Ghost Tower Defies Odds: Bangkok's Abandoned Icon Survives Quake

[josephbloggs]

21 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

 

Less corruption at the higher levels back in those days?

You obviously didn't live here then.

[mran66]

Look at the beams inside, won't find those in the collapsed tower. Flat slab structure simply can take quakes, as simple as that. Why they issued building permit for such is strange as buildings supposed to be quake proof 

[oustaristocrats]

22 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

 

Less corruption at the higher levels back in those days?

 

and less Chinese penetration in society and politics in those days as well. 

[pacovl46]

Well, after decades of being exposed to the climate, I don't think it could be rescued. Although, that tower on Bang Na Trat Road did get done up around 2016 and that one must be from roughly from the same period because it was already a "ruin" in 2003 when I moved to Thailand. 

[outsider]

While the audit administration building was certainly 'under construction', the Ghost Tower isn't exactly completed so technically (and arguably), both are still 'under construction'. The latter has been exposed to the elements for decades, which should've weakened it, but it is still standing tall and erect against the test of time and mother nature (literally). Also, since the Ghost Tower was nearer to completion, its structure would've had to bear more weight than the audit administration building which doesn't have the weights of claddings and finishings added to it yet. So while the derelict continued standing even without care or maintenance, a spanking new building that was supposed to be built using more modern techniques, materials and technologies collapsed like a house of cards.

 

Oh, and as one poster here mentioned, it's just one of the many tall buildings in BKK that did not collapse.

 

'The Chinese didn't build the Ghost Tower' is the simple answer, but I think the issue runs deeper than that and the corruption that surrounds the development and construction of the collapsed mess.

[Shocked farang]

10 hours ago, Homburg said:

It's an outdated 30 year old building, with the internal surfaces having been exposed to the elements throughout that time. It's junk. The owners(???) were probably hoping it would fall down and save the cost of demolition, so they could start building something more up to date.

I doubt that. There are implosion methods available that have costs that can be absorved in the project of a new building in this prime location. At some point all the stakeholders will decide on that.

[wavodavo]

On 4/4/2025 at 7:44 PM, Tropicalevo said:

 

 

Less corruption at the higher levels back in those days?

Yeah and built before the shonky Chinese builders and their cheap inferior steel came to town.

[Harsh Jones]

15 hours ago, outsider said:

While the audit administration building was certainly 'under construction', the Ghost Tower isn't exactly completed so technically (and arguably), both are still 'under construction'. The latter has been exposed to the elements for decades, which should've weakened it, but it is still standing tall and erect against the test of time and mother nature (literally). Also, since the Ghost Tower was nearer to completion, its structure would've had to bear more weight than the audit administration building which doesn't have the weights of claddings and finishings added to it yet. So while the derelict continued standing even without care or maintenance, a spanking new building that was supposed to be built using more modern techniques, materials and technologies collapsed like a house of cards.

 

Oh, and as one poster here mentioned, it's just one of the many tall buildings in BKK that did not collapse.

 

'The Chinese didn't build the Ghost Tower' is the simple answer, but I think the issue runs deeper than that and the corruption that surrounds the development and construction of the collapsed mess.

 

 

 

For the audit admin building it was the following:

 The contractors were Italian-Thai Development under the supervision of China Railway Engineering Corporation.^[

 

It wasn't a Chinese company doing the building. The rebar story that suddenly appeared out of nowhere led to a Chinese company allegedly. Now everyone thinks it was a Chinese building. Its a standard propaganda tactic

 

Here is a headline from ABC news Australia:

 

Beijing censors Bangkok high-rise collapse, as Chinese company faces investigations in Thailand