Interrupted series around past Halloween

Central World Ghost

I arrived in Bangkok without a reason. I took an airport taxi to the hotel. It gave off the vibe of a great hotel back in the day, now cast into oblivion, with old-time furniture and blurry mirrors (as if seconds were dusting off in milliseconds and remained trapped in the reflection of amber, moldy lights). From this, I had the idea of shooting a series with a haunted hotel theme. It would be composed of: a photo of the elevator entrance, a photo of my reflection in the elevator mirror, a photo of the corridors, a photo of my room, a photo of the pool, an exterior photo of the hotel, a photo of the (empty) restaurant, and a photo of the (empty) gym.

The idea revolved in my mind as I spent my very first days strolling around places I had been to before. For example, I went to my old neighborhood and shot the daily life of the people there. I went to check small fashion shops. I ate a burger. I sat in different coffee shops to let time go by. I had so many coffees. Nothing had changed. Just people eating out. Cats passing by. People talking to the wind. Bangkok speaks to itself.

And so, having chilled just enough, I decided to start shooting. The first photo would define the aesthetic of the series. First pic first. I grabbed a shot of the elevator at the entrance (it was meant to be the introduction). I gave the images a greenish look, as if ectoplasm had been spread through the lighting and shadows during the edit. Just after that, I published it on Instagram and wrote “now look at this” in Thai as the caption. The chosen location tag was creepypasta (a reference to the horror theme).

ตอนนี้ ดูสิ่งนี้

Five minutes at most -while I was staring at the post and blissfully listening to the music lyrics, obnoxiously ignoring the panic screams in the background, someone knocked heavily on my door and yelled, GET OUT, GET OUT. It was the hotel manager. “There’s a fire! Get out now.” Everyone was running and shouting. I grabbed my camera, passport, and computer. I went out. Honestly, I didn’t think it was that bad.

When I reached the entrance, I saw someone had fallen from the upper level, and was lying on the ground with a blanket covering their face. I looked up: fire was bursting out of the windows. People were hanging from their balconies to avoid the flames. That’s when I understood how bad it was. It was all pretty real and scary.

As there was nothing for me to do, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I think this deviation from panic instead of acceptance was an efficient mechanism against fear. Had a Coca-Cola with some Pad Thai. Then I came back. Two women were hanging out of their balcony while a fire truck blasted water at them from a gigantic hose mounted on some massive metal staircase. People were praying they wouldn’t fall. Only thing u can do is wish for the best.

All in all, they told us the guy who fell from the balcony was the one who caused the fire. He had been smoking inside his room, lost his balance while hanging from the balcony trying to escape the flames, and fell headfirst to the ground. Seven floors. It’s pretty shocking how you can lose it all in one go. Everyone else was saved.

Most of the hotel guests were told to wait in the lobby of a Gym & Spa &Fitness Center (so many businesses stacked up together, I kno) next door. After a few hours, they told us we could collect our belongings as the building temperature had cooled down. We went back inside the hotel.

There was no electricity, and it had become very dark. I walked around the corridors using our cell phone flashlights. After reaching the third floor, we could use the emergency lights. There was water everywhere. The fifth floor (where my room was) was all wet. I opened my room door and discovered the whole place smelled like soot. The bathroom ceiling was ruined, and water was coming out of it. I looked at myself in the room mirror. Took a photo (for the memory). Packed my belongings.

I left the place unharmed. I actually felt pretty grateful. I don’t think of it as a bad occurrence. More of a reminder. I walked 15 mins to another hotel. Checked in. Got refunded for the remaining days at the burnt hotel. And a few days later, I got an apology from them. So the whole series ended up being that one photo of the entrance, posted five minutes before the incident. That was about it. Made me think lots.