Bangkok Development

Reviewing a fun part of Bangkok, discussing the layout, considering the future.

Siam Center 1973

In 1970 the intersection of Rama 1 Road and Phaya Thai Road in Bangkok was a dirt field about the size of a football field, surrounded by a multiple lane traffic roundabout.

This is a photo looking east along Rama I Road. On the far left corner is a wooded area that is the future location of Siam Center.

Here are 2 more photos, one in approximately 1972 and one in 1973.

Starting as one of the first shopping centers in Bangkok, Siam Center went on to become a cool and fashionable place for the younger generation to hang out due to it's proximity to Chulalongkorn University.

 

Siam Center in 2023, nestled in between Siam Discovery and Siam Paragon. The BTS and MRT tracks now take center stage on Rama 1 Road.

Full size image on click.

Below is the view of Siam Center looking to the west, with the BTS MRT on the left and Siam Paragon on the right.

Siam Center has been redeveloped several times in its history. it connects on the east side to Siam Paragon via the plaza shown above and below. It connects to the BTS MRT on its south side, with a somewhat hidden pass through to Siam Square One. On the west side, it connects to Siam Discovery via a small enclosed walkway and thus One Siam Skywalk which connects across the intersection to MBK and the Bangkok Art and Culture center where one can not only view art, but also purchase art. Siam Center has a delicious BonChon Chicken, deliteful MajiCurry and numerous other restaurants and shopping.

Access to Siam Center via the BTS MRT is via the western end of the BTS MRT payment gates, or via the roadway with buses, taxis, private cars or via foot traffic on the road level beneath the BTS MRT tracks. Just beneath the plaza between Siam Paragon and Siam Center is a quiet road that connects to Phetchaburi Road, across the canal. it was closed during 2021 and 2022 due to construction of the Chatrium, thus cutting off Phetchaburi Road from this area and requiring alternate routes of Ratchadamri Road or Phaya Thai Road.

The connection from Siam Center to Siam Discovery is somewhat limited, at the end of a hallway in the food court area, it becomes somewhat of a maze and despite being able to see Siam Discovery, not easy to get there. This narrow, 1 level skywalk between the buildings is very restrictive. Likewise, the connection to the BTS MRT and passageway to Siam Square One cannot easily be found if trying to exit Siam Center.

My views of Siam Discovery have always been of less than crowded, however it does have an entrance on One Siam Skywalk. The available merchandise there is high quality, exceptional, unique, well appointed, fashionable and affordable. I think people are missing out on good shopping due to a variety of factors. It is truly a discovery, however I don't think the name aptly describes the wonderful nature of shopping to be found there.

 

MBK 1985

MBK is located on the southwest corner of Phaya Thai Road and Rama 1 Road. At the time of it's completion in 1985 it was the largest shopping center in Asia. In the photo below is shown a housing area in 1979 situated on property owned by Chulalongkorn University.

This is construction of MBK in 1984. The view is to the south, showing the north side of the MBK buiding.

To get perspective, the photo below, taken in 1993, shows in the foreground the intersection of Phaya Thai Road and Rama 1 Road. Siam Center would be behind you. This was once a dirt field with a traffic roundabout. The traffic roundabout was removed, the dirt field was paved and traffic lights were installed.

The photo below taken in 2023 is looking east on Rama 1 Road, standing in front of MBK and the Don Quijote entrance to MBK. Again, this was once a dirt field with a traffic roundabout.

From the opposite side of the BTS MRT lines, looking east. Siam Discovery is visible on the northeast corner, Siam Center is further along Rama 1 Road just behind Siam Discovery.

This photo from January 2022 shows the Don Quijote entrance of MBK. The Silom Line of the BTS is on the right and the National Stadium is just behind MBK.

My 10,500+ photos of Thailand seems to have missed a building shot and interior shots of MBK, so I'll include them later. MBK is an enigma, much like Siam Center. Unless you understand the origins of the buildings and their history, it's difficult to make sense of them. Siam Center can feel like a latticework of creative architecture, glasswork and steel, kind of connecting Siam Discovery to Siam Paragon, offering a lot of eating and shopping, but without the context of a large Isaten department store, or basic mall layout such as at Central World, Paragon and Siam Discovery. Siam Center does have a layout, but the nature of the design obscures it slightly.

