Singapore's Century Ice Wonderland Pte plans to open the 80-million-baht Harbin Ice Wonderland near Bearing skytrain station in October, expecting to break even in two months.
Ice Wonderland will be near Bearing station.
Miow Seong Yao, deputy general manager of Thai affiliate CIW (Thailand), said the company rented an almost three-rai vacant plot opposite Sukhumvit Soi 105 (Soi LaSalle) from APT Bearing Mall for two years to develop an indoor ice art city, billed as the first ever in Thailand and largest indoor one in Asia.
Harbin Ice Wonderland, with a temperature of -15 degrees Celsius and a total area exceeding 1,400 square metres, will feature several colourful ice art sculptures created by professional artists from Harbin, China.
"The complex will target Thai visitors," said Mr Miow, 29.
"Bangkok is a hot city, and Asians in tropical zones love winter. Our project is a new tourist destination that will attract a lot of Asean tourists when the Asean Economic Community starts next year."
Tickets will be 350 baht for adults and 250 baht for children, and the many zones will include snow, slider, underwater world, panda, Thai and other world landmarks.
An ice bar will be provided for party hounds to enjoy alcoholic beverages in glasses made from ice, which they can throw after drinking.
Mr Miow is not new to this business. He developed 2 Degree Ice Art at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, which ran from November 2013 to June 2014 on a plot rented from the Singaporean government.
With a total investment of S$4 million (102 million baht), it broke even in four months. Tickets cost S$32, and 4,000 people visited on weekends, mainly Singaporeans.
The company targets 1,500 visitors per day on average and 1 million visitors in its first year of operation, said Mr Miow, who managed his father's Singaporean construction firm Kim Sing Enterprise Pte for six years before jumping into entertainment property business.
"The construction business has no future despite an annual volume of over S$10 million," he said. "My new business is more challenging."
The company is seeking a large plot in major Thai destinations like Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen or Hua Hin to develop a permanent ice city in the next few years.
Its parent firm Iceland Holding also expects to have a joint venture with a Singaporean investor to develop a new concept theme park on Sentosa Island at a cost of S$5 billion.