Thailand's Unfinished Structures

You can't go anywhere in Thailand without coming across some kind of building project that was abandoned for whatever reason. I'm not just talking about the skeleton structures in Bangkok that went bankrupt in 1997 (many of which have now either been completed or cleaned up), I'm talking about the myriad of aborted buildings all over the country, which blight views and landscapes everywhere.

This thread was inspired by a structure I saw in North Pattaya and I can't find out much about it. It was clearly visible from my hotel room just a few hundred yards away and it is a pier structure extending quite some distance out to sea. It looked like some old war time bombed out pier on the south coast of England, decaying and crumbling away into the water (all the pictures in this post were taken with my mobile phone, so sorry about the image quality)...

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It ruined the view, especially with the yard arms of the docks in the distance. We took a walk along the coast and as we got closer, it became clear it was a temple structure of some kind. Asking around, it was intended to be a magnificent temple out at sea and the project simply stalled due to a lack of money and was abandoned. The steel reinforcements are rotting and rusting while the concrete crumbles. I'm not sure how long it's been there but it looks like decades...

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Getting closer to the end of the pier, I couldn't help imagining how magnificent this project could have been had they finished it... but now it just looks like an old power station stuck in the middle of the blue sea... totally ugly and out of place...

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In fact, it is actually being used as a temple and there is a shrine in the lower level, which resembles a concrete multi story car park, with some young monks hanging around...

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As we walked back towards land, all I could ask was 'WHY?!.... Why do they do this?!!!'. The coastal views have been ruined by this error in judgement. All I can compare Thailand to in this regard is a teenage boy who buys a fast car he cannot afford on credit and then crashes it without insurance, leaving him with no vehicle and the unpaid finance for years to come.
Why does Thailand start so many projects that it cannot finance? Do they do this knowing they cannot afford it, on a wing and a prayer, thinking they can pray for finance in the future to save the project (of course, the finance rarely comes, if ever).
This sort of idiocy ruins Thailand and many beautiful places.

Does anyone know anything about this pier?

At least they were able to get the airport, BTS and MRT up and running. That says something I think. Your girl's a stunner by the way.

Well the highways that go nowhere and abruptly end is another prime example of projects that end because of dosh issues.

Mandrake, on 2008-01-03 21:05:43, said:

Maybe it takes those kind of people to plan building projects in Thailand. There are indeed many people like that, only in Thailand it's often thirty something grown-up men and not a teenage boy. I have a guy like that for an employee. He drove his yet new and uninsured car still on finance into the ditch (or Khlong) driving under influence which had the car written off, and that's after he got his uninsured motorcycle stolen, leaving his wife completely disgusted and dumped him.

Mandrake, on 2008-01-03 21:05:43, said:

It doesn't only show the lack of finance/money but lack of planning, feasibility study and foresight on their part. One of the tallest building I can see from my condo balcony in Bangkok (where I often have dinner with wife) is such skeletal unfinished structures (next to Bangkok Post head office) and it really ruins my balcony view. What a waste of money/resources they are.

I have heard of a few abandoned projects being resurrected in Muang Thong Thani recently though.

This post has been edited by Nordlys: 04 January 2008 - 12:41 AM

Interesting read in the IHT a couple of weeks ago, re blowing the money on big parties and then not having the money to complete...
http://www.iht.com/a...ties/rethai.php

Here's the unfinished temple at maximum zoom so we can see the beautiful background scenery.

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Great Scott Camerata!... you must have been in the very same room as us!

I was on the 8th floor of the Best Western Bella Villa Cabana Pattaya Hotel. I was trying out the zoom on my Sanyo Xacti CG65 camcorder. It's pretty good.

What are those ugly things in the background, anyway?

We were also on the eighth floor. I'll bet it was the same room
Which ugly things?... the yard arms of the docks?

camerata, on 2008-02-11 17:21:45, said:

I reckon it's a pretty good still image for a camcorder.

camerata, on 2008-02-11 17:21:45, said:

Cranes of Laem Chabang port (and Laem Chabang industrial estate).

How did you like the hotel btw?

Mandrake, on 2008-02-11 17:24:50, said:

Room 8117. Yes, the yard arms.

Nordlys, on 2008-02-11 17:32:59, said:

Yes. The still images at full zoom while holding the camera are impressive. But for video you need a tripod to get decent quality at full zoom.

Quote

Pretty good. Great view from the 8th floor and a nice sea breeze blowing through the lobby all day. I didn't like the Thai food there much though.

My gripe with the hotel was the hotel was the lack of a proper restaurant, the lack of a bar (except the beach bar) and frankly the staff were total incompetents. However, the pool area is nice and the stretch of beach it occupies is very quiet and free from the crowds. The rooms are big, bright, airy and comfortable.

Nordlys, on 2008-01-03 23:17:16, said:

'Plus Property Co, a subsidiary of Sansiri Plc, will remove the top floors at 11 of its Condo One low-rise condominiums to comply with city building limits. Chief executive Mayta Chanchamcharat said the company would also refund down payments to any unsatisfied buyers. The renovation and redesign could cost the company up to 400 million baht....'

Full story:
Plus forced to scrap top floors

Not the most well known unfinished structure... but certainly a very visible one is the concrete shell right outside the Nana BTS station, pictured here from the platform. Surely in a prime location such as this, someone has the money to either finish this building or start over???...

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I wonder is it safe to actually finish these buildings that have been left unfinished and uncared for for over 10 years now.

I've often seen these buildings on my trips to Thailand and wonderd how they came about. I guess it would be fairly easy in comarison for someone with a bit of foresight and enough money to set up sustainable business in a city such as Bangkok, with the right ideas of course.

I believe that if the concrete is not sealed, water cracks it and rusts the inner steel re bar rendering the building unsafe. They should fill all these structures with potted plants for elevated city gardens.

Love Monkey, on 2008-06-04 09:11:41, said:

In 1997 when the economic crisis hit Thailand, many of these developers had borrowed hundreds
of millions of US$ from US banks at the fixed rate of 25 baht to the dollar. When the baht was
floated, it reached a little over 50 and settled at 45. Suddenly a developer's debt had doubled
over night, and he was not even able to make interest payments. Thousands of non-performing
loans was the result, and unfinished buildings that the banks could do nothing with.

There's something I've been meaning to do for a while for this thread and I got round to it today, taking a few shots of the unfinished elevated transit running along a vast stretch of Viphavadee.
I've tried doing a little research about this but can't come up with anything. Whatever the case, this vast folly is there for all to see as they drive along the expressway. Thousands and thousands of concrete monuments to wasted money. I beleive it was intended to be some kind of elevated road and mass transit system, three seperate sections in width, enclosing the existing state rail line down the middle. It was never finished and now countless ugly columns blight the landscape for as far as the eye can see. Every few kilometres, you get a glimpse of what it might have looked like if it had been completed, a few sections having been enlosed, now decaying. Of course, the original trains still run along the whole length.
To give you an idea of the scale of this, the unfinished structures run from Mor Chit bus terminal all the way up to Don Muang Airport.
I'd be interested to know if anyone knows anything more about this mess and what went wrong...

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http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/MassTrans...ewellMain.shtml