MBK has a basic grid layout and hasn't had a major redesign. The floors are each layed out similarly, with escelators and elevators periodically along its length, with stairs as well, connecting to the parking garage behind it. The SF Cinema and the top floor seems to have the most updated design and is well suited for movie viewing, with restaurants to eat at on lower floors afterwards. The upper floors also contain a very nice karaoke facility. It has a very comprehensive gold and jewelry area where one could buy plenty of gold and jewelry. No doubt there are a few hundred kilograms of gold available. The electronics floor is also comprehensive, with repair shops and retail stores of varying sizes. That there are used products available creates a great opportunity for smaller businesses and entreprenaurs as well as customers looking for good deals. The layout may feel dated to some, or somewhat on the level of a bazaar or night market, but that is desirable in many ways. If one want's to walk into a department store and buy a Rolls Royce or the very latest Balenciaga, then they would walk across the One Siam Skywalk, pass through Siam Discovery, Siam Center and over to Paragon and the Bentlys and Rolls are there, along with the Porsches and BMW's somewhere around the 3rd floor near the Alexander McQueen and the Gucci.

This brings to mind the story of Exotique Thai. With a substantial retail space in Siam Paragon tucked away on the upper floors on the north side of the building, Exotique Thai is a store comprised of Thai designed and manufactured clothing, apparel and accessories, scents and a large collection of art, Buddha and Thai crafts. Exotique Thai would be more suited to the retail space of Balenciaga or Burberry, which are located at the east entrance right off the east of the BTS MRT pay gates, rather than tucked away towards the back of the building.

On a recent visit to Exotique Thai, I met with the shop owner on finding their retail space closed for construction and the store reduced substantially in size and utilizing the area near the escelators for their retail display. The space once housing Exotique Thai was being rebuilt for a sushi restaurant. It would seem that Balenciaga and Gucci retail spaces were not available at the time and the customers generally tend to shop there instead, then go eat sushi. I don't intend to discuss Siam Paragon here formally, however I will mention that there is a theater and convention center on the top floor, many restaurants on the bottom floor, luxury vehicles in between and the very large deluxe grocery store towards the back of the bottom floor. Regarding Exothique Thai, it's very frustrating to visit so many times, then to find the most enjoyable store in the entire Siam Paragon and learn of the situation in early 2023 of the loss of their retail space.

 

World Trade Center (CentralWorld) 1990

Central World originally opened as the World Trade Center in 1990. It's a very interesting one to discuss and there are a variety of photographs to document it's history. It's somewhat complex.

This is the northwest corner of Rama 1 Road and Ratchadamri Road in 1987. There appears to be a concrete mixing building at the center of the land along with 2 yellow construction vehicles, a green construction fence and some 3 story buildings that will soon be demolished.

Below we see CentralWorld in 1991. On the lower left corner, there is a shrine. This was before the BTS and MRT, so the shrine was located on the corner. (many years later a macapple store was built on that exact spot)

Below, again in 1991, looking north on Ratchadamri Road from the pedestrian bridge. The Indra Hotel is visible in the distance along Ratchadamri Road. The taller building to the left I am not sure the name. it appears construction is finished on World Trade Center but is not visible. Some areas towards the north end of the property and the future location of the Trimurti and Ganesha Shrines looks like it's being prepared for construction.

Below, looking west along Rama I Road, we can see the construction of the Gaysorn Shopping Mall on the northeast corner of Rama 1 Road and Ratchadamri Road in 1993 . It is on the right side in the foreground, not even up to the 1st floor yet. Siam Center is just out of sight on the far left center of this photo.

Below you can see the north end of CentralWorld in 1994, with the Amari Watergate Hotel building under construction just to the north. In the distance is the Indra hotel.

Below is an image from around 2004 (this is a guess). It is showing construction of an addition that connects CentralWorld to the BTS MRT Skywalk and adds additional shopping. There is also the Centara Grand and offices being built around this time just to the left.

Below is a view looking south on Ratchadamri Road at the Ratchaprasong Intersection. The photo appears to be from between 1969 to 1979. On the left side is a retail store selling Thai Silk.

Again looking south on Ratchadamri Road in 1997. Erawan Shrine is just out of sight on the far left corner. The Police Hospital is on the right and at the center of the road is construction of the BTS Silom line coming up from Sala Daeng Station and passing by Lumphini Park on the far left side.

