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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Asia’s Financial Collapse – The ghost houses left behind (Gallery)

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Asia’s Financial Collapse. Mansions destined to belong to the super-rich lie abandoned in Bangkok following 1997 banking disaster.

These eerie pictures show the mansions destined to belong to the super-rich that now lie abandoned in Bangkok following Asia’s 1997 financial collapse.

The crumbling remains of deserted condominium housing and office towers can still be found throughout Thailand from the banking disaster nearly 20 years ago.

Images show how homes built for wealthy tycoons were abandoned when the crisis hit. And now the huge structures are in sharp decline with many overgrown and boarded up.

Technology teacher Dax Ward visited Nakhon Pathom, just outside Bangkok, in July and August this year to photograph the deteriorating buildings that once housed the rich.

He said: ‘The houses are certainly more dilapidated than they once were, but are in fair condition. Considering that they have been sitting around in the tropical climate for nearly 20 years without much upkeep.

‘They do still seem to have all of the original wooden doors and windows, which could have easily been stolen or taken away for scrap, but most of them still remain.

‘They are easily noticeable from the road as they are very distinctive from the greenery of the surrounding countryside.’

Two of the buildings that Ward photographed still house families, with the company that owns the site providing them with electricity and water for free.

‘The people currently living there are allowed to do so as long as they look after the place,’ Dax said.

Abandoned
‘The locations that are left abandoned are looked after by people of limited financial means, who are able to house themselves and family for free as long as they make sure the property is not damaged or trespassed by outsiders.

‘There are two families, with a total of 10 people, living there in two of the structures, while the other three, including the largest mansion with a pool in the back, are completely abandoned.’

While Ward was on edge with the nature of the rotting mansions, the families living there soon eased his concerns with their friendliness.

He said: ‘The people there are very kind and welcoming, which is true of many friendly ‘everyday’ people that I meet in rural areas across Thailand. They were welcoming to us and happy to have a chat.

‘The initial appearance of the multiple decaying mansions may give you a sense of being in a “ghost town” or haunted space.

‘It was eerily quiet and the atmosphere in the uninhabited areas was a little creepy, but I was certainly more worried about snakes than anything else.’

Eerie pictures show the mansions destined to belong to the super-rich that now lie abandoned in Bangkok following Asia’s 1997 financial collapse
Ghostly: The crumbling remains of deserted condominium housing and office towers can still be found throughout Thailand from the banking disaster nearly 20 years ago
Deserted: Images show how homes built for wealthy tycoons were abandoned when the crisis hit – and now the huge structures are in sharp decline with many overgrown and boarded up
Abandoned: Residents who now live in the abandoned buildings for free use the grand pillars to hang out their washing
Technology teacher Dax Ward visited Nakhon Pathom, just outside Bangkok, in July and August this year to photograph the deteriorating buildings that once housed the rich.
The empty buildings have been sitting empty in a tropical climate for nearly 20 years following the Asia banking crisis of 1997
Crumbling: Pictures taken inside one of the buildings show how the homes, built for wealthy tycoons, were quickly abandoned.
Dilapidated: Birds circle above a huge building that was once earmarked as a glamorous home before the financial crisis.
Two of the buildings that Ward photographed still house families, with the company that owns the site providing them with electricity and water for free
Landowners now let families stay in the homes for free and pay for their electricity and water on the understanding that the occupants look after the buildings.
A lizard sits on the front of a car left at the abandoned buildings in Nakhon Pathom, just outside of Bangkok.
The photographer said there were two families, with a total of 10 people, living in two of the structures, while three more buildings were completely empty
Overgrown: After 20 years, weeds and bushes have grown up around some of the grand structures in the neighbourhood
In decline: Asia’s 1997 financial crisis, which devastated even established Thai banks and businesses
Ward said the initial appearance of the multiple decaying mansions ‘may give you a sense of being in a “ghost town” or haunted space’
Ward said the initial appearance of the multiple decaying mansions ‘may give you a sense of being in a “ghost town” or haunted space’
The photograher said it was ‘eerily quiet’ in the area and that the atmosphere in the uninhabited areas ‘was a little creepy’
Pictures show a swimming pool with algae-covered water next to a glass-fronted building in the Nakhon Pathom region
Creepy: The houses have been left abandoned ever since the devastating financial crisis across Asia in 1997
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