Famous Landmark To Bite The Dust

[bkkjames]

I bring sad news today as we are about to lose one of the most photographed pre-1997 landmarks in the heart of the city.

Not just an eyesore for hundreds of thousands of tourists every year, the s-hel_l on sukhumvit soi 6 was also the home for many stray dogs and acted as a reliable storage ground for vendors. Over the last few years it became a canvas for some of the city's worst graffiti artists - even BNE paid it a visit from time to time.

While rumors of its demise have been on the cards for years, only recently has the BTS decided to takeover the land and to build a hotel.

For those of you feeling nostalgic and have bad memories of the area, and of this building in particular, I encourage you to visit the site one last time before it is gone.

Now if they can only do something with the sidewalks in front of it....

[Portlandstone]

Ha! I remember seeing that on my first trip on the skytrain one evening several years ago. I got off at a so called "Nana Plaza" because I had thought that the "Plaza" part of the name implied it would be a large shopping bizarre (like a CentralWorld or MoChit market) with many products and food courts, etc. Anyhow as I was going down the stairs I just stopped and looked up at this 'thing' and really didn't know what to think, other than "what the......?" It really didn't look so much ugly, more like shocking or odd. Anyways once I found the Nana Plaza I was in for something totally different.

Side question, what is this BNE we see all over the place? Just a big group of kids with too much time and cans of spray paint, or something more developed?

[ChangMaiSausage]

Always been a landmark to me many times when visiting Thailand I would stand and watch the soi dogs wandering/sleeping on the different levels.

[sbk]

I've wondered myself about the BNE thing.

fix the sidewalks? james, you are such an optimist

[thaihome]

I've wondered myself about the BNE thing.

fix the sidewalks? james, you are such an optimist

The are working their way down Sukhumvit redoing the sidewalks now. Looks like they will get to Soi 6 soon.

TH

[bkkjames]

I've wondered myself about the BNE thing.

fix the sidewalks? james, you are such an optimist

The are working their way down Sukhumvit redoing the sidewalks now. Looks like they will get to Soi 6 soon.

TH

Yes TH, this time they dug up the sand, put down some concrete this time, then more sand, then the bricks yet no sign of concrete between the bricks so don't wear your high heals mate.

[Portlandstone]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

[rgs2001uk]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

Wasnt it the old Shell garage, or was that at soi 10?

[midasthailand]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

A vacant block! I believe it was under construction at the time of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the banks have probably been fighting over ownership since. There are several other remnants of the crisis scattered throughout Bangkok, the most striking one to me is the enormous condo that was being built down near the river off Sathorn that sits to this day as a monument to incompetent banking practices.

Edited January 25, 2010 by midasthailand

[thaihome]

I've wondered myself about the BNE thing.

fix the sidewalks? james, you are such an optimist

The are working their way down Sukhumvit redoing the sidewalks now. Looks like they will get to Soi 6 soon.

TH

Yes TH, this time they dug up the sand, put down some concrete this time, then more sand, then the bricks yet no sign of concrete between the bricks so don't wear your high heals mate.

Ah, so you've walked on the "new" section from soi 12 to soi 10? Seems no better then before they redid it. Maybe they are going to come back an point the joints, don't know. The BMA has been redoing the sidewalks all over Bangkok (Suan Plu, Nang Linchi, etc) for some time now, This section is worst I have seen.

Walked by Saturday night as they were working at the Soi 10 corner. Looked to me like they were putting the stones on the mortar. This is different than the dry lay I have seen them do in other places. The section in front of Chuvit Park was done dry lay with sand only and with new pavers.

TH

[sbk]

I've wondered myself about the BNE thing.

fix the sidewalks? james, you are such an optimist

The are working their way down Sukhumvit redoing the sidewalks now. Looks like they will get to Soi 6 soon.

TH

Yes TH, this time they dug up the sand, put down some concrete this time, then more sand, then the bricks yet no sign of concrete between the bricks so don't wear your high heals mate.

Yes, I know

[PoorSucker]

I always have thought it would make a good scenery for a post apocalyptic film.

[Meridian007]

Finally! I remember when I first came to Thailand, and ventured downtown from the safety of my little area in Ratcha-Yothin, and thinking how strange it was to have a place that had obviously sat derelict for a while in an area of prime real estate.

BNE is an attempt at creating a "movement" the same way that "OBEY" was a decade or two ago. As far as most people can tell, there is no real message behind it, (unlike OBEY), so I think it is just mindless copy-cats doing what they think is "cool".

