#unfinished — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #unfinished, aggregated by home.social.
-
The Ghost Tower of Pattaya
Some buildings become landmarks because they were beautifully designed. Others become landmarks because they refuse to disappear.
I used to live close to this building in Pattaya.
Back then, I didn’t think of it as a landmark.
It was simply that enormous unfinished tower near Bali Hai Pier, standing beside Pattaya Bay and impossible to ignore.
I saw it from different places around the city. I passed it. I photographed it. I watched the skyline around it change while the building itself seemed frozen in time.
Years later, I realize that I wasn’t simply looking at an unfinished condominium.
I was watching a piece of Pattaya history.
The building that stopped
The building is The Waterfront Suites and Residence, a 53-storey condominium and hotel project beside Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
The project had been proposed years earlier, with development beginning in the 2000s and construction eventually getting underway. It was envisioned as a luxury waterfront development, the kind of project that would take advantage of one of Pattaya’s most spectacular locations.
And what a location it was.
The sea directly in front.
Bali Hai Pier below.
Pratumnak Hill behind it.
Boats constantly moving across the bay.
From a marketing perspective, it was almost impossible to imagine a better address.
But the building itself became controversial.
Its height and location drew intense criticism because it obstructed views from the Pratumnak Hill area, including the seaward view associated with the monument to Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, widely revered as the Father of the Royal Thai Navy.
Then came a much more serious problem.
In July 2014, Pattaya authorities ordered construction to stop after inspections found differences between parts of the building and the approved plans, particularly involving fire escapes and elevator systems. (The Pattaya News)
And that was it.
The tower stopped growing.
Pattaya didn’t.
A city moving around a frozen building
This is what makes the Waterfront so fascinating to me.
The city kept moving.
New condominiums appeared.
Hotels changed.
Restaurants opened and closed.
Tourists came and went.
The roads became busier.
The boats continued crossing Pattaya Bay.
Life continued around that enormous unfinished skeleton.
But the Waterfront remained almost exactly where it had been when construction stopped.
The tower became part of the skyline.
Not a beautiful landmark in the traditional sense.
Not a completed architectural masterpiece.
But a landmark nevertheless.
If you have spent enough time in Pattaya, you know the building.
You don’t need an address.
You don’t need a map.
Someone can simply say, “the unfinished building near Bali Hai,” and you know exactly which one they mean.
The story became more complicated
The construction halt was only the beginning.
Legal disputes followed. The developer faced lawsuits and financial difficulties and eventually filed for debt restructuring involving more than 2.3 billion baht. The company subsequently went bankrupt. (The Pattaya News)
The construction crane that had remained on top of the building for years was eventually removed in September 2018 because of safety concerns. (The Pattaya News)
And the building stayed.
For years, there were discussions about demolition, modification, legal proceedings and the possibility of somehow completing the project.
But none of those possibilities seemed capable of changing the strange reality that had already settled over Pattaya:
the building was here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
I have so many photographs of it
Maybe that is why I finally feel the need to write about it.
I have photographs of this building from different moments, different viewpoints and different moods.
Sometimes the sky behind it is an impossible blue.
Sometimes the sea is crowded with boats.
Sometimes the tower looks almost elegant from a distance.
And sometimes it looks exactly what it is: an enormous unfinished structure watching over the bay.
Yet somehow, I never got tired of photographing it.
Perhaps because every photograph captured something slightly different.
Or perhaps because I knew that buildings like this tell stories.
They tell us about ambition.
About money.
About regulations.
About mistakes.
About dreams that were bigger than the circumstances that were supposed to support them.
And sometimes, they tell us something about ourselves.
When I lived nearby
Living close to it made the building ordinary to me.
That may sound strange, considering how enormous it is.
But when something becomes part of your everyday landscape, you stop seeing it the way tourists do.
You simply know it is there.
It becomes one of those familiar pieces of your life that you don’t think much about until you leave.
And then, years later, you see a photograph and suddenly remember.
I used to live there.
I used to pass this place.
I remember seeing that building.
That is when a building stops being architecture and becomes memory.
For me, the Waterfront is now connected to a version of my life in Pattaya.
Not just the tower itself, but the roads around it, the sea, the boats, the heat, the movement of the city and those ordinary days that never seemed important enough to remember at the time.
Funny how memory works.
We don’t always remember the big events.
Sometimes we remember the view we saw every morning.
And now it is a landmark
There is a certain irony in the story of the Waterfront.
It was meant to become a landmark.
And it did.
Just not in the way anyone originally intended.
The project was supposed to represent luxury waterfront living.
Instead, it became a symbol of an unfinished dream.
It became known as Pattaya’s Ghost Tower.
And somehow, the ghost became part of the city.
As of 2026, the building’s future is still unresolved. Pattaya authorities are awaiting a Department of Lands ruling concerning the legality of the land title. If the title is found to have been unlawfully issued, demolition could follow. If it is upheld, the developer would need to pursue approvals to modify the building before any future development could proceed. (Pattaya Mail)
So even after more than a decade, the story isn’t over.
In February 2026, authorities were still taking legal action after finding that parts of the unfinished building were being used for unauthorized parking, despite the long-standing prohibition on using the structure. (The Pattaya News)
The building is still waiting for its final chapter.
Maybe that is why I keep taking pictures
One day, it may be gone.
Perhaps it will finally be demolished.
Perhaps the legal disputes will end and the site will become something completely different.
Perhaps, against all odds, some version of the project will rise again.
I don’t know.
