Foreigners warned! Stay away from my "Ghost Tower" skyscraper!

[webfact]

Foreigners warned! Stay away from my "Ghost Tower" skyscraper!

 

Thai caption:  A problem building

Picture: Sanook

 

A famous architect and building owner has warned foreign and Thai thrillseekers to stay away from his problem building.

 

Pansit Torsuwan's unfinished building is the Sathon Unique Tower on Charoen Krung Road in Bangkok.

 

It was a victim of financial problems following the economic crash of 1997. The 47 story building was 80% complete but never totally finished. 

 

Pansit went on Facebook to warn people to stay away after a Japanese national went on Twitter and Instagram to invite other foreigners to visit the building.

 

Picture: Sanook

 

Pansit said that barbed wire and security has been beefed up and a security guard that was paid money to turn a blind eye was sacked. 

 

He said he didn't want to prosecute anyone but the building was enough of a personal and professional problem to him as it is, he could do without any more deaths or trouble associated with it. 

 

So he warned foreigners as well as Thais not to trespass. 

 

Sanook reported that in December 2014 a person was found hanged on the 43rd floor of the derelict condo development.

 

Elsewhere on the internet the structure has been referred to as the "Ghost Tower". 

 

A film crew once legally made a movie that used the building for a location. 

 

Source: Sanook

 

 

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[Cricky]

11 minutes ago, webfact said:

"Ghost Tower

We here in Pattaya have our own ghost tower.

AKA Waterfront.

 

Anyone got updates on the waterfront, are they going to demolish it or remove 10 floors?

 

Big Buddha would like his view back. 

 

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, VYCM said:

We here in Pattaya have our own ghost tower.

AKA Waterfront.

 

Anyone got updates on the waterfront, are they going to demolish it or remove 10 floors?

 

Big Buddha would like his view back. 

 

Based on the precedent set by Sathon Unique Tower, Pattaya's Big Buddha better get used to the current view.

[RotBenz8888]

Many of the huge ghost towers was eventually completed, like Exchange tower Asok, and Cyber World Ratchada. But will this ever? Construction not "chic" enough for todays condominium buyers? Location not so good? Legal issues?

[BobbyL]

Always wonder what will happen to this building. There is no way it can be renovated and completed in its current state. There are new condos built just next to it but I would be seriously worried about its structure in the future. 

[Borzandy]

6 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

Always wonder what will happen to this building. There is no way it can be renovated and completed in its current state. There are new condos built just next to it but I would be seriously worried about its structure in the future. 

"I would be seriously worried about its structure in the future. " you are surely not a Thai.

[klauskunkel]

I climbed that tower about 10 years ago

[TooBigToFit]

Looks like a good place for making movies. There's a weird tower/building up in Rangsit that hasn't been finished since that period I think. You can see it from the elevated tollway as you come to Rangsit. It's like a ball on the top. I think it might have something to do with the police in some way. They should finish these eyesores.

[PatOngo]

Maybe he'll let people in after he finishes searching for his lost face!

[Assurancetourix]

We have a member (diznax) who comes regularly on the Photography & The Arts line who made a very nice photography report inside this tower;
I also went ahead but I did not go upstairs since I am dizzy on the third bar of a normal ladder ...

 

 

 

[dluek]

A Japanese guy posted on Facebook about it, so he decides to speak out now? Does he know there are about 30 different blog posts + innumerable social media posts showing pics from inside this ghost tower going back 15+ years? Not to mention the widely reported suicide... (I thought there had been more than one.)

[natway09]

Bloody eyesore. Why the council have not ordered it's demolition is beyond me

[Elkski]

I was amazed by this structure in Jan.  It looks haunted.  I thought it looked modern  but I did see so much rusted rear metal and I wondered how such a thing like this can  be left standing.

What was the reason construction stopped?  Just imagine the cost, noises, time, and money to remove this  monstrosity.  

[Cricky]

5 hours ago, natway09 said:

Bloody eyesore. Why the council have not ordered it's demolition is beyond me

Money, lots of money to remove

[englishoak]

They were doing tours to the 7th floor a decade ago.... 

[bbi1]

10 hours ago, natway09 said:

Bloody eyesore. Why the council have not ordered it's demolition is beyond me

Why doesn't the owner go ahead and finish the project now? It's been 23 years later already. Go ahead and sell off the plan, get the required presales a bank requires to lend to continue construction and bam, problem solved and he's made a ton of money for himself.

[OneMoreFarang]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Sanook reported that in December 2014 a person was found hanged on the 43rd floor of the derelict condo development.

Who would walk up to the 43rd floor to do that? 

[gk10002000]

16 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Many of the huge ghost towers was eventually completed, like Exchange tower Asok, and Cyber World Ratchada. But will this ever? Construction not "chic" enough for todays condominium buyers? Location not so good? Legal issues?

