BANGKOK: The Mall Group has issued an apology for the noise disturbance from the guest lounge during a concert by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran last Sunday (Feb 11).
In a letter issued on behalf of UOB Live, the concert venue, group chairwoman Supaluck Umpujh (pic) offered a “sincere apology” for what happened.
“On behalf of the UOB Live management team, I would like to sincerely apologise for the incident that happened to our customers and concert-goers on Feb 11, 2024, at UOB Live due to inappropriate noise occurring in the guest lounge area causing disturbance to the concert-goers,” wrote Supaluck, in her capacity as chief executive of UOB Live.
Her letter said the event hall’s management admitted to any mistakes or shortcomings involving the place and welcomed suggestions that would prevent “such an inappropriate incident” from happening again.
“The management team is committed to developing UOB Live into a quality concert hall and multi-purpose hall that creates one of the best experiences in Asia,” said the letter, dated Feb 14.
Media reports said that many audience members at the concert complained about noisy conversations and laughs from the VIP lounge at the top end of the hall. The incident led to criticism and widespread debate on social media about the “bad manners” of certain VIP guests.
Some audience members reportedly left the concert after their request for the staff to help with the noise fell on deaf ears.
Some netizens said that Sheeran’s acoustic guitar performance in a quiet hall was disturbed by shouts and laughs from the VIP lounge.
“Their noise destroyed the beauty of the show enjoyed by other audience members. I wonder if those people [in the VIP lounge] forgot to bring their manners with them. I don’t know who they are, but my suggestion is they should go to a bar instead of a concert. I paid almost 5,000 baht for my concert ticket,” a netizen commented.
UOB Live is located at Bangkok’s latest upscale shopping mall EmSphere, which was launched on Dec 1. The luxury mall is run by The Mall Group, one of Thailand's largest mall and department store operators.
Sheeran had two concerts in Bangkok over the past weekend. The first one, “Ed Sheeran ‘+ - = ÷ x’ Mathematics Tour Bangkok 2024” was held on Saturday at the Rajamangala Stadium, and the second one at UOB Live on Sunday. - The Nation/ANN