But I do know that when I look at my photographs now, I see more than an abandoned tower.
I see Pattaya.
I see the city I once lived in.
I see the boats moving across the bay and the skyline growing around a building that never finished growing itself.
I see how quickly cities change, and how strangely some things remain.
The Waterfront was supposed to be a symbol of Pattaya’s future.
Instead, it became part of its past.
And perhaps that is the most unexpected thing about this building.
It failed to become what it was designed to be, but succeeded in becoming something nobody planned: a landmark.
A landmark made of unfinished concrete.
A landmark surrounded by stories.
A landmark that has watched Pattaya change for more than a decade.
And for me, it will always be something else, too.
It will be the Ghost Tower I used to live near.
💖💖💖
#blog #Pattaya #thailand #travel #unfinished -
The Ghost Tower of Pattaya
Some buildings become landmarks because they were beautifully designed. Others become landmarks because they refuse to disappear.
I used to live close to this building in Pattaya.
Back then, I didn’t think of it as a landmark.
It was simply that enormous unfinished tower near Bali Hai Pier, standing beside Pattaya Bay and impossible to ignore.
I saw it from different places around the city. I passed it. I photographed it. I watched the skyline around it change while the building itself seemed frozen in time.
Years later, I realize that I wasn’t simply looking at an unfinished condominium.
I was watching a piece of Pattaya history.
The building that stopped
The building is The Waterfront Suites and Residence, a 53-storey condominium and hotel project beside Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
The project had been proposed years earlier, with development beginning in the 2000s and construction eventually getting underway. It was envisioned as a luxury waterfront development, the kind of project that would take advantage of one of Pattaya’s most spectacular locations.
And what a location it was.
The sea directly in front.
Bali Hai Pier below.
Pratumnak Hill behind it.
Boats constantly moving across the bay.
From a marketing perspective, it was almost impossible to imagine a better address.
But the building itself became controversial.
Its height and location drew intense criticism because it obstructed views from the Pratumnak Hill area, including the seaward view associated with the monument to Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, widely revered as the Father of the Royal Thai Navy.
Then came a much more serious problem.
In July 2014, Pattaya authorities ordered construction to stop after inspections found differences between parts of the building and the approved plans, particularly involving fire escapes and elevator systems. (The Pattaya News)
And that was it.
The tower stopped growing.
Pattaya didn’t.
A city moving around a frozen building
This is what makes the Waterfront so fascinating to me.
The city kept moving.
New condominiums appeared.
Hotels changed.
Restaurants opened and closed.
Tourists came and went.
The roads became busier.
The boats continued crossing Pattaya Bay.
Life continued around that enormous unfinished skeleton.
But the Waterfront remained almost exactly where it had been when construction stopped.
The tower became part of the skyline.
Not a beautiful landmark in the traditional sense.
Not a completed architectural masterpiece.
But a landmark nevertheless.
If you have spent enough time in Pattaya, you know the building.
You don’t need an address.
You don’t need a map.
Someone can simply say, “the unfinished building near Bali Hai,” and you know exactly which one they mean.
The story became more complicated
The construction halt was only the beginning.
Legal disputes followed. The developer faced lawsuits and financial difficulties and eventually filed for debt restructuring involving more than 2.3 billion baht. The company subsequently went bankrupt. (The Pattaya News)
The construction crane that had remained on top of the building for years was eventually removed in September 2018 because of safety concerns. (The Pattaya News)
And the building stayed.
For years, there were discussions about demolition, modification, legal proceedings and the possibility of somehow completing the project.
But none of those possibilities seemed capable of changing the strange reality that had already settled over Pattaya:
the building was here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
I have so many photographs of it
Maybe that is why I finally feel the need to write about it.
I have photographs of this building from different moments, different viewpoints and different moods.
Sometimes the sky behind it is an impossible blue.
Sometimes the sea is crowded with boats.
Sometimes the tower looks almost elegant from a distance.
And sometimes it looks exactly what it is: an enormous unfinished structure watching over the bay.
Yet somehow, I never got tired of photographing it.
Perhaps because every photograph captured something slightly different.
Or perhaps because I knew that buildings like this tell stories.
They tell us about ambition.
About money.
About regulations.
About mistakes.
About dreams that were bigger than the circumstances that were supposed to support them.
And sometimes, they tell us something about ourselves.
When I lived nearby
Living close to it made the building ordinary to me.
That may sound strange, considering how enormous it is.
But when something becomes part of your everyday landscape, you stop seeing it the way tourists do.
You simply know it is there.
It becomes one of those familiar pieces of your life that you don’t think much about until you leave.
And then, years later, you see a photograph and suddenly remember.
I used to live there.
I used to pass this place.
I remember seeing that building.
That is when a building stops being architecture and becomes memory.
For me, the Waterfront is now connected to a version of my life in Pattaya.
Not just the tower itself, but the roads around it, the sea, the boats, the heat, the movement of the city and those ordinary days that never seemed important enough to remember at the time.
Funny how memory works.
We don’t always remember the big events.
Sometimes we remember the view we saw every morning.
And now it is a landmark
There is a certain irony in the story of the Waterfront.
It was meant to become a landmark.
And it did.
Just not in the way anyone originally intended.
The project was supposed to represent luxury waterfront living.
Instead, it became a symbol of an unfinished dream.
It became known as Pattaya’s Ghost Tower.
And somehow, the ghost became part of the city.
