Workout at Sathorn Unique - Abandoned Tower

Although I should have been studying on the 31st of January after I already had the weekend off, I joined a group of fellow Bangkogians and Couchsurfers for a journey to an abandoned tower. The “Sathorn Unique” was being built in the mid nineties, when the Thai economy was booming, destined to become one of the city’s fanciest residential skyscrapers (49 planned storeys with 659 residential units). When the Asian Financial Crisis hit the country in 1997 the developers had to leave the project, which was close to completion. The building was already up to the top, with installed wooden floors, two escalators and bathtubs. It is located right near the Chao Praya river and would have been luxury living due to the views and proximity to the city centre. But as of now it remains one of the “haunted ghost towers” in Bangkok (all old buildings are feared by the Thais as apparently ghosts occupy them). To get in we had to bribe a local smelling of whisky who then opened a few door inside the building for us. Nowadays almost all the valuables have been taken as especially the copper paid off on the market, but apparently a group is still protecting the building to claim the material. During our hike up we could see nature gaining back ground as trees began to grow at the lighter parts of the monolith. The 49th level wasn’t completed yet and we had to climb on steel to get to the more concrete area. Looking over Bangkok paid off for the sweaty climb up but then I finally grasped the danger of the site. On the way up I kind of ignored the darkness, unsealed shafts, and unstable parts but the height made me realise that there would be no chance of survival. This is not the only building which was left unfinished due to debt problems in this city but today the Thai economy has recovered and one can marvel at the many new polished skyscrapers around town. More about high rise Bangkok another time. Here go the pictures (most of them from Aaron Neilson-Belman):

(supposedly me)