Scouting the city

Life and work have kept me busy but buzzing around the city. There are a few large towers scattered about, left vacant after their developers ran out of funds during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. Not sure if I'll be able to walk right in, but there is a decaying tower overlooking the river by the Saphan Taksin BTS station. It's absolutely massive with balconies protruding from its body.I think it was meant to be a hotel or perhaps apartments. I can take my time, it's been empty for ten years, and I don't think it'll be going anywhere soon.

Smack in the middle of the Pratunam Intersection there is a multi-story shopping plaza. Sprouting from its rooftop parking area are empty towers. From surrounding hotels you can peek at the building which is topped by arches and a view of the city. Again, not sure when I'll be able to go, but hopefully soon.

Empty plots - The British Embassy

When I was a boy, the Ploenchit Fair was held every year on the grounds of the British embassy. It was the one time a year when we could enter to walk around the trees and laze about the embassy grounds. A few years ago, amid some controversy,  the British embassy sold the portion of their land along Ploenchit Road. Real estate developers envision an endless street of malls in Bangkok. The beautiful gardens of the Siam Intercontinental became the Siam Paragon shopping complex, and this former parcel of the British embassy will continue the stretch of malls from Siam Square, through Ratchaprasong, past Chidlom.

Where the entrance of the British Embassy used to lie is now an empty lot. The trees have been torn down, some permanently, others with their roots wrapped are lined against a wall waiting. Where trees have been dug up are now small polluted pools discolored shiny blue.

There are two small structures here, the abandoned guardhouse and a storage shed. The shed is a small square building filled with mixed debris, behind it lies a truck on ramp used for projecting advertisements over the walls of the ground. Close by there is a large satellite dish as well. The walls still have spikes and over the far wall a hint of the embassy can still be seen.

Littered with fallen trees and overgrown grass, the space is in decay. Stray dogs lay here while the rest of the city passes along the sidewalk outside. The fallen trees are browning, but there is one tree still planted, I hope the let it stay standing.

British Embassy

Asoke-Din Daeng Road - Graffiti in Bangkok

 A short walk from the Petchaburi MRT station, close to the intersection of Asoke - Din Daeng Road and Kamphaeng Phet 7 Road lies two sets of abandoned buildings. The main skytrain station linking the city center to the airport is across the street and due to open later this year, making this land all of a sudden very valuable. As cars spit out of of the expressway, I realize I've passed these buildings numerous times when traveling into the city. They've been gutted, and have yet to be fully torn down for whatever will come next (I guess a hotel or shopping complex).

If you build it they will come, and if its abandoned....people will come again. A small clothing bazaar has taken over the first and second floor of the first set of buildings. Used clothes are for sale and the upper levels of the four story structures are blocked off by the squatters.

The second set of buildings are mostly empty of people although I did see an older couple painting a poster advertising an upcoming muay thai match in one building. These buildings are filled with broken glass and wood chips and it's possible to enter and climb through the various floors.

These buildings have been here for awhile, and graffiti artists have left their tags and throw-ups on most of the available wall space. The floors of some rooms are littered with empty spray cans, but in general the rooms with graffiti are devoid of the rubble and glass that cover the rest of the space. Some of the work is quite good, by poking around through broken walls and dusty floors I was exposed to one of Bangkok's hidden urban art troves. More Bangkok graffiti can be seen here.

I climbed through one building, the back of which is now cluttered with trash, as I walked through there was a man sleeping on the fourth floor, I thought it best to let him be. Others around the ground floors of the buildings were quite friendly and had no problem with my walking about.

Photo Gallery, mostly shots of the graffiti

Graffiti Bangkok Abandoned Album2

Behind Chulalongkorn and by Sam Yan

I was walking in the area behind Chula looking for a place to eat when I saw a field of rubble. Another set of shop houses torn down to build what will likely be another office building, mall, or another structure of glass and steel lacking character.  

There is a set of Chinese shop houses still standing. The three story structures have had their stairs knocked away along with the upper floors allowing a view of the sky from the bottom.Many of the houses are littered with knick knacks indicating their former owners including spirit shrines, masks, and banners. One shop house used to be a design studio while others were restaurants and homes.

A short walk away along Phaya Thai Road across from the Sam Yan MRT stop is a 4 story abandoned building. Some of the street vendors store their carts here and it's easy to walk up a few of the floors. You can see the temple across the street and there was a mattress and a few mats on the floor. Hanging, twisted re-bar and broken wood strewn about along with sparse graffiti mark the space.


Rest of the photos on an album...

Abandoned Sam Yan and Chula