[salty]

If I had a hundred baht for all the times I walked past to and from Nana Skytrain.

[russianrobert]

There have been a few articles in the Bangkok Post recently about the "Ghost" buildings that are scattered around the city. Measures are underway to free them up from litigation and laws are being changed to allow the sites to be developed. Most will have to be demolished.

The plot of land which has been empty for a very long time, in front of said building (in the OP's original photo) was sold for a record price recently according to the Bangkok Post so perhaps we can expect some major developments there soon.

As for the sidewalks. I've been coming to BKK for about 15 years and this is the 3rd time i've seen them re-laying them. It's down to a mixture of corruption and shoddy building practises.

Bless 'em!

[beejoir]

BNE.....

http://animalnewyork.com/?s=bne&x=0&y=0

[ericthai]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

It is an unfinished building, Many of these unfinished building lurk about Bangkok. This is from the 1997 economic crash that before the crash the banks just gave out money for projects like there was no tomorrow, well tomorrow finally came mid 1997.

Maybe some day the others buildings will make way for new adventures.

[PattayaParent]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

It was intended to be a Honda showroom bbut it never got finished.

[bkkjames]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

It was intended to be a Honda showroom bbut it never got finished.

Honda showroom with 5 levels of above ground parking? No wonder it never got finished.

[dantilley]

Got to be among the most prime real estate in the country. Glad to hear it's finally being put to good use!

[CarlBkk]

Well it was only ever going to be another hotel or a Central Monopoly building. The BMA would never dream of glancing at a bid for something pleasant for the public. New parks only get built when land disputes get ugly and top Ministers get embarrassed.

[PattayaParent]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

It was intended to be a Honda showroom bbut it never got finished.

Honda showroom with 5 levels of above ground parking? No wonder it never got finished.

Think offices and stores for the spares.

[bkkjames]

what did this building use to be a long time ago?

It was intended to be a Honda showroom bbut it never got finished.

Honda showroom with 5 levels of above ground parking? No wonder it never got finished.

Think offices and stores for the spares.

haha ok, nothing more inspiring than trying to sell cars in front of some of Bangkok's worst traffic jams.

[DanaDeLuxe]

This is the other 'in-famous' landmark near Sathorn. I really like this building as it is a perfect symbol for the vanity of our business world...

After the crash it was rebuild a few hundred meters away to be the 'Meritus Suites Hotel' now 'LeBua'.

[RAZZELL]

This is the other 'in-famous' landmark near Sathorn. I really like this building as it is a perfect symbol for the vanity of our business world...

After the crash it was rebuild a few hundred meters away to be the 'Meritus Suites Hotel' now 'LeBua'.

Yeah, from memory you can see it out of the window of Lebua...It look's like it's ugly twin

RAZZ

[DP25]

The BMA would never dream of glancing at a bid for something pleasant for the public. New parks only get built when land disputes get ugly and top Ministers get embarrassed.

Something pleasant for the public? At Nana BTS? The park would have hookers hanging out in front all day and ladyboys turning tricks behind the trees.

[DanaDeLuxe]

This is the other 'in-famous' landmark near Sathorn. I really like this building as it is a perfect symbol for the vanity of our business world...

After the crash it was rebuild a few hundred meters away to be the 'Meritus Suites Hotel' now 'LeBua'.

Yeah, from memory you can see it out of the window of Lebua...It look's like it's ugly twin

RAZZ

Yes, you're right, the pic was actually taken from a balcony on 59th floor of the LeBua!

[tourleadersi]

The BMA would never dream of glancing at a bid for something pleasant for the public. New parks only get built when land disputes get ugly and top Ministers get embarrassed.

Something pleasant for the public? At Nana BTS? The park would have hookers hanging out in front all day and ladyboys turning tricks behind the trees.

and your point is?

[bkkjames]

The BMA would never dream of glancing at a bid for something pleasant for the public. New parks only get built when land disputes get ugly and top Ministers get embarrassed.

Something pleasant for the public? At Nana BTS? The park would have hookers hanging out in front all day and ladyboys turning tricks behind the trees.

and your point is?

The point being a park down the road on Soi 10 wouldn't like the competition.

[CTO]

It's a fascinating building - first time I saw it from the BTS I thought it must go up 10/20 stories - looking out it was only just taller than Nana BTS station.

There are still I think 300 unfinished buildings?

I used to live at Muang Thong Thani 2 - which had buildings 90% - 50% finished - it was used for a post apocalypse film site.