As of 2026, the building’s future is still unresolved. Pattaya authorities are awaiting a Department of Lands ruling concerning the legality of the land title. If the title is found to have been unlawfully issued, demolition could follow. If it is upheld, the developer would need to pursue approvals to modify the building before any future development could proceed. (Pattaya Mail)
So even after more than a decade, the story isn’t over.
In February 2026, authorities were still taking legal action after finding that parts of the unfinished building were being used for unauthorized parking, despite the long-standing prohibition on using the structure. (The Pattaya News)
The building is still waiting for its final chapter.
Maybe that is why I keep taking pictures
One day, it may be gone.
Perhaps it will finally be demolished.
Perhaps the legal disputes will end and the site will become something completely different.
Perhaps, against all odds, some version of the project will rise again.
I don’t know.
But I do know that when I look at my photographs now, I see more than an abandoned tower.
I see Pattaya.
I see the city I once lived in.
I see the boats moving across the bay and the skyline growing around a building that never finished growing itself.
I see how quickly cities change, and how strangely some things remain.
The Waterfront was supposed to be a symbol of Pattaya’s future.
Instead, it became part of its past.
And perhaps that is the most unexpected thing about this building.
It failed to become what it was designed to be, but succeeded in becoming something nobody planned: a landmark.
A landmark made of unfinished concrete.
A landmark surrounded by stories.
A landmark that has watched Pattaya change for more than a decade.
And for me, it will always be something else, too.
It will be the Ghost Tower I used to live near.
💖💖💖
#blog #Pattaya #thailand #travel #unfinished -
The Ghost Tower of Pattaya
Some buildings become landmarks because they were beautifully designed. Others become landmarks because they refuse to disappear.
I used to live close to this building in Pattaya.
Back then, I didn’t think of it as a landmark.
It was simply that enormous unfinished tower near Bali Hai Pier, standing beside Pattaya Bay and impossible to ignore.
I saw it from different places around the city. I passed it. I photographed it. I watched the skyline around it change while the building itself seemed frozen in time.
Years later, I realize that I wasn’t simply looking at an unfinished condominium.
I was watching a piece of Pattaya history.
The building that stopped
The building is The Waterfront Suites and Residence, a 53-storey condominium and hotel project beside Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
The project had been proposed years earlier, with development beginning in the 2000s and construction eventually getting underway. It was envisioned as a luxury waterfront development, the kind of project that would take advantage of one of Pattaya’s most spectacular locations.
And what a location it was.
The sea directly in front.
Bali Hai Pier below.
Pratumnak Hill behind it.
Boats constantly moving across the bay.
From a marketing perspective, it was almost impossible to imagine a better address.
But the building itself became controversial.
Its height and location drew intense criticism because it obstructed views from the Pratumnak Hill area, including the seaward view associated with the monument to Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, widely revered as the Father of the Royal Thai Navy.
Then came a much more serious problem.
In July 2014, Pattaya authorities ordered construction to stop after inspections found differences between parts of the building and the approved plans, particularly involving fire escapes and elevator systems. (The Pattaya News)
And that was it.
The tower stopped growing.
Pattaya didn’t.
A city moving around a frozen building
This is what makes the Waterfront so fascinating to me.
The city kept moving.
New condominiums appeared.
Hotels changed.
Restaurants opened and closed.
Tourists came and went.
The roads became busier.
The boats continued crossing Pattaya Bay.
Life continued around that enormous unfinished skeleton.
But the Waterfront remained almost exactly where it had been when construction stopped.
The tower became part of the skyline.
Not a beautiful landmark in the traditional sense.
Not a completed architectural masterpiece.
But a landmark nevertheless.
If you have spent enough time in Pattaya, you know the building.
You don’t need an address.
You don’t need a map.
Someone can simply say, “the unfinished building near Bali Hai,” and you know exactly which one they mean.
The story became more complicated
The construction halt was only the beginning.
Legal disputes followed. The developer faced lawsuits and financial difficulties and eventually filed for debt restructuring involving more than 2.3 billion baht. The company subsequently went bankrupt. (The Pattaya News)
The construction crane that had remained on top of the building for years was eventually removed in September 2018 because of safety concerns. (The Pattaya News)
And the building stayed.
For years, there were discussions about demolition, modification, legal proceedings and the possibility of somehow completing the project.
But none of those possibilities seemed capable of changing the strange reality that had already settled over Pattaya:
the building was here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
I have so many photographs of it
Maybe that is why I finally feel the need to write about it.
I have photographs of this building from different moments, different viewpoints and different moods.
Sometimes the sky behind it is an impossible blue.
Sometimes the sea is crowded with boats.
Sometimes the tower looks almost elegant from a distance.
And sometimes it looks exactly what it is: an enormous unfinished structure watching over the bay.
Yet somehow, I never got tired of photographing it.
Perhaps because every photograph captured something slightly different.
Or perhaps because I knew that buildings like this tell stories.
They tell us about ambition.
About money.
About regulations.
About mistakes.
About dreams that were bigger than the circumstances that were supposed to support them.
And sometimes, they tell us something about ourselves.
When I lived nearby
Living close to it made the building ordinary to me.
That may sound strange, considering how enormous it is.
But when something becomes part of your everyday landscape, you stop seeing it the way tourists do.
You simply know it is there.
It becomes one of those familiar pieces of your life that you don’t think much about until you leave.
And then, years later, you see a photograph and suddenly remember.
I used to live there.
I used to pass this place.
I remember seeing that building.
That is when a building stops being architecture and becomes memory.
