Thailand’s eerie aeroplane graveyard spooks Bangkok residents
The scattered remains of several gutted aeroplanes are believed to be spooking residents living nearby an aircraft graveyard in Bangkok.
US photographer Dax Ward recently visited the site on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bangkok and made known the spot has an eerie feel to it while taking snaps of the abandoned aircraft believed to be worth over 3 trillion baht.
The graveyard is home to a 747 and two smaller MD-82 planes, which lie in bits. The space has become a cemetery for planes since January of 2010 when the nose sections of two Boeing 747s were left abandoned there.
Four years later, two MD-82 jetliners, formerly operated by Orient Thai Airlines, appeared in the junkyard. The MD-82 model was involved in a fatal crash at Phuket International Airport in 2007 where 89 people died. A year later those aircraft were joined by a 747.
Pictures courtesy of Atlas Obscura
If the aeroplane graveyard isn’t weird enough, several Thai families have moved into the skeletons of the planes and turned them into makeshift homes.
The families said it’s much better than living on the street. They earn money by stripping parts off the aircraft and selling them at a nearby recycling station. They also charge ghoulish visitors an entry fee between 100 baht to 800 baht to walk around the abandoned area.
It is believed the families living there have some sort of deal with the landowner to stay on the site.
Ward revealed there were plans to turn the area into an entertainment complex but it never took off.
The photographer said…
“The planes were supposedly placed there a few years ago by a foreign investor who wanted to create a special outdoor bar using the fuselage as a stage for the bands and service rooms for the bar crew.
“The project was a fiasco and the foreign investor left the site as it is.
“As far as I know, there are currently no plans to move them, although the land upon which they rest is quite expensive.”
The former computer scientist, who has been living in Bangkok since 2007, added…
“It is very eerie in the graveyard. There are children’s toys and other personal objects scattered around, left by people who have stayed there for whatever reason, almost making it feel like a crash site.
“In Thai culture places like this are often seen as haunted, even if no one has actually passed away at the location.”
One way to get to the aeroplane graveyard is to take a canal taxi that plies Klong Saen Saep. Take an eastbound boat to the last stop, which is Wat Sriboonruang on Ramkamhaeng Soi 101. From there, walk to the main road, turn right, and walk two blocks. The spot is at Soi 101.
SOURCE: Atlas Obscurer The Sun
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