2013’s most popular tourist destination, which is expected to receive more visitors than London and Paris, according to MasterCard’s latest Global Destination Cities Index, Bangkok is a haven for shopaholics and foodies, nightlife enthusiasts and culture vultures, as well as active holidaymakers looking for great land and water adventures.
Yet, there is so much more to be fascinated by in this amazing city of contrasts. Below you’ll find 5 of the most bizarre attractions in Bangkok that will make the city a lot more appealing.
Bangkok Forensic Museum
Located at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok, the Forensic Museum is one of the scariest, freakiest, weirdest and most unusual museums in the world, aimed to provide ‘a valuable resource for both medical professionals and laymen.’
The museum is made up of six distinct museums within two separate buildings, showcasing everything from the largest collection of dead babies and Siamese twins anywhere in the world, to mummified remains of Rapists to piles of skulls and bones and preserved human heads. Among the grisly displays of the museum is a bloodied T-shirt from a victim stabbed to death with a dildo, and the preserved but rather withered cadaver of Si Quey, one of Thailand’s most prolific and notorious serial killers who murdered and then ate the livers of over thirty children in the 1950s.
Robot Building
Covering an area of 23506 square meters and 83.20 meters at height, Bangkok’s Robot Building is another bizarre attraction you should not miss out during your visit to Thailand’s capital. Designed 1985 by Sumet Jumsai, a famous Thai architect, the building is used as the headquarters of the United Overseas Bank and is considered one of the last examples of modern architecture in Bangkok. The eyes of the Robot Building are the dining and meeting rooms of the executive suites, his eyelids are sunshades, his antennae are lightning rods. The best view of the exterior of the Robot Building can be enjoyed if you look south from the Skytrain between Surasak and Chong Nonsi stations.
Elephant Building
Designed by the same architect as the Robot Building, the fascinating Elephant Building, also known as the Chang Building, is a national landmark in Bangkok, referencing the elephants and symbols of elephants that have been integral part of Thai culture and religion for centuries. The 335-foot high elephant-shaped building is a massive urban complex, made up of a shopping mall, high-tech business offices and luxurious condominiums on its 32nd floor. Within the complex visitors will also find a recreation ground with swimming pools, gardens and a myriad of sports opportunities. The building was completed I 1997 and is located in the Chatuchak District in the northern part of Bangkok.
Phallic Shrine
There is nothing unusual about finding a shrine in Bangkok, as the city is packed with hundreds of them. But what you are going to see at the city’s Phallic Shrine is something different, as upon approaching this tucked away shrine, you are greeted by a garden loaded by hundreds of penises, of all shapes and sizes. The shrine is dedicated to the spirit of Chao Mae Tubtim – a female spirit that is said to live in the giant banyan tree there. The legend goes that one day a woman came there, who could not get pregnant and nine months after asking Chao Mae Tubtim for it, she delivered a healthy child, and as a way of gratitude, she came again,. Bringing a giant penis carved from wood and left it there. Apart from the main shrine, visitors will also find a Thai spirit house festooned with gifts and garlands.
Cabbages & Condoms
A Bangkok restaurant that has attracted international attention, Cabbages and Condoms, conveniently located near one of the city’s main business districts, C&C., offers awe-inspiring international and Thai cuisine, from seafood to regional specialties. The restaurant’s strange name comes from Mechai Viravaidya’s desire to make condoms as common and used as cabbages and it wasl also conceptualized in part to promote better understanding and acceptance of family planning. The restaurant is decorated with more than forty thousand condoms, gathered from all over the world, and offers a free condom with every coffee. Oh, and if you are willing to accept the free vasectomy, the clinic is right next door.
If you are traveling through Bangkok and are tired of all the temples and Buddhas, you make sure to check out the above mentioned unusual sights of Bangkok and add a little difference to your holidays.
