Central Chiangmai Airport

Central Chiangmai Airport is a major shopping mall in Mueang District, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The property is associated with Central Pattana, the shopping-mall development and management arm of Central Group, and serves the Chiang Mai metropolitan area with a mix of department-store retail, supermarkets, specialty shops, food outlets, entertainment, services, and event facilities. Its location near Chiang Mai International Airport has shaped both its identity and its long-running Airport Plaza naming convention. The mall began operations in 1987 as Tantraphan Airport Plaza. This original name reflected the site's airport-oriented location and its connection with the Tantraphan retail business. Central Pattana subsequently took over the property and rebranded it as Central Airport Plaza in March 1996. The change brought the mall into the Central Pattana portfolio and aligned it more closely with the Central retail property network in Thailand. It was later widely known as CentralPlaza Chiang Mai Airport, a name consistent with Central Pattana's former CentralPlaza naming system. Central Chiangmai Airport is a five-floor retail and leisure complex. Its tenant mix has included Robinson Department Store, Tops, B2S, Supersports, Power Buy, Officemate, Major Cineplex, and food-and-beverage facilities. The mall also includes Chiangmai Hall, an event and exhibition venue, as well as local-oriented retail and dining concepts. Kad Luang Airport provides a market-style component associated with Chiang Mai's local food and shopping culture. These elements allow the property to function as more than a conventional enclosed shopping center: it combines national chains, department-store retail, entertainment, groceries, services, events, and regional commercial identity. The property has experienced changes in its anchor configuration over time. Food Park, formerly known as Lanna Food Pavilion, was identified as moving to Kad Luang Airport. BnB Home, formerly Baan and Beyond, was subsequently associated with Go! Wholesale. Reference material also identifies planned or announced changes involving Central The Store @ Chiangmai Airport, Tops Food Hall, and HarborLand, although the available material does not establish a complete current opening chronology for every listed facility. These changes illustrate the mall's continuing effort to refresh its retail and family-entertainment offer rather than remaining fixed to its original department-store format. In early 2022, the mall underwent a minor naming change and became Central Chiang Mai Airport, also rendered in English as Central Chiangmai Airport. The change formed part of Central Pattana's wider effort to simplify and standardize the Central brand across Thailand. The newer name retains the location reference while dropping the older Plaza formulation. The mall remains an active Central Group retail destination in Chiang Mai, with its long operating history, airport-area location, broad tenant mix, and event facilities defining its role in the local market.

Central Chiangmai Airport traces its history to 1987, when the shopping complex opened as Tantraphan Airport Plaza in Chiang Mai. The original name emphasized the property's proximity to Chiang Mai International Airport and identified it with the Tantraphan retail operation. From the beginning, the location gave the mall a distinctive commercial role: it served residents of Chiang Mai while also occupying a recognizable position within the city's airport-area retail landscape. Central Pattana later took over the shopping mall and rebranded it Central Airport Plaza in March 1996. This transition connected the property with Central Pattana's expanding portfolio of shopping centers and established the Central identity that would define its subsequent development. The mall became known as CentralPlaza Chiang Mai Airport under Central Pattana's CentralPlaza naming system. Over the years, its offer developed around a large multi-floor retail format, with department-store shopping, groceries, specialty retail, food and beverage, cinemas, event space, and consumer services. The complex has five floors and has hosted a range of national retail anchors. These have included Robinson Department Store, Tops, B2S, Supersports, Power Buy, Officemate, and Major Cineplex. The mall has also incorporated facilities with a more distinctly local or regional orientation, including Kad Luang Airport, as well as Chiangmai Hall for events and exhibitions. The combination of national chains and Chiang Mai-oriented food and market concepts has allowed the center to address both everyday shopping and destination visits. Its tenant and anchor mix has not remained static. Food Park, previously called Lanna Food Pavilion, was associated with a move to Kad Luang Airport. BnB Home, formerly Baan and Beyond, was identified as changing to Go! Wholesale. Reference material also lists further changes involving Central The Store @ Chiangmai Airport, Tops Food Hall, and HarborLand. Some of these facilities are described as opening or being scheduled for later opening, but the available reference does not provide a complete independently verified chronology for each change. They nevertheless indicate an ongoing program of retail repositioning and modernization. In early 2022, Central Pattana made a minor naming adjustment, changing CentralPlaza Chiang Mai Airport to Central Chiang Mai Airport, commonly rendered in English as Central Chiangmai Airport. The revision was part of a broader simplification of Central's mall naming across Thailand. It preserved the location-based identity while reducing reliance on the older CentralPlaza formulation. Today, Central Chiangmai Airport is an active five-floor shopping mall in Mueang District. Its historical importance lies less in a single product or architectural innovation than in its long continuity as a Chiang Mai retail destination. Since 1987, it has moved from the Tantraphan Airport Plaza identity into the Central Pattana network and has repeatedly adjusted its anchors and services to reflect changing retail, dining, entertainment, and family-leisure demand.

