The expat photographer telling the stories of abandoned structures in Thailand

[webfact]

An abandoned village in Cha Am Image: Dax Ward

 

By Jonathan Fairfield

 

American photographer Dax Ward spends a large amount of his free time going to places most of us are likely to avoid.

 

When he isn’t teaching IT at an international school in Bangkok, he is out exploring abandoned buildings and other interesting forgotten sites.

 

His passion for photography and urban exploration or ‘urbex’ has enabled him to take fascinating photographs of abandoned structures in Thailand and elsewhere.

 

His photographs have been featured in CNN, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Sun, Lad Bible, the Weather Channel, Lonely Planet and many more.

 

Full story: https://www.huahintoday.com/hua-hin-news/the-expat-photographer-telling-the-stories-of-abandoned-structures-in-thailand/

 

-- © Copyright Hua Hin Today 2022-07-26

 

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[SAFETY FIRST]

43 minutes ago, webfact said:

exploring abandoned buildings and other interesting forgotten sites

This is a much better article 

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/952668-abandoned-derelict-decaying-locations-around-thailand/

[carvets]

You could spend a lifetime photographing derelict buildings in Thailand. Especially since Covid. 

 

[Andrew65]

Quite a few abandoned old French colonial buildings in Phnom Penh, would have been beautiful places, probably up until the arrival of Pol Pot.

[hotchilli]

Each to their own... 

[Fallangpakwan]

Wherever you go there's thousands of abandoned buildings and new ones being built alongside. I would say around 40% of all types of buildings in Thailand are abandoned

[overherebc]

6 hours ago, Andrew65 said:

Quite a few abandoned old French colonial buildings in Phnom Penh, would have been beautiful places, probably up until the arrival of Pol Pot.

Some buildings, 'derelict' in Vietnam were obviosly small french palaces in their day.

[MikeN]

He used to post regularly in the Bangkok Photographers Facebook group but haven’t seen him there lately. Perhaps he got tired of people pointing out that his “fame” from a few magazine articles didn’t mean he was above the law .... he had a habit of breaking in to private property to shoot his pics. Also used to fly his drone in prohibited areas.

[oznomad]

This is one of the stupid things about not allowing foreigners to own real estate.

I, probably like many of you, have seen run down buildings with great potential, but we aren't allowed to realise that potential.

Thai's, so I understand, believe all the value is in the land. Buildings are nothing, so to speak.

 

[peterfranks]

15 hours ago, carvets said:

You could spend a lifetime photographing derelict buildings in Thailand. Especially since Covid. 

 

I haven't been in Europe since Covid started, but I assume it will not be much different there.

 

Maybe someone who has been recently can update on that?

[peterfranks]

8 minutes ago, oznomad said:

This is one of the stupid things about not allowing foreigners to own real estate.

You as a foreigner can buy any of the buildings posted in this thread, if you wanted to, so that is a very flawed argument

[RAZZELL]

He's not a photographer...he's just a man with a bag of cameras.

 

 

RAZZ

[JimmyJ]

9 hours ago, peterfranks said:

You as a foreigner can buy any of the buildings posted in this thread, if you wanted to, so that is a very flawed argument

Can you explain why these buildings are an exception?

[metisdead]

A post in which the quoted content had been altered by use of the strikethough and the bickering replies have been removed.  Please do not alter a quoted post:

 

28. You will not make changes to messages quoted from other members posts, except for purposes of shortening the quoted post. Do not shorten any post in a way that alters the context of the original post. Do not change the formatting of the post you are quoting.

[daveAustin]

On 7/26/2022 at 4:40 AM, SAFETY FIRST said:

This is a much better article 

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/952668-abandoned-derelict-decaying-locations-around-thailand/

That’s a great thread, thanks. 

[MikeyIdea]

Nothing compared to China. Ok, not abandoned there, never even moved into but 100 million empty apartments is a lot. They don't look nice, no one will ever move in and they will be knocked down one day without ever having looked nice or lived in

[Rampant Rabbit]

17 hours ago, MikeN said:

He used to post regularly in the Bangkok Photographers Facebook group but haven’t seen him there lately. Perhaps he got tired of people pointing out that his “fame” from a few magazine articles didn’t mean he was above the law .... he had a habit of breaking in to private property to shoot his pics. Also used to fly his drone in prohibited areas.

Thankfully  no Thais ever break their laws  either...

[diznax]

9 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Thankfully  no Thais ever break their laws  either...

Dax here. The post above about 'breaking and entering' is an outright lie. I always ask permission if there is a guard, caretaker or owner if I've been able to attain contact details. I absolutely never 'break and enter', never do damage to private property or spray graffiti or anything like that. If I am told 'no' by a person in charge of the property or if there are clear 'no trespassing' signs, I do not enter the property, as it is not worth the stress or risk. If there is nobody to ask & no signs saying not to enter, then I go in. Many locations, esp outside of urban areas, are very open, as I think many who live here know.

 

Often, entering the locations is a matter of parking and simply walking on, with no people/walls/gates to be found in the area, as with the two in the linked story above. In addition, before going I have usually been informed by Thai friends who've been to the locations themselves. I go in, take pictures, and am on my way. I have never 'broken and entered' anything, and saying so is straight up slanderous. 

 

Mike is just salty because, several years ago, I posted a drone picture in the bpg Facebook page, he commented about it being prohibited, I poked fun of him for being a bit pedantic as did a few others in the group, and apparently his feelings are still hurt. I no longer post in that group because I  don't really have interest in the group & my close friend Dennie no longer runs it. 

 

I love discovering the history of forgotten places and trying to answer questions about their past and present. I find them interesting. If I'm able to share my experiences and pictures with others then I'm happy to do so. I do not consider myself 'famous' or anything like that. I think most people understand that, but along the way there have been a few negative individuals whose opinions really don't mean anything. I'm only responding to this one due to the false accusation. 

 

I always really appreciate when I hear from people who have enjoyed seeing my pictures and backstories. I'm glad to share them.

[JimTripper]

Not something I would be doing for other then personal photo's. It can get hairy in many countries and misinterpreted as espionage, defamation of the country, bad for tourism, etc. especially if it's themed with decay. Ditto with flying drones around.

[kimamey]

On 7/26/2022 at 10:09 PM, RAZZELL said:

He's not a photographer...he's just a man with a bag of cameras.

 

 

RAZZ

So you're saying I'm not a Sex God but a man with a bag of condoms?