Below is a photo of the same area taken in 2023 showing the BTS and MRT lines and the Skywalk underneath them.

 

This is the northwest corner of the Ratchaprasong Intersection in 2023, where the first photo above showed a field with concrete equipment. Behind this concrete pillar of the BTS MRT the circular building there is a macapple phone store. Previously there was a shrine in that location but was relocated a long time ago.

Below is Central World on the left, in 2023, after many renovations.

Below is the Isaten department store on the northern end of CentralWorld in 2015. (Isaten was formally closed in March of 2020). In front of it are the Trimurti Shrine on the left and the Ganesha Shrine on the right.

Here is a photo in 2023 showing a new facade. It was partially completed and opened in 2022/2023.

Here are the remains of the Isaten Department Store in 2022.

This is February 2022 on the 2nd floor of the old Isaten, on the way to the Fitness First Zone, which is a wonderful gym. In February 2023 most of these construction areas had new stores.

Below is December 28, 2021.

I'm not sure why it was called World Trade Center, becuase there is no trading going on there, but I guess in older terminology "trading" was an appropriate word for "retail sales". It seems like a bizarre name for a shopping mall though. The name was changed after acquisition by Central Group in 2002, who owns many other shopping centers in Thailand, so the name "Central + World" makes sense. I read somewhere that it was to disassociate itself from the NYC World Trade Center after the 2001 incident. CentralWorld was likewise heavily damaged in 2010 due to fire damage during some riots and again in 2019 from accidental fire.

There is an incredible movie theater on the upper floors, where guests can pay for enhanced seating, pairs of large reclining cushiony seats, isolated from the main seating area. Special accoutrements are included. Also on the upper floor is a very nice market, a food court and many restaurants. The layout is relaxing and strolling about endlessly is effortless. There are two north south multifloor main halls bisected by an east west multifloor hall. The east side of the malls north to south hall has it's own area of food courts, an area of services, including numerous banks, foreign exchange services, optometrists and of course all the retail shopping. The west side of the malls north to south hall seems to have 1 or 2 fewer floors. It is on the upper floors of the west side of the building where it connects with the east west hall that the theater and market are, along with more restaurants. It's worth mentioning that Central Department Store is situated at the south end of CentralWorld. It's a traditional "department store" within the mall, comprised of 7 floors and very thoroughly stocked.

Fitness First is a fitness chain with locations throughout Bangkok. It's very convenient to have a location in Central World. There is also a post office and a DHL on the B1 floor for convenient shipping of purchases.

Central World connects to the BTS MRT Skywalk on it's south side, this in turn connects to Gaysorn to the east and Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Square One, Siam Discovery, MBK and the Bangkok Art and Culture Center to the west. The north east side of Central World connects to the Ratchaprasong Skywalk by walking next to the Trimurti Shrine and ascending the escelator. The Ratchaprason Skywalk then connects to Platinum Fashion Mall further north on Ratchadamri Road, past the Pathumananurak Park or by crossing Ratchadamri Road it connects to Big C and The Market Bangkok (construction finished on The Market Bangkok in early 2019). If one wants, they can take the Skywalk on the east side of Ratchadamri Road south again where it connects to Gaysorn and then to the MRT BTS Skywalk, Chit Lom station and back towards Central World or Siam Center.

What it does not do however, is cross Phetchaburi Road and connect to the Palladium or the Berkely Hotel Pratunam, or really anything beyond Platinum Fashion or Phetchaburi Road. Herein exists a conundrum, where a set of elevated express lanes running along Phetchaburi Road, cross over Ratchadamri Road. I would like to discuss not only the elevated express lanes, but the layout and usage of the "skywalks" between Rama I Road and Phetchaburi Road along Ratchadamri Road. It is also unfortunate that access to Wat Pathum Wanaram Rachaworawihan Temple becomes difficult from the skywalk that is beneath the BTS MRT. It's not as though it's inaccessible, but there is no access to the temple directly from the skywalk.