For me, the Waterfront is now connected to a version of my life in Pattaya.
Not just the tower itself, but the roads around it, the sea, the boats, the heat, the movement of the city and those ordinary days that never seemed important enough to remember at the time.
Funny how memory works.
We don’t always remember the big events.
Sometimes we remember the view we saw every morning.
And now it is a landmark
There is a certain irony in the story of the Waterfront.
It was meant to become a landmark.
And it did.
Just not in the way anyone originally intended.
The project was supposed to represent luxury waterfront living.
Instead, it became a symbol of an unfinished dream.
It became known as Pattaya’s Ghost Tower.
And somehow, the ghost became part of the city.
As of 2026, the building’s future is still unresolved. Pattaya authorities are awaiting a Department of Lands ruling concerning the legality of the land title. If the title is found to have been unlawfully issued, demolition could follow. If it is upheld, the developer would need to pursue approvals to modify the building before any future development could proceed. (Pattaya Mail)
So even after more than a decade, the story isn’t over.
In February 2026, authorities were still taking legal action after finding that parts of the unfinished building were being used for unauthorized parking, despite the long-standing prohibition on using the structure. (The Pattaya News)
The building is still waiting for its final chapter.
Maybe that is why I keep taking pictures
One day, it may be gone.
Perhaps it will finally be demolished.
Perhaps the legal disputes will end and the site will become something completely different.
Perhaps, against all odds, some version of the project will rise again.
I don’t know.
But I do know that when I look at my photographs now, I see more than an abandoned tower.
I see Pattaya.
I see the city I once lived in.
I see the boats moving across the bay and the skyline growing around a building that never finished growing itself.
I see how quickly cities change, and how strangely some things remain.
The Waterfront was supposed to be a symbol of Pattaya’s future.
Instead, it became part of its past.
And perhaps that is the most unexpected thing about this building.
It failed to become what it was designed to be, but succeeded in becoming something nobody planned: a landmark.
A landmark made of unfinished concrete.
A landmark surrounded by stories.
A landmark that has watched Pattaya change for more than a decade.
And for me, it will always be something else, too.
It will be the Ghost Tower I used to live near.
💖💖💖
#blog #Pattaya #thailand #travel #unfinished -
The Ghost Tower of Pattaya
Some buildings become landmarks because they were beautifully designed. Others become landmarks because they refuse to disappear.
I used to live close to this building in Pattaya.
Back then, I didn’t think of it as a landmark.
It was simply that enormous unfinished tower near Bali Hai Pier, standing beside Pattaya Bay and impossible to ignore.
I saw it from different places around the city. I passed it. I photographed it. I watched the skyline around it change while the building itself seemed frozen in time.
Years later, I realize that I wasn’t simply looking at an unfinished condominium.
I was watching a piece of Pattaya history.
The building that stopped
The building is The Waterfront Suites and Residence, a 53-storey condominium and hotel project beside Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
The project had been proposed years earlier, with development beginning in the 2000s and construction eventually getting underway. It was envisioned as a luxury waterfront development, the kind of project that would take advantage of one of Pattaya’s most spectacular locations.
And what a location it was.
The sea directly in front.
Bali Hai Pier below.
Pratumnak Hill behind it.
Boats constantly moving across the bay.
From a marketing perspective, it was almost impossible to imagine a better address.
But the building itself became controversial.
Its height and location drew intense criticism because it obstructed views from the Pratumnak Hill area, including the seaward view associated with the monument to Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, widely revered as the Father of the Royal Thai Navy.
Then came a much more serious problem.
In July 2014, Pattaya authorities ordered construction to stop after inspections found differences between parts of the building and the approved plans, particularly involving fire escapes and elevator systems. (The Pattaya News)
And that was it.
The tower stopped growing.
Pattaya didn’t.
A city moving around a frozen building
This is what makes the Waterfront so fascinating to me.
The city kept moving.
New condominiums appeared.
Hotels changed.
Restaurants opened and closed.
Tourists came and went.
The roads became busier.
The boats continued crossing Pattaya Bay.
Life continued around that enormous unfinished skeleton.
But the Waterfront remained almost exactly where it had been when construction stopped.
The tower became part of the skyline.
Not a beautiful landmark in the traditional sense.
Not a completed architectural masterpiece.
But a landmark nevertheless.
If you have spent enough time in Pattaya, you know the building.
You don’t need an address.
You don’t need a map.
Someone can simply say, “the unfinished building near Bali Hai,” and you know exactly which one they mean.
The story became more complicated
The construction halt was only the beginning.
Legal disputes followed. The developer faced lawsuits and financial difficulties and eventually filed for debt restructuring involving more than 2.3 billion baht. The company subsequently went bankrupt. (The Pattaya News)
The construction crane that had remained on top of the building for years was eventually removed in September 2018 because of safety concerns. (The Pattaya News)
And the building stayed.
For years, there were discussions about demolition, modification, legal proceedings and the possibility of somehow completing the project.
But none of those possibilities seemed capable of changing the strange reality that had already settled over Pattaya:
the building was here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
I have so many photographs of it
Maybe that is why I finally feel the need to write about it.
I have photographs of this building from different moments, different viewpoints and different moods.
Sometimes the sky behind it is an impossible blue.
Sometimes the sea is crowded with boats.
Sometimes the tower looks almost elegant from a distance.
And sometimes it looks exactly what it is: an enormous unfinished structure watching over the bay.
Yet somehow, I never got tired of photographing it.
