Christie's to open Thai branch

Christie's to open Thai branch

BANGKOK (AFP): International auctioneer Christie's announced plans on Friday to open a branch in Thailand following its success last year selling art belonging to the country's bankrupt finance firms.

The British-based company was enlisted by the central Bank of Thailand to run the country's first international art auction, of works which once graced the boardrooms of high-flying finance houses.

The auction of some 450 pieces in June featured some of the most glaring corporate excesses of Thailand's heady boom years, netting more than US$1.6 million.

"Following that huge success... the company is confident it should open an office here," Christie's Bangkok manager Dimitri Karukin said.