At the end of the skywalk on the southwest corner of Ratchadamri Road and Phetchaburi Road exists Platinum Fashion Mall. if I were a woman interested in shopping at dozens if not hundreds of affordable and unique small boutique's with very affordable prices and offering wholesale discounts and readily available shipping, this is the place to be. It offers this to customers and the opportunity for young business owners to have a shop with a smaller footprint and very high foot traffic. It is at the end of the skywalk, along with the Novotel. Just beyond Platinum Fashion one can walk *on the sidewalk* to Pantip a few hundred meters to the west.

On the opposite side of Phetchaburi Road is a thriving and very busy neighborhood that is part of Ratchathewi and Pratunam, with the Palladium Shopping Mall and Berkely Hotel Pratunam on the east side of Ratchadamri Road, north of Phetchaburi. The Baiyoke Tower, the tallest in the area, is located on the west side of Ratchadamri Road, next to the Pratunam Night Market. The Palladium also has a night market. The entire area is enthralling and exciting, with hundreds of vendors, shops and restaurants. It is, however, severely isolated from the south side of Phetchaburi Road. This isolation seems not to have benefited the Palladium Shopping Mall, with much of the lower levels converted to bazaar style shopping or simply vacant, whereas only hundreds of meters away in CentralWorld exists upscale anchor tenants and effortless casual and comfortable shopping. Palladium has changed hands several times since it's inception originally as Pratunam Center, which was wholly unsuccessful. I think this failure was due in large part to the skywalk conundrum, but I could definitely be wrong.

Usage of elevated express traffic lanes is something I had not seen used in this manner before. They are placed along Phetchaburi Road at numerous intersections and are used elsewhere throughout Bangkok as well. They are ingenious and allow traffic to swiftly flow through the intersection at a height of about 5 meters. This particular one at this intersection also runs parallel to a canal that is about 35 meters away, so I won't even consider why it's not built underground. Having experienced in Bangkok some of the most beautiful, awe inspiring and elaborate underground MRT BTS stations in the world, far surpassing anything in the USA or Japan, I shouldn't discount the subject of building high speed underground traffic lanes as opposed to elevated ones.

Below is the intersection in December 2021 with the Palladium shown with its exquisite green facade and the Berkely Hotel Pratunam extending 30 or so floors above it. In the foreground are the elevated express lanes of Phetchaburi Road crossing over Ratchadamri Road.

Below is the intersection in March 2023. The tall tower on the left is the Baiyoke, with the vintage Indra along the left side of Ratchadamri Road. The housing in the left foreground that existed in 2021 has been demolished for further development.

Below, for the purpose of discussing the skywalk, is shown a view looking south along Ratchadamri Road between Phetchaburi Road and Rama I Road. CentralWorld is seen on the right side, with the new facade where Isaten was once located hidden by constuction curtains. A closeup of the skywalk shows BigC, Arnoma Grand and Gaysorn on the left, with the Ratchaprasong Intersection containing the BTS MRT lines and a small pedestrian bridge visible about 10 meters in front of the BTS MRT lines. The segment of "skywalk" crossing Ratchadamri Road midway along the block should not be confused with the pedestrian crossing, both of which elevate food traffic above Ratchadamri Road. There are 3 separate elevated paths crossing Ratchadamri Road. The first one is affixed to the bottom of the BTS MRT tracks, the second one is a pedestrian bridge just north of the BTS MRT tracks and the third one is part of the skywalk where it crosses between BigC and the Trimurti Shrine.

It is crucial to note, that in the closeup photo, beneath the skywalk crossing over Ratchadamri Road, there is a relatively newly developed major roadway exiting onto Ratchadamri Road from CentralWorld. It services Siam Kempinski Hotel, Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery, Wat Pathum Wanaram Rachaworawihan Temple, CentralWorld, the Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Center and *all* corresponding automobile and motorbike parking garages between Phaya Thai Road and Ratchadamri Road. This section of Ratchadamri Road connecting to the road from behind CentralWorld is serviced by numerous police officers and security guards continuously directing the heavy flow of traffic exiting the CentralWorld area, right next to the Ganesha and Trimurti Shrines. There is also traffic entering Ratchadamri Road from The Market Bangkok, BigC and the areas near Pratunam Pier. There is no traffic light however. Despite the lack of traffic light, the traffic is generally stopped intermittently, because 200 meters to the north is the intersection at Phetchaburi Road. What exists, is a highly dangerous situation especially for the police officers and motorbikes, but also the automobiles.

