Pratunam fashion mall aims to be regional centre for plus-size customers

Managing director Anchalee Tantivongsakij says Krung Thong Plaza has become better known among online communities of plus-size clothes customers overseas.

“Due to word of mouth, we are better known now. Foreign customers come here to buy products for resale in their countries. In other countries, fashion designs [for plus-size clothes] are not as diverse as in Thailand,” she said.

According to Anchalee, the largest groups of her wholesale fashion mall’s customers are from other Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

The executive said Krung Thong Plaza’s total sales this year are estimated at 500 million baht. Most of their retail customers spend between 2,000 and 3,000 baht per shopping visit, while wholesale customers spend an average of 10,000 baht per visit.

Due to its marketing campaigns, the fashion mall attracts about 10,000 people on a weekday and up to 20,000 per day at weekends, according to the managing director. She added that the number was 30% higher than a year ago.

“Krung Thong Plaza aims to become a centre for plus-size clothing in Asia within the next 3-5 years,” she said.

Anchalee said the Pratunam fashion market has seen a “robust recovery” due to a strong return of foreign tourists following the pandemic. She added that customers have confidence in Thai-made fashion products that are of high quality at reasonable prices.

She also pointed to reduced imports of clothes from China due to a crackdown by the Chinese government on low-quality factories.

Anchalee said Pratunam has retained its status as an important market for retail and wholesale fashion products, attracting several inline vendors from neighbouring countries who conduct live streaming for their customers at home.

The wholesale fashion mall provides studio space for online vendors from ASEAN countries to make live-streaming sales of their products.

At the fashion mall, there are more than 400 outlets. About 70% of them sell plus-size clothes, while the rest offer clothes of ordinary sizes.

Clothes of larger sizes have been added to the current lines of products this year, according to Anchalee. At present, the sizes range from XS to 6X, or 60 inches for the waist or chest. Larger sizes of up to 8XL will be added to meet higher demand from European customers.

The managing director said she is the second generation of Krung Thong Plaza, which started as a fashion market 23 years ago to become Thailand’s “only centre for plus-size clothes” today.

“Over the past 23 years, Krung Thong Plaza has survived many crises, including economic recession, pandemic, and political trouble, amidst the increasingly fierce competition in the Pratunam fashion market,” she said.