The Eerie Death of Airplanes in Bangkok

Have you ever imagined yourself in a post-apocalyptic world surrounded by things you would never expect to see abandoned? You can experience this first hand in Bangkok’s Airplane Graveyard filled with an eerie sense of what use to be. The graveyard, which is a coveted urban exploration known to backpackers, was on our obvious list of things to do in Bangkok. What we didn’t realize that it would take us not once, but twice to actually make it there. The public transportation system in Bangkok is one of the least reliable we’ve experienced in 8 months of travelling.

Once we finally got there and entered through the back of the field that held the airplanes we were relieved that we had escaped the entrance fee, but our joy was cut short after we took our first picture. A young Thai man and woman approached us saying, “You take picture, 200 bahts each!” Exhausted from our travel, we had no energy to negotiate with the price and gave them around $7 each. As they walked away, we noticed that their families had made a home within parts of the abandoned airplanes. About three families live in the airplanes and make a profit charging tourists to see the private property.

What was astonishing about the Airplane Graveyard was the size of the planes (one of which is a Boeing 747), which made us wonder how all five planes had ended up just outside the city of Bangkok. The land is rumored to be owned by a businessman selling the parts. The scrapyard began in 2010 with parts of the 747 and continued to grow in 2014 when an M-82 that was involved in an 89-person fatal crash was added. Stairs to the planes have been created by stacking old tires and the insides are completely stripped, creating the feeling of pure structure rather than the commercial flying we’re all use to. Of course we had to take our turns pretending to be a pilot and seeing the amount of controls was flabbergasting. It took us about an hour to stroll around and check out all the planes littered with its’ remaining pieces, graffiti, and overgrown plants that were taking over the area. If you find yourself in Bangkok and want an adventure of urban exploration, the Airplane Graveyard is the place to go!