• 2022

  Adopted the Central Chiangmai Airport name

  [1]Central Chiangmai Airporten.wikipedia.org

  The mall received a simplified Central brand name as part of Central Pattana's wider naming strategy in Thailand.

• 1996

  Rebranded as Central Airport Plaza

  [1]Central Chiangmai Airporten.wikipedia.org

  Central Pattana took over the property and changed its name to Central Airport Plaza in March.

• 1987

  Opened as Tantraphan Airport Plaza

  [1]Central Chiangmai Airporten.wikipedia.org

  The shopping mall began operations in Chiang Mai under the name Tantraphan Airport Plaza.

A broad-based regional shopping and entertainment center serving Chiang Mai, combining Central Group retail anchors with local-market, dining, event, cinema, and family-leisure functions.

• Department-store retail

  Robinson Department Store

  A major department-store anchor associated with the mall, offering a broad range of fashion, beauty, household, and general merchandise. Reference material identifies a future or planned transition to Central The Store @ Chiangmai Airport, but does not establish the complete timing or operational status of that change.

• Supermarket and grocery retail

  Tops

  The mall's grocery offering under the Tops banner, serving everyday food and household-shopping needs. Reference material also identifies Tops Food Hall as a newer or planned food-focused format connected with the property's continuing tenant updates.

• Cinema entertainment

  Major Cineplex

  A cinema facility listed among the mall's entertainment anchors. The reference describes five screens and notes a historical seven-screen configuration, together with a possible future change involving the return or redevelopment of part of the area for HarborLand.

• Local food and market retail

  Kad Luang Airport

  A local-oriented market and food component that brings regional shopping and dining character into the mall. It is also identified as the destination for the former Food Park, previously known as Lanna Food Pavilion.

• Events and exhibitions

  Chiangmai Hall

  An event and exhibition venue within the mall complex. Chiangmai Hall expands the property's role beyond routine retail by providing space for public events, commercial exhibitions, and other organized activities.

• Books and stationery

  B2S

  A specialty retail anchor for books, stationery, educational materials, and related lifestyle products. Its presence complements the mall's broader mix of department-store, electronics, sports, grocery, and service tenants.

• Sports retail

  Supersports

  A sportswear and sporting-goods offering serving customers seeking athletic clothing, footwear, equipment, and accessories. It forms part of the national specialty-retail component of the mall's tenant mix.

• Consumer electronics

  Power Buy

  An electronics and appliance retail anchor offering consumer technology, home appliances, and associated accessories. It contributes a durable-goods and technology dimension to the center's shopping offer.

• Office supplies and business services

  Officemate

  A specialty store focused on stationery, office supplies, and workplace-related merchandise. The format supports both household shoppers and small-business or professional customers using the mall.

• Wholesale and household retail

  Go! Wholesale

  A wholesale-oriented retail concept identified in the former BnB Home space. The reference material describes BnB Home, formerly Baan and Beyond, as having changed to Go! Wholesale, although the precise transition date is not specified.

• 2022

  Simplification of the mall's Central brand nameStrategy

  Background

  Central Pattana was simplifying the naming architecture used across its Thai shopping-mall portfolio.

  Action taken

  The property changed from CentralPlaza Chiang Mai Airport to Central Chiang Mai Airport, also rendered as Central Chiangmai Airport.

  Aftermath

  The mall retained its airport-area geographic identity while adopting the shorter Central naming convention.

  Source

• 1996

  Integration into the Central Pattana portfolioM&A

  Background

  The property had operated as Tantraphan Airport Plaza since 1987 and was subsequently taken over by Central Pattana.

  Action taken

  Central Pattana rebranded the mall as Central Airport Plaza in March 1996.

  Aftermath

  The change established the property as part of Central Pattana's branded shopping-mall network and preceded its later CentralPlaza identity.

  Source

1. 1Central Chiangmai Airporten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Central Pattana Annual Report 2011centralpattana.co.th