The area of Siam Square, which belongs to Chulalongkorn University, was originally full of wooden houses and slum areas, until a fire incident evacuated the villagers from the area. After the fire, General Prapas Charusatien (Thai: ประภาส จารุเสถียร) director of Chulalongkorn University at that time, decided to develop the area of Siam Square into a commercial place in order to prevent the slum community that originally resided there from returning. The Southeast Asia Company was the first to develop this area as an open-air shopping mall. The first building was constructed in 1962 and finished in 1963, with Associated Professor Lert Urasayanan as the architect and Professor Rachot Kanchanawanit as the engineer.