Perhaps because every photograph captured something slightly different.
Or perhaps because I knew that buildings like this tell stories.
They tell us about ambition.
About money.
About regulations.
About mistakes.
About dreams that were bigger than the circumstances that were supposed to support them.
And sometimes, they tell us something about ourselves.
When I lived nearby
Living close to it made the building ordinary to me.
That may sound strange, considering how enormous it is.
But when something becomes part of your everyday landscape, you stop seeing it the way tourists do.
You simply know it is there.
It becomes one of those familiar pieces of your life that you don’t think much about until you leave.
And then, years later, you see a photograph and suddenly remember.
I used to live there.
I used to pass this place.
I remember seeing that building.
That is when a building stops being architecture and becomes memory.
For me, the Waterfront is now connected to a version of my life in Pattaya.
Not just the tower itself, but the roads around it, the sea, the boats, the heat, the movement of the city and those ordinary days that never seemed important enough to remember at the time.
Funny how memory works.
We don’t always remember the big events.
Sometimes we remember the view we saw every morning.
And now it is a landmark
There is a certain irony in the story of the Waterfront.
It was meant to become a landmark.
And it did.
Just not in the way anyone originally intended.
The project was supposed to represent luxury waterfront living.
Instead, it became a symbol of an unfinished dream.
It became known as Pattaya’s Ghost Tower.
And somehow, the ghost became part of the city.
As of 2026, the building’s future is still unresolved. Pattaya authorities are awaiting a Department of Lands ruling concerning the legality of the land title. If the title is found to have been unlawfully issued, demolition could follow. If it is upheld, the developer would need to pursue approvals to modify the building before any future development could proceed. (Pattaya Mail)
So even after more than a decade, the story isn’t over.
In February 2026, authorities were still taking legal action after finding that parts of the unfinished building were being used for unauthorized parking, despite the long-standing prohibition on using the structure. (The Pattaya News)
The building is still waiting for its final chapter.
Maybe that is why I keep taking pictures
One day, it may be gone.
Perhaps it will finally be demolished.
Perhaps the legal disputes will end and the site will become something completely different.
Perhaps, against all odds, some version of the project will rise again.
I don’t know.
But I do know that when I look at my photographs now, I see more than an abandoned tower.
I see Pattaya.
I see the city I once lived in.
I see the boats moving across the bay and the skyline growing around a building that never finished growing itself.
I see how quickly cities change, and how strangely some things remain.
The Waterfront was supposed to be a symbol of Pattaya’s future.
Instead, it became part of its past.
And perhaps that is the most unexpected thing about this building.
It failed to become what it was designed to be, but succeeded in becoming something nobody planned: a landmark.
A landmark made of unfinished concrete.
A landmark surrounded by stories.
A landmark that has watched Pattaya change for more than a decade.
And for me, it will always be something else, too.
It will be the Ghost Tower I used to live near.
💖💖💖
#blog #Pattaya #thailand #travel #unfinished -
The Ghost Tower of Pattaya
Some buildings become landmarks because they were beautifully designed. Others become landmarks because they refuse to disappear.
I used to live close to this building in Pattaya.
Back then, I didn’t think of it as a landmark.
It was simply that enormous unfinished tower near Bali Hai Pier, standing beside Pattaya Bay and impossible to ignore.
I saw it from different places around the city. I passed it. I photographed it. I watched the skyline around it change while the building itself seemed frozen in time.
Years later, I realize that I wasn’t simply looking at an unfinished condominium.
I was watching a piece of Pattaya history.
The building that stopped
The building is The Waterfront Suites and Residence, a 53-storey condominium and hotel project beside Bali Hai Pier in South Pattaya.
The project had been proposed years earlier, with development beginning in the 2000s and construction eventually getting underway. It was envisioned as a luxury waterfront development, the kind of project that would take advantage of one of Pattaya’s most spectacular locations.
And what a location it was.
The sea directly in front.
Bali Hai Pier below.
Pratumnak Hill behind it.
Boats constantly moving across the bay.
From a marketing perspective, it was almost impossible to imagine a better address.
But the building itself became controversial.
Its height and location drew intense criticism because it obstructed views from the Pratumnak Hill area, including the seaward view associated with the monument to Prince Abhakara Kiartivongse, widely revered as the Father of the Royal Thai Navy.
Then came a much more serious problem.
In July 2014, Pattaya authorities ordered construction to stop after inspections found differences between parts of the building and the approved plans, particularly involving fire escapes and elevator systems. (The Pattaya News)
And that was it.
The tower stopped growing.
Pattaya didn’t.
A city moving around a frozen building
This is what makes the Waterfront so fascinating to me.
The city kept moving.
New condominiums appeared.
Hotels changed.
Restaurants opened and closed.
Tourists came and went.
The roads became busier.
The boats continued crossing Pattaya Bay.
Life continued around that enormous unfinished skeleton.
But the Waterfront remained almost exactly where it had been when construction stopped.
The tower became part of the skyline.
Not a beautiful landmark in the traditional sense.
Not a completed architectural masterpiece.
But a landmark nevertheless.
If you have spent enough time in Pattaya, you know the building.
You don’t need an address.
You don’t need a map.
Someone can simply say, “the unfinished building near Bali Hai,” and you know exactly which one they mean.
The story became more complicated
The construction halt was only the beginning.
