Bangkok: the Unico Grande Silom

Bangkok is the capital of the Kingdom of Thailand (before 1939, Siam). It was founded in 1782.

Foreign bachelors in Bangkok have traditionally preferred to live in serviced apartments in hotels. The Unico Grande Silom, formerly known as the Tower Inn, was a 150-room hotel dating from 1988. It was situated on Silom Road which was completed in 1858 during the reign of King Mongkut, one of Thailand’s greatest kings, remembered in the West through the memoirs of Anna Leonowens (Leon+Owens).

Silom Road (“silom” means “windmill” in Thai) is named after the windmills that used to draw water from the Chao Phya River to irrigate the surrounding fields.

The Unico Grande Silom had a restaurant, a fitness centre and on the roof, a garden and a swimming pool. Serviced apartments were on the upper floors. They had superb views looking over the city. The Unico Grande Silom was rebranded as the Furama Silom during 2009/2010.

The panorama shows the view to the west from the balcony of Apartment 1912 as it was in February 2002. The Narai is in the bottom right-hand corner. . Some of the skyscrapers in the picture were abandoned as a result of the economic crisis of 1997 and may never be completed. However the building with a crane on top (left half of picture) was completed during 2002 and construction of new buildings resumed after the economy began to improve.

Chong Nongsi Skytrain Station, the British Club and the beautiful Neilson-Hayes library are nearby. Christ Church is a brisk twenty-minute walk away.