How to climb Bangkok’s Ghost Tower (Sathorn Unique) in 2020

Urban exploration in Bangkok's notorious abandoned skyscraper

Update (1st January, 2020): Although reports have been coming in of security guards letting people in for 500 baht, just as many people report the place being totally locked up with nobody around or not being let in without any opportunity to negotiate. One recent commenter at the bottom of this post said there were lots of other people there when they went, but go at your own risk – you can always try.

Climbing the Sathorn Unique – aka the Ghost Tower is probably one of the most popular activities for adventurers in Bangkok. Last year the abandoned building was supposedly closed after a Swedish man took his own life inside, however, we heard the guards at the bottom were letting people in for a small fee, and so we went.


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Our friends met us nearby and we headed into the creepy building. Our plan was to explore the place, shoot some photos and videos, and make it to the roof of the 49 story shell-of-a-building without anyone falling over the side or tumbling into an elevator shaft.

Sathorn Unique AKA Ghost Tower at night

About Sathorn Unique

The Sathorn Unique was built during the boom of the 90s as a towering 659 unit residential building with retail on the lower floors. The project, along with many others like it went bust during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, but unlike other developments, the money never returned and the building was left to decay. Today, locals believe the place is haunted.

How to get there

The easiest way to get to the Sathorn Unique is via the BTS (sky train). Take the Silom line to Saphan Taksin and the building is clearly visible from the station, just a couple of minutes walk away. The entrance is from the side road on the left of the building when you face it.

Climbing The Ghost Tower

We arrived around 3.30pm and walked up a few steps to the open ground floor which is being used to park cars now. There are some tables on your left and some men sitting around who will ask you for the admission price. While I think it’s illegal to go in, this being Thailand, people have found a way to flaunt the rules and make a buck. The entry fee is worth it, as they’ve installed lighting in one stairwell, and it makes it at least a bit less likely that there’ll be someone waiting up there to steal your camera gear. Unfortunately, they have a dual pricing system where Thais pay 100 Baht and foreigners 200. Some friends of ours were once charged 300 each. We got the local price by showing our drivers licenses.

Once inside we took our time climbing to the top, stopping often to explore the different rooms, corridors, stairwells, and balconies. It’s worth going slowly, not only because it’s exhausting in the heat, but also since a lot of the lower level floors are really interesting. It’s a huge building and you never know what you’ll find. There’s some pretty good graffiti in there too.

You really have to watch your step inside as without a light you could easily step into an elevator shaft which is an express trip straight to the ground floor. There are also big holes in the floor, collapsing walls, boards with rusty nails sticking out and other things to hurt or kill yourself on. Some sides of the building are not closed which means a straight walk over the edge to the road below. The building is a great place to watch the sun set over the river, and there are great city views after dark so it’s important to take a torch to go down (note that the gate shuts at 8pm, so don’t get locked in).

When we finally made it up the final flight of stairs, the rooftop was bathed in beautiful late-afternoon light. We set up the tripods and started shooting. Rather than bore you with descriptions, we’ll just leave you with a photo gallery and video. Let us know what you think in a comment below!

The Bangkok Ghost Tower is an awesome adventure, and totally worth a visit if you want to try something a little different.

Thanks to Tew and Quinn for some of these shots

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  • Lukas

    3 years ago

    Just went to had a look.
    The tower is completly locked up, all holes the fences where covered up and there is no security guards around.

    Worth a try but unfortunately no chance to get in.
    Does anyone know of any other abandoned buildings that a good for a climg?

  • Sam

    3 years ago

    Don’t waste your time coming here. I don’t think you can go up there anymore. There were no security guards. Only a squatter that won’t let anyone up and he doesn’t take bribes either. The residence around the area seemed to keep a look out about who comes and goes from the area as well.

  • imane

    3 years ago

    hello, petite info pour les futurs aventuriers de l’urbex, la ghost tower est maintenant inaccessible un squatteur ne laisse entrer personne. meme en voulant le payer il n’a pas voulu. de plus, ils ont bloque l’acces au rez de chaussez avec des portes blindees des cadenas et des chaines… nous etions tous bien degoutes!!! bon courage pour les suivants šŸ˜‰

  • Sid

    4 years ago

    21/09/2019 – 16:00
    Hello
    Just visited but couldn’t find any security guards. Asked a few locals / vendors / passers-by and they all said no entry. So I couldn’t find a way in.
    Not sure if I was just unlucky not finding security guards?

    Cheers
    Sid

  • Kitty

    4 years ago

    I tired with some friends this afternoon and we got in fine but the price is non negotiable at 500 Bhat. And we saw a lot of others on the way up and down.

    • Henry

      4 years ago

      Thank you for the update!

  • OJ_DRINKs_OJ

    4 years ago

    Hey people, I’m Thai and I want to tell you that this tower is deadly to go explore.If something happens no one will help you, and 1 thing scary is there was a ghost caught in the pass.

  • Pat

    4 years ago

    Hey, where did you get the information, that the tower is closed now? We saw some videos on youtube of people who did go there 1 months ago.

    • Benjamin Schaye

      4 years ago

      Hey Pat, Yeah we’ve seen a few people saying they’re getting in. Still wouldn’t recommend it though, chances are you’d be fine, but eventually, they’re going to catch someone and make an example out of them. That could mean jail, a huge fine, getting sued, or being deported (which is expensive and includes at least a few days in prison. The building’s owner has threatened huge lawsuits in the past. We’ve also seen way more people saying they couldn’t get in than those that could. It is super close to the Saphan Taksin BTS station so it’s easy to get over there. It’s kind of cool to see even from outside, so it wouldn’t be a total loss to go check it out.

    • Pat

      4 years ago

      Hey, thanks a lot for your quick answer! Was there a special reasons for changing the status the 25th feb? If it is true, that it is not possible anymore, this is super sad! I think the tower is one of the coolest attractions in Thailand

    • Benjamin Schaye

      4 years ago

      No special reason, we just noticed that page was still getting a lot of traffic so we wanted to update. It is too bad, but it’s understandable. It’s actually very easy to sue people in Thailand so it’s a lot of liability for the owner.

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