central Bangkok shopping mall in the last year, chances are you’ve noticed some renovation work under way. It seems that just about every mall has been getting some work done, and in some cases it’s been an “extreme makeover”.

All this work has, for the most part, been done in anticipation of the opening of Bangkok’s newest (and probably last) shopping center in the middle of the main shopping district. The new 500 pound gorilla on the block, in case you haven’t heard, is Siam Paragon, which officially opened on 9 December. Siam Paragon is basically a bigger badder version of the very successful Emporium shopping center, out on Sukhumvit Road. That it should resemble Emporium makes sense, since it’s bought to you by the same people who developed the Emporium, Thailand’s The Mall company.

Siam Paragon seeks to capture the high ground, or perhaps I should say hi-so ground, in Bangkok’s shopping scene. All the big fashion names are here - Hermes, Armani, Versace, and on and on. It’s not just clothing and perfumes here, though. The corridors also have Bentleys, Ferraris and even a couple of Hummers on display. All this is part of the developer’s tried and true strategy. What made Emporium so successful, where Gaysorn largely failed (twice) is in the recognition that, while there are a fair number of the super-rich in Bangkok, or visiting it, there are a much greater number of the not-so-super-rich and the super-rich wannabes that you can draw in, if you put on a good show and also give them more accessible distractions, like movies, food and consumer electronics. Siam Paragon has the added attraction of a huge aquarium, Siam Ocean World, which is reputed to be Southeast Asia’s largest.

In its first month since opening, the shopping center has attracted huge crowds, especially on weekends. This, despite the fact that many shops (perhaps as much as half) still aren’t open. But this is the prime shopping season, as well as the tourist high season as well. The key test of just how successful Siam Paragon will be will come in March or April. By that time, the rest of the shops should be open, so the novelty will have worn off, and most of the tourists will have gone home. It’s then that we’ll see whether Siam Paragon is a big success or a big bust.