April 26th, 2013 - Makham Bay and Dilapidated Buildings

Ever heard of Makham Bay? Neither had I. And there’s a reason for that. Geo and I took a nice little walk in that direction, only about 1.4 km, because we’ve seen the signs at the sides of the road and figured, hey, why not? It appears to be nothing more than a fishing port of some kind (or a docking port? Is that a thing? Regardless, there was a little pier and a couple of boats), sort of off to the side and a bit of a trek over roads not-frequently traveled.




For the average tourist, I wouldn’t recommend bothering—in fact, I would specifically recommend not bothering, this shouldn't even be on your list (though it is still a step up from the Seashell Museum in terms of entertainment value and the view isn’t half-bad). However, for anybody with an inexplicable love for dilapidated and abandoned buildings: This is the place for you. I just so happen to be one of those strange people who love rundown places for no apparent reason (this may be traced back to my horror movie addiction, hard to say…) so Makham Bay wasn’t a total loss for me.

Just on the road on the way up we saw a number of shacks hanging precariously onto the cliffs above
the bay, some of which seemed abandoned, so I naturally had a sudden and inexplicable urge to explore them—but I refrained. Geo wisely pointed out that they may not actually be abandoned and wouldn’t I feel foolish walking into somebody’s house with nothing but the excuse of, “Oh, but you’re such a poor housekeeper, I thought for sure the place was deserted.” Properly chastised for my socially inappropriate trespassing desires, we continued on to the actual Makham Bay.

If nothing else, the road leading up to it is very pretty. The jungle seems like it is pressing in on the asphalt, the vines encroaching past the metal barricades at the edges of the road, that sort of thing.

And at the end of road is the Makham Bay pier, which was underwhelming, let’s be honest, but it was also home to the Phuket Marine Fisheries Station.



Once a mere “Fishery Station” presumably tasked with operations regarding fish and/or fishing in some capacity, the Phuket Marine Fisheries Station is now Horror-Movie-Ready! Even the sign is cracked. It took a solid five minutes for me to figure out that it even said “Fisheries” due to the extent of the damage. I imagine that this damage was a result of Phuket’s turbulent monsoon weather, or perhaps even a relic of the massively destructive tsunami in 2004. Either way, this place is practically crumbling.



Just look at those broken windows! You can’t get much better than those. Vines were crawling through the cracks, and a couple of the wooden shutters were broken off and hanging by warped hinges. I bet they were rusted hinges, too…but I didn’t get that close up, I’m afraid.



There were people around so it seemed a little awkward. For once I was the less paranoid one, being all gung-ho to check the place out, while Geo was the voice of reason. 'No! Bad Lucky! No breaking into abandoned buildings in broad daylight with thirty-odd Thai people watching with rapt attention! Think of the Thai prisons, you fool!'

So I didn’t get to explore. Yes, it was a sad day. But Geo and I have discussed the matter and should I ever disappear in the dead of night with no explanation and a missing flashlight, she knows where to go to collect me.



Regardless, if this place isn’t dilapidated, I don’t know what is! As such, Makham Bay gets an A+ for dilapidation—and upon rereading that sentence it occurs to me that it may come off as sarcastic, but rest assured this is a compliment of the highest order in its own very special and kind of deranged way. I hope that this post on a creepy abandoned building will be the first of many.

- LuckyStar