Legal disputes followed. The developer faced lawsuits and financial difficulties and eventually filed for debt restructuring involving more than 2.3 billion baht. The company subsequently went bankrupt. (The Pattaya News)
The construction crane that had remained on top of the building for years was eventually removed in September 2018 because of safety concerns. (The Pattaya News)
And the building stayed.
For years, there were discussions about demolition, modification, legal proceedings and the possibility of somehow completing the project.
But none of those possibilities seemed capable of changing the strange reality that had already settled over Pattaya:
the building was here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.
I have so many photographs of it
Maybe that is why I finally feel the need to write about it.
I have photographs of this building from different moments, different viewpoints and different moods.
Sometimes the sky behind it is an impossible blue.
Sometimes the sea is crowded with boats.
Sometimes the tower looks almost elegant from a distance.
And sometimes it looks exactly what it is: an enormous unfinished structure watching over the bay.
Yet somehow, I never got tired of photographing it.
Perhaps because every photograph captured something slightly different.
Or perhaps because I knew that buildings like this tell stories.
They tell us about ambition.
About money.
About regulations.
About mistakes.
About dreams that were bigger than the circumstances that were supposed to support them.
And sometimes, they tell us something about ourselves.
When I lived nearby
Living close to it made the building ordinary to me.
That may sound strange, considering how enormous it is.
But when something becomes part of your everyday landscape, you stop seeing it the way tourists do.
You simply know it is there.
It becomes one of those familiar pieces of your life that you don’t think much about until you leave.
And then, years later, you see a photograph and suddenly remember.
I used to live there.
I used to pass this place.
I remember seeing that building.
That is when a building stops being architecture and becomes memory.
For me, the Waterfront is now connected to a version of my life in Pattaya.
Not just the tower itself, but the roads around it, the sea, the boats, the heat, the movement of the city and those ordinary days that never seemed important enough to remember at the time.
Funny how memory works.
We don’t always remember the big events.
Sometimes we remember the view we saw every morning.
And now it is a landmark
There is a certain irony in the story of the Waterfront.
It was meant to become a landmark.
And it did.
Just not in the way anyone originally intended.
The project was supposed to represent luxury waterfront living.
Instead, it became a symbol of an unfinished dream.
It became known as Pattaya’s Ghost Tower.
And somehow, the ghost became part of the city.
As of 2026, the building’s future is still unresolved. Pattaya authorities are awaiting a Department of Lands ruling concerning the legality of the land title. If the title is found to have been unlawfully issued, demolition could follow. If it is upheld, the developer would need to pursue approvals to modify the building before any future development could proceed. (Pattaya Mail)
So even after more than a decade, the story isn’t over.
In February 2026, authorities were still taking legal action after finding that parts of the unfinished building were being used for unauthorized parking, despite the long-standing prohibition on using the structure. (The Pattaya News)
The building is still waiting for its final chapter.
Maybe that is why I keep taking pictures
One day, it may be gone.
Perhaps it will finally be demolished.
Perhaps the legal disputes will end and the site will become something completely different.
Perhaps, against all odds, some version of the project will rise again.
I don’t know.
But I do know that when I look at my photographs now, I see more than an abandoned tower.
I see Pattaya.
I see the city I once lived in.
I see the boats moving across the bay and the skyline growing around a building that never finished growing itself.
I see how quickly cities change, and how strangely some things remain.
The Waterfront was supposed to be a symbol of Pattaya’s future.
Instead, it became part of its past.
And perhaps that is the most unexpected thing about this building.
It failed to become what it was designed to be, but succeeded in becoming something nobody planned: a landmark.
A landmark made of unfinished concrete.
A landmark surrounded by stories.
A landmark that has watched Pattaya change for more than a decade.
And for me, it will always be something else, too.
It will be the Ghost Tower I used to live near.
💖💖💖
#blog #Pattaya #thailand #travel #unfinished -
#unfinished : not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
I have now separated the sleeves from my Juhannusyöt cardigan.
I’m so excited to knit this one that I hardly wouldn’t do anything else 😄.#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #JaanaAlsoKnits #JaanaMyösKutoo #knitting #knittingacardigan #cardigan #wip #unfinished #juhannusyötcardigan #knitter #handmade #neulonta #kudonta #neulottu #neulottuneuletakki #neuletakki #keskeneräinen #juhannusyötneuletakki #neuloja #kutoja
-
I have now separated the sleeves from my Juhannusyöt cardigan.
