The waterlogged ground of an ageing Bang Lamphu shopping mall - ordered shut and demolished for ignoring building codes - has turned into a large fish pond.
After an inspection of the rusting, failing building on Monday, BMA officials (left) posted the former department store off-limits and began a committee to establish whether the fish should be removed so that the entire building can be torn down. (Photo by Pattarapong Chatpattarasill)
Visitors flocked to the site of the condemned New World department store to see and feed the fish, after images of the place were posted online.
It's not all fun, though. While it's closed to shoppers, the dangers raised by building inspectors remain and it could simply collapse at any time, not to mention the sanitation dangers.
The history of the fish pond dates back to 1994 when the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the seven-storey extension of the 11-storey New World. The judges uncovered the fact that the store operators originally asked for permission from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to construct a four-storey building.
The seven floors illegally added to New World were then demolished by the BMA. The work left a four-storey structure, with no roof or covering. Over the years, years of rain turned the waterlogged ground floor into a 500-square-metre pond.
The mostly stagnant pond became a breeding ground for mosquitoes. To fight that dangerous and annoying development, nearby residents bought fish of assorted species to eat the mosquitoes and larvae.
"The fish only came in around 2003-2004 after people around here were affected by the mosquito problems from the water-logging inside the New World building," said Sommai Chuanpak, who owns a coffee stand in front of the mall.
"We even bought carp and raised them. At first there were not many, but the number grew after several years. Now all the carp and other big fish have been stolen."
A noodle vendor known as Jae Toom said there were previously only about 10-20 visitors to the "New World Fish Pond", mostly residents who came to feed the fish.
"But since photos of the pond were shared on Facebook last week, many more outsiders have come to visit," said Jae Toom. "And that was when the BMA began to have problems with the fish pond."
Despite the fears of city officials, the New World's fish pond was not fetid and smelly, and was not a breeding ground of disease. No one nearby became sick. The proof, she said, is that the fish themselves have thrived.
But on Monday, the BMA's Pramern Kraisorn, assistant to the director of the city's Phra Nakhon district office, formally declared the derelict building, including its ground floor attraction, to be off limits. He ordered barricades to be put up to keep the public out, "for safety reasons, with immediate effect".
He said a BMA ban barred entry to the premises in 2011, although the order was ignored. The building is old and poses dangers for the public, which has violated the ban.
A committee will work with the BMA's Public Works Department to inspect the building and report its findings in a month, he said.
If found unsafe, the building will be demolished and the fish removed from the inundated floor, ending the rather strange tale of the New World Fish Pond.