I would not trust its infrastructure after being open and exposed to the elements for so many years. Same for that tower they started in Pattaya.  Can only imagine where all the rain water and animal and bird feces that is quite acidic and corrosive has dripped and dropped down to. 

[OneMoreFarang]

47 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

Why doesn't the owner go ahead and finish the project now? It's been 23 years later already. Go ahead and sell off the plan, get the required presales a bank requires to lend to continue construction and bam, problem solved and he's made a ton of money for himself.

I am sure he will be delighted about your idea and he will ask himself why he didn't think about that ...

[Time Traveller]

11 hours ago, natway09 said:

Bloody eyesore. Why the council have not ordered it's demolition is beyond me

What council would that be?

[neeray]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Sanook reported that in December 2014 a person was found hanged.............

An interesting year for a hanging!

Was he/she anti junta?

[neeray]

33 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Who would walk up to the 43rd floor to do that? 

Thrill seekers love this type of event and exercise.

The CN Tower in Toronto has many more steps and people climb them.

 

A metal staircase reaches the main deck level after 1,776 steps, and the SkyPod 100 m (328 ft) above after 2,579 steps; it is the tallest metal staircase on Earth. These stairs are intended for emergency use only and are not open to the public, except for twice per year for charity stair-climb events. (Wiki)

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, neeray said:

Thrill seekers love this type of event and exercise.

The CN Tower in Toronto has many more steps and people climb them.

 

A metal staircase reaches the main deck level after 1,776 steps, and the SkyPod 100 m (328 ft) above after 2,579 steps; it is the tallest metal staircase on Earth. These stairs are intended for emergency use only and are not open to the public, except for twice per year for charity stair-climb events. (Wiki)

Ok, I understand that part.

But who walks up to the 43rd floor to hang himself?

[RJRS1301]

Does he have insurance stil on it for any damage it may cause from bits of it falling off?

Surely the government can oder the demolition of it?

[fhickson]

must be the only building in the area without security guards in front, cool.

[Just Weird]

On 2/7/2020 at 5:17 PM, natway09 said:

Bloody eyesore. Why the council have not ordered it's demolition is beyond me

On what grounds would the BMA be able to order it's multi-million baht demolition?  That it's ugly and empty?  And who would you suggest pays?

[Just Weird]

On 2/8/2020 at 7:06 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

Ok, I understand that part.

But who walks up to the 43rd floor to hang himself?

He'd been living there rough.

[samuttodd]

If the owner was smart,  he'd open it for tourists and sightseers. 

[Just Weird]

On 2/11/2020 at 8:10 AM, fhickson said:

must be the only building in the area without security guards in front, cool.

No security guards?...

"Pansit said that barbed wire and security has been beefed up"

[Just Weird]

On 2/8/2020 at 4:00 AM, bbi1 said:

Why doesn't the owner go ahead and finish the project now? It's been 23 years later already. Go ahead and sell off the plan, get the required presales a bank requires to lend to continue construction and bam, problem solved and he's made a ton of money for himself.

"The True History of Sathorn Ghost Tower:

---

What actually happened back in 1997? 

We planned to build a mixed-use property with 600 units and jewelry shops downstairs. The tower was 80-90 percent finished, but we suffered due to the mismanagement of previous governments. We actually weren’t a non-performing loan [NPL] as we’d sold more than 500 units already and had nearly finished construction. We decided to sell The State Tower as we were sure that we could continue managing this building. Unfortunately the trust fund which issued our loan closed down due to the financial crisis, meaning we were lumped in with a number of NPLs. So I oppose anyone who calls this building an “icon of Thailand’s failure” or “the country’s burden.” That’s untrue. If we were treated as an asset and given the green light to continue construction, the building would have been finished. It would today be one of the greatest towers in Bangkok.

So why has there been no development since?

There have been many lawsuits barring us from doing that. But the main reason was my father’s intentions—he didn’t want to develop it anymore. Times have changed. Twenty years ago we were selling it at B20,000 per sq meter. Now cost would be much higher to finish the project. We would need at least B1.5 billion to finish the tower, but according to the original contracts, we would only get B600 million from our old clients. For two decades, clients haven’t got anything back from us. So we plan to finally sell it and pay our debts, as well as pay back all our clients. 

What are you doing now? 

I’m still running a real estate company, Rangsan and Pansit Architecture with my father. We develop small-scale residential projects both inside and outside Bangkok. I’m also an architecture lecturer at Sri Prathum University. 

How do you feel about people viewing Sathorn Unique as an adventure destination?

I must insist that it’s private property and you can’t get in without permission. But I understand how people feel. There are so many abandoned buildings in Bangkok, but why are people so interested in this one? That’s because this building is unique with a stunning location and story of its own. Lots of people have wanted to use the tower as a movie location but I have refused them all. I even turned down a Hollywood movie—Superman, I think—because if people recognized it, the tower would become an even bigger attraction. If someone proposed a documentary that I thought would benefit others, then I might say yes". 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Just Weird