Urban Exploration at Dragon Town, Bangkok

Imagine if you will a 1970s UK university campus designed by a homesick Chinese architect, then subsequently left empty, and you have the Dragon Town experience.

Built some four years ago in Bangkok’s Chula district as a shopping and entertainment complex, presumably for the millions of Chinese tourists who used to visit Bangkok and for the students at nearby  Chulalongkorn University, Dragon Town never quite took off and the few businesses that did open up there have now closed down due to the COVID pandemic.

With its empty alleyways, abandoned shophouses & restaurants, and numerous colourful walls & doorways, the complex is now little more than a playground for urban and street photographers, though the building work that was going on yesterday suggests that Dragon Town might just be about to reawaken.

Until then, visitors have full access to the complex and its buildings making it the perfect spot for a bit of urbex photography, and along with my regular photo buddy Neil Shelley, we spent an enjoyable hour or so there yesterday, soaking up its liminal vibes and getting some great images.