MEETING…BILL BENSLEY


Bangkok Bill Words: Neena Dhillon Portrait Photograph: Jirachai Rengthong Hotel Photography: © Igor Prahin


Sleeper is taking in views of Chao Phraya River from the prime three-acre site of Bangkok’s newest luxury boutique hotel ahead of its anticipated June opening.


Scores of workers are busy bringing The Siam’s landscape to life yet there is still an air of mellow tranquillity about this waterfront location tucked away in the Dusit district, home to royal palaces, museums and universities. Siam Hotels & Resorts, an independent Thai company owned by the Sukosol family, has invested nearly one billion Baht, excluding antiques, into this all-suite city retreat. For Creative Director, Krissada Sukosol Clapp, former


lead vocalist of an MTV-award-winning band and noted film actor, this plot of land has special meaning. “Bangkok used to be known as the Venice of the East and I think this historic part of town has the power to transport people back to an era when travel equated to time slowing down,” he says. “The property has been in my family since the early Sixties so when my mother [hospitality veteran Kamala Sukosol] suggested we run our own business here, I realised this was our chance to evoke the character and cultural heritage of Thailand.” Clapp (or Noi as he is better known) has conceived the project as a live showcase for his family’s extensive collection of art and antiques, pieces that range in value from 100 to a million baht. While the intention is to offer an intimate lifestyle experience to travellers, Clapp also hopes to authentically convey the story of Thai life through


the ages with hundreds of pieces of poignant memorabilia. As such he needed an architect and designer with a fundamental understanding of Thai culture and somebody who would share his vision for the new-build project. Naturally he turned to the competition. Cue Bill Bensley, the award-winning designer whose name has become a byword for masterly resorts, spas and gardens harmoniously integrated into exotic Asian settings and beyond. As an avid collector of antiques himself and a self-confessed shopaholic, Bensley has often found himself bidding for the same items as Clapp. “Two weeks ago, Noi called me up because he had really hoped to acquire the piece of English furniture I had just bought from auction,” he recalls. “So we agreed he should drop by and take it back home.”


Bensley Design Studios, a multidisciplinary firm with offices in Bangkok and Bali employs 160 staff – a melting pot of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, horticulturists and fine artists. Private residences, including for the King of Malaysia, form some of the workload but hospitality is favoured since hoteliers invest regularly to upkeep their properties. “I have worked on private homes and gardens only to find they can be trashed the day after the owner moves in,” Bensley observes. While the studio


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