By Graham K. Rogers

As I went to the 4th floor bathroom of the Siam Discovery Center in central Bangkok just after lunchtime on Saturday (18 Feb) I saw that, while the white hoardings were still round the site of the new Maccenter there, the door was open and the lights were on.

A look inside showed me that the decorating had all been done and behind the counter was a big sign -- Applecare -- with a red apple displayed. Apart from some boxes and other items placed around, it looked almost ready to go.

Coming out of the bathroom (where I had cleaned my teeth after lunch), I spotted Mr. Noppadon, one of the execs of Maccenter, sitting at a table outside with some of his staff hard at work on his MacBook Pro. I had not seen him for a while, so we had a lengthy chat -- we had lived not far from each other so had flood stories to exchange. He told me that the Maccenter was intended to be open for business from Sunday (19 Feb -- tomorrow) and that they would be there for at least three years.

The move was to larger premises and also part of the refurbishment of the Siam Discovery Center that has been ongoing for a year or more now. Previously the site had been occupied by the printer I use (they had had the previous Maccenter shop too) who have moved to floor 3. Mr. Noppadon would not let me take a photograph of the unfinished store.

After buying a lamp for my new apartment, I went to floor 3 but was surprised to see the iStudio there all boarded up, although there was much activity inside. A couple of members of staff came and went, the cleaning lady came out with a trolley setting off the alarm briefly. The manager left wearing a neck brace (I hope that was coincidence).

While the same company (Copperwired) has two more shops in the Siam area and a major store not too far away at the Central World mall, the Siam Discovery store does seem to be one of the busiest, so with the staff still on-site and the security system still active, it appears a refurbishment is under way.

Business as usual.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.