The skywalk is definitely nice. There's a beautiful Thai girl that has labored away for many years, every day, sweeping and mopping it, cleaning it, polishing it to perfection. It is a nice skywalk, but it is somewhat arbitrary. It does not connect to Pathumwananurak Park, rather it passes over the entrance to the park, casting shade on the entrance and obscuring the parks beauty. It does not actually connect to CentralWorld, or the Arnoma Grand Hotel, or any of the ground floor businesses who's main entrances are at the sidewalk level.

The skywalk, or Ratchaprasong SkyWalk as it is formally known, despite it not actually connecting to the Ratchaprasong Intersection, only connects to 4 buildings. It passes over the area on Ratchadamri Road where all of the traffic exiting from CentralWorld naturally suggests that there be a traffic light and a large and very grande street crossing for pedestrians, with lengthy 2 minute times for people to casually walk across the road. The Market Bangkok, BigC, Platinum Fashion and Gaysorn, all obviously have ground floor entrances. While probably benefitting from the skywalk funneling people into them, it comes at a severe cost for other businesses, for the park and for the aesthetics of the area. It does create an exceptional pathway that one could find very comfortable, but when the convenience ends at Phetchaburi Road and there is a somewhat dangerous crosswalk, with literally hundreds of motorbikes and cars zooming through red lights, with no clear path of navigation and faced with the concrete structure of the elevated express lanes, one has to be very, very confident and agile to attempt crossing Phetchaburi Road.

Ratchaprasong Skywalk was constructed in two segments between 2014 and 2017, first connecting Platinum Fashion to the street level plaza at CentralWorld and then connecting over to Big C and south to Gaysorn. The reasons mentioned in a 2014 Bangkok Post article for constructing the skywalk include pedestrians being able to avoid sidewalk vendors, wheelchair access for disabled persons and because some other large cities in Asia, such as Tokyo and places in Europe such as London, have similar useful skywalks. Also mentioned were the nature of the sidewalks being in disrepair however the sidewalks are all in very good condition throughout this whole area. It's incredibly thoughtful that access for disabled persons and elderly was another reasons and I thank them very much for the incredible Ratchaprasong Skywalk.

Sometimes when walking on the sidewalk the concrete abutments supporting the skywalk actually block the sidewalk and make it difficult for people to pass each other. On sunny days the skywalk itself blocks the sunlight from the sidewalk. Regardless of the lack of a crosswalk I sometimes deftly hurry over Ratchadamri Road on the road surface and pray to Buddha that everything will be ok as hundreds of motorbikes and cars whiz past me as it just feels natural, as though that is how to cross the road, instinctively.

Below is a view to the north on Ratchadamri Road from a pedestrian bridge connecting the northwest and northeast corners at Phetchaburi Road.

The same view in 1977.

Here are a few other photos from the Pratunam area from 1970 to 1977.

 

 

Pantip 1984?

Pantip is located on the south side of Phetchaburi Road between Ratchadamri Road and Phaya Thai Road. It's approximately 100 meters west of Platinum Fashion mall's westernmost exit. It's an entertaining walk from Platinum Fashion to Pantip, with many street vendors along Phetchaburi Road as well as Phetchaburi Soi 22. There is also a pedestrian bridge crossing over Phetchaburi Road, giving safe access to Baiyoke, the Pratunam Night Market and so on. If one continues west along Phetchaburi Road there is the Indonesian Consulate, however beyond that it's somewhat undeveloped, with some houses obviously doomed for demolition. Further along to the west, one could veer off into the soi's and find Chatrium, or the new Ideo development at the corner near Ratchathewi BTS station.

Pantip is now known generally for it's electronics and computers, with a history of being the home entertainment, computer and computer software hub of Bangkok. It's appearance from outside and initially when entering is deceptive, because it appears small but it is actually very large. The vast main entrance hall ceiling is 6 or 7 stories high. Each of the main floors extends towards the rear of the building nearly to the canal, on which the opposite side of is Siam Paragon. The depth of each floor is not obvious at first, however the rear of the building houses a vast assortment of IT vendors.

Below is a photo of Pantip in 1985. More recently it is known as the AEC Trade Center and currently as AEC Food Wholesale Pratunam and I will explain why that is good.

The below view, is facing east from the opposite side of the building and slightly wider angle view, however the escelators and design makes it look identical.