I’m so excited to knit this one that I hardly wouldn’t do anything else 😄.#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #JaanaAlsoKnits #JaanaMyösKutoo #knitting #knittingacardigan #cardigan #wip #unfinished #juhannusyötcardigan #knitter #handmade #neulonta #kudonta #neulottu #neulottuneuletakki #neuletakki #keskeneräinen #juhannusyötneuletakki #neuloja #kutoja
-
Sunday Things #1
There’s something about Sundays that feels different. The week slows down just enough to catch its breath, and for a little while, everything feels a little quieter. This week wasn’t the easiest. A sinus infection and a stomach bug forced me to slow down in ways I didn’t want to. I missed work, spent more time resting than doing, and was reminded that sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us. It wasn’t the week I had planned, but it was the week I needed. ☕ This Week’s […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/sunday-things-1/
-
Sunday Things #1
There’s something about Sundays that feels different. The week slows down just enough to catch its breath, and for a little while, everything feels a little quieter. This week wasn’t the easiest. A sinus infection and a stomach bug forced me to slow down in ways I didn’t want to. I missed work, spent more time resting than doing, and was reminded that sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us. It wasn’t the week I had planned, but it was the week I needed. ☕ This Week’s […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/sunday-things-1/
-
Sunday Things #1
There’s something about Sundays that feels different. The week slows down just enough to catch its breath, and for a little while, everything feels a little quieter. This week wasn’t the easiest. A sinus infection and a stomach bug forced me to slow down in ways I didn’t want to. I missed work, spent more time resting than doing, and was reminded that sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us. It wasn’t the week I had planned, but it was the week I needed. ☕ This Week’s […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/sunday-things-1/
-
Sunday Things #1
There’s something about Sundays that feels different. The week slows down just enough to catch its breath, and for a little while, everything feels a little quieter. This week wasn’t the easiest. A sinus infection and a stomach bug forced me to slow down in ways I didn’t want to. I missed work, spent more time resting than doing, and was reminded that sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us. It wasn’t the week I had planned, but it was the week I needed. ☕ This Week’s […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/sunday-things-1/
-
Sunday Things #1
There’s something about Sundays that feels different. The week slows down just enough to catch its breath, and for a little while, everything feels a little quieter. This week wasn’t the easiest. A sinus infection and a stomach bug forced me to slow down in ways I didn’t want to. I missed work, spent more time resting than doing, and was reminded that sometimes our bodies make the decisions for us. It wasn’t the week I had planned, but it was the week I needed. ☕ This Week’s […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/19/sunday-things-1/
-
Notebook Pages #1
Before we begin… Notebook Pages is where I’ll share the things that haven’t quite found a home yet—poems, story ideas, fragments, questions, and the words that end up in the margins before they become something bigger. Not everything I write is meant to become a finished piece. Some thoughts are complete exactly as they are. And I think there’s something beautiful about that. I’ve always written in the margins. Not because I ran out of room, but because that’s where the […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/notebook-pages-1/
-
Notebook Pages #1
Before we begin… Notebook Pages is where I’ll share the things that haven’t quite found a home yet—poems, story ideas, fragments, questions, and the words that end up in the margins before they become something bigger. Not everything I write is meant to become a finished piece. Some thoughts are complete exactly as they are. And I think there’s something beautiful about that. I’ve always written in the margins. Not because I ran out of room, but because that’s where the […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/notebook-pages-1/
-
Notebook Pages #1
Before we begin… Notebook Pages is where I’ll share the things that haven’t quite found a home yet—poems, story ideas, fragments, questions, and the words that end up in the margins before they become something bigger. Not everything I write is meant to become a finished piece. Some thoughts are complete exactly as they are. And I think there’s something beautiful about that. I’ve always written in the margins. Not because I ran out of room, but because that’s where the […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/notebook-pages-1/
-
Notebook Pages #1
Before we begin… Notebook Pages is where I’ll share the things that haven’t quite found a home yet—poems, story ideas, fragments, questions, and the words that end up in the margins before they become something bigger. Not everything I write is meant to become a finished piece. Some thoughts are complete exactly as they are. And I think there’s something beautiful about that. I’ve always written in the margins. Not because I ran out of room, but because that’s where the […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/notebook-pages-1/
-
Notebook Pages #1
Before we begin… Notebook Pages is where I’ll share the things that haven’t quite found a home yet—poems, story ideas, fragments, questions, and the words that end up in the margins before they become something bigger. Not everything I write is meant to become a finished piece. Some thoughts are complete exactly as they are. And I think there’s something beautiful about that. I’ve always written in the margins. Not because I ran out of room, but because that’s where the […]https://destinylaharris.wordpress.com/2026/07/18/notebook-pages-1/
-
Orthodox church... a war memorial https://buff.ly/3tiP1e9 i#ir850nm #infrarød #abandoned #prishtina #infrared #church #overgrown #ortodox #forgotten #unfinished #ir2026 #pristina #ir #serbian #kosovo #lifepixel #warremains #remains #converteddigital #digitalir #digitalinfrared
-
Orthodox church... a war memorial https://buff.ly/3tiP1e9 i#ir850nm #infrarød #abandoned #prishtina #infrared #church #overgrown #ortodox #forgotten #unfinished #ir2026 #pristina #ir #serbian #kosovo #lifepixel #warremains #remains #converteddigital #digitalir #digitalinfrared
-
Orthodox church... a war memorial https://buff.ly/3tiP1e9 i#ir850nm #infrarød #abandoned #prishtina #infrared #church #overgrown #ortodox #forgotten #unfinished #ir2026 #pristina #ir #serbian #kosovo #lifepixel #warremains #remains #converteddigital #digitalir #digitalinfrared
-
An update on my crochet kitchen table cloth, there’s still quite a lot of crocheting to do 😊🧶.
#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #crochet #tablecloth #crochettablecloth #wip
#unfinished #crocheter #crochetersoftheworld #handmade #handcrafted #lovetocrochet #virkkaus #pöytäliina #virkattu #virkattupöytäliina #keskeneräinen #virkkaaja #käsityö #käsintehty #rakastanvirkkausta -
An update on my crochet kitchen table cloth, there’s still quite a lot of crocheting to do 😊🧶.
#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #crochet #tablecloth #crochettablecloth #wip
#unfinished #crocheter #crochetersoftheworld #handmade #handcrafted #lovetocrochet #virkkaus #pöytäliina #virkattu #virkattupöytäliina #keskeneräinen #virkkaaja #käsityö #käsintehty #rakastanvirkkausta -
An update on my crochet kitchen table cloth, there’s still quite a lot of crocheting to do 😊🧶.