Pantip is Phetchaburi Road's smaller and more IT oriented version of MBK. If there's something computer or mobile phone that can't be found at MBK, there's a good chance that Pantip has it. Pantip underwent internal renovations starting in 2018 and nearly finished in 2021. The main floor at the Phetchaburi Road entrance always has vendors in booths. The 4th and 5th floor have various shops of varying sizes catering to computer, some photography, electronics and various other customers. The renovations look very nice. Pantip owners were very wise in renovating their property as it is situated on what may be some of the most expensive real estate in Bangkok.

One observation I made in 2021, while patronizing the many shops and enjoying the experience of Pantip, was the availability of a large amount of available retail floorspace in Pantip and the burdgeoning development of luxury highrise buildings in the area, relative to the proximity of grocery stores in the area. The nearest grocery store is in Siam Paragon, but the canal separates the properties. The next nearest grocery store is Big C on Ratchadamri Road. Logistically, if one were coming from the north side of Phetchaburi Road, from Ideo Q Ratchathewi for example, it would be somewhat of a hike to get to Big C. If on foot, one would have to cross Phetchaburi Road via a pedstrian bridge, pass through or next to Platinum Fashion, cross over Ratchadamri Road via the Ratchaprasong Skywalk and enter Big C. Alternatively, they could hike around Phaya Thai Road and to go Siam Paragon, where there is a market in the basement. Lastly, albeit somewhat smaller, there is the market at the top floor of Central World.

With a new building in progress at the southeast corner of Phetchaburi Road and Phaya Thai Road and knowing very well that something will be built at the northwest corner of Phetchaburi Road and Ratchadamri Road in the near future, Pantip is well placed to offer a grocery shopping experience to the neighborhood. It is *Absolutely Fascinating* that they have rebranded Pantip as the AEC Food Wholesale Pratunam.

Below is Pantip Plaza in 2010 with the Siam Kempinski Hotel in the background, on the opposite side of the canal, under construction.

Below is Pantip Plaza in approximately 2020

Below is an image of a large retail space on the 5th floor at the front of the building in February 2021, perfectly situated for operation as a dance club perhaps, with the right side of the area overlooking the main entance hall through it's ceiling.

The bulk of the floor space at the middle and the rear of the building is finished with renovations and subdivided into smaller vendor and shop stalls. They seem to have a "build to suit" option for nearly any size store. The 1st floor contains a post office and previously had at least 1 bank, however the bank was gone as of early 2023. There is an S&P and The Pizza Company at the main entrance, both of these being excellent restaurants.

 

JRK Tower at Southeast Ratchathewi & Phetchaburi 2025

In 1986 the southeast corner of Ratchathewi and Phetchaburi Roads had a cafe, shops and was a few dozen meters from the Asia Hotel (1967) and didn't yet have the Sukhumvit BTS line (1999) operating only a few meters away. In this photo below you can see the First Hotel. In 1988, 2 years after this photo was taken, a fire started at the hotel which killed 13 people. The hotel was demolished in 2014 to make space for the Ideo Q Siam Ratchathewi.

Compared to my photo from March 2023

And below, courtesy of online map images, we see in 2011 the demolition of the cafe, shops and housing. This became the location of the sales office for a nearby Ideo Q condominium building.

The first iteration of the sales office is shown below, perhaps sometime around 2014.

...and the second version

...and the 3rd version, sometime around 2018.

The final version of the sales office, which undoubtedly performed wonderfully as a showroom and allowed many contracts to be signed and deposits to be paid. The remains of the sales office in this disused manner were in place for nearly 3 years, from 2018 to early 2021.This image below is from February 2021.

Then, by October 2021, the Ideo Q sales office had disappeared and the foundation of JRK Tower had started.This October 2021 photo below is taken from the BTS stairway, the old Ideo Q sales office, cafe and the intersection is just out of the photo on the left side, the camera is pointed north east.

By February 2022 they are above ground level.

February 2023 shows a lot of progress below.

1 month later, more progress has been made.

More information can be found here https://a49.co.th/Projects/view/860 at least at the time I wrote this it was.

 

 

Silom Road

Old Siam Shopping Plaza

Chatuchak Park

Lumphini Park

Phuket

Pattaya

Phaya Thai Road

Chinatown

Sukhumvit 4 Nana