#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #crochet #tablecloth #crochettablecloth #wip
#unfinished #crocheter #crochetersoftheworld #handmade #handcrafted #lovetocrochet #virkkaus #pöytäliina #virkattu #virkattupöytäliina #keskeneräinen #virkkaaja #käsityö #käsintehty #rakastanvirkkausta -
An update on my crochet kitchen table cloth, there’s still quite a lot of crocheting to do 😊🧶.
#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #crochet #tablecloth #crochettablecloth #wip
#unfinished #crocheter #crochetersoftheworld #handmade #handcrafted #lovetocrochet #virkkaus #pöytäliina #virkattu #virkattupöytäliina #keskeneräinen #virkkaaja #käsityö #käsintehty #rakastanvirkkausta -
An update on my crochet kitchen table cloth, there’s still quite a lot of crocheting to do 😊🧶.
#JaanaCrochets #JaanaVirkkaa #crochet #tablecloth #crochettablecloth #wip
#unfinished #crocheter #crochetersoftheworld #handmade #handcrafted #lovetocrochet #virkkaus #pöytäliina #virkattu #virkattupöytäliina #keskeneräinen #virkkaaja #käsityö #käsintehty #rakastanvirkkausta -
From sofas to suburbs: an entire street of houses in Spain is for sale on Wallapop
If you scroll past the half-finished knitting projects and the slightly suspicious “vintage” exercise bikes on Wallapop today,…
#Spain #ES #Europe #Europa #EU #bellus #development #housing #sold #terraced #unfinished #wallapop
https://www.europesays.com/spain/15170/ -
https://www.europesays.com/uk/930588/ From sofas to suburbs: an entire street of houses in Spain is for sale on Wallapop #bellus #Development #EU #Europe #Housing #sold #Spain #terraced #unfinished #wallapop
-
The things you don't say Are left unsaid The things you don't write Unwritten The things you don't show Unseen, unshown The things you don't start Unfinished #Poem #Unfinished
-
The things you don't say
Are left unsaidThe things you don't write
UnwrittenThe things you don't show
Unseen, unshownThe things you don't start
Unfinished -
The things you don't say
Are left unsaidThe things you don't write
UnwrittenThe things you don't show
Unseen, unshownThe things you don't start
Unfinished -
The things you don't say
Are left unsaidThe things you don't write
UnwrittenThe things you don't show
Unseen, unshownThe things you don't start
Unfinished -
The things you don't say
Are left unsaidThe things you don't write
UnwrittenThe things you don't show
Unseen, unshownThe things you don't start
Unfinished -
The things you don't say
Are left unsaidThe things you don't write
UnwrittenThe things you don't show
Unseen, unshownThe things you don't start
Unfinished -
#unfinished : not finished, not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not finished, not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not finished, not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not finished, not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
#unfinished : not finished, not brought to an end
- French: inachevé
- German: unbeendet
- Italian: inconcluso/non finito/incompleto
- Portuguese: incabado
- Spanish: sin terminar
------------
Fill in missing or incorrect translations @ https://wordofthehour.org/r/translations
-
Chiefs winger Emoni Narawa says desire to play at Rugby World Cup behind decision to extend NZR contract
“I went to the last World Cup and the dream was over before it even started,” Narawa told…
#NewsBeep #News #Rugby #at #AU #Australia #behind #Business #Chiefs #contract #Cup #decision #desire #emoni #extend #narawa #nzr #play #says #sports #To #unfinished #winger #World #zealand
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/561648/ -
Chiefs winger Emoni Narawa says desire to play at Rugby World Cup behind decision to extend NZR contract
“I went to the last World Cup and the dream was over before it even started,” Narawa told…
#NewsBeep #News #Rugby #at #AU #Australia #behind #Business #Chiefs #contract #Cup #decision #desire #emoni #extend #narawa #nzr #play #says #sports #To #unfinished #winger #World #zealand
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/561648/ -
深海少女 / dumbelfie / January 28, 2026
#初音ミク #VOCALOID #イラスト #fanart #unfinished
https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/140458571 -
深海少女 / dumbelfie / January 28, 2026
#初音ミク #VOCALOID #イラスト #fanart #unfinished
https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/140458571 -
Voters should reject Mahan and his trail of unfinished jobs
https://misryoum.com/us/us/voters-should-reject-mahan-and-his-trail-of/
Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Reject Mahan and trail of unfulfilled promises Re: “Race for governor is tight early on” (Page A1, Feb. 26). Matt Mahan was gifted an extra...
#Voters #should #reject #Mahan #and #his #trail #unfinished #jobs #US_News_Hub #misryoum_com
-
Realizing the answers were analytical information because that's the way you are. I felt my brain was a bit different. Maybe because I didn't have the strong need to get everything in order and to it's place again. It's a good way to control pain, to give it a locker where it belongs, then telling the story of it and in the end closing the locker 🔐 At least my pain had roots.
-
Realizing the answers were analytical information because that's the way you are. I felt my brain was a bit different. Maybe because I didn't have the strong need to get everything in order and to it's place again. It's a good way to control pain, to give it a locker where it belongs, then telling the story of it and in the end closing the locker 🔐 At least my pain had roots.
-
Realizing the answers were analytical information because that's the way you are. I felt my brain was a bit different. Maybe because I didn't have the strong need to get everything in order and to it's place again. It's a good way to control pain, to give it a locker where it belongs, then telling the story of it and in the end closing the locker 🔐 At least my pain had roots.
