This old and dilapidated building has intrigued me since I arrived in Vientiane in 2004.. No-one seems to know much about it.. I believe it's post French colonial period.. Maybe once a grand hotel, possibly an apartment block..
It's situated on the banks of the Mekong River, an area prone to flooding during the wet season..It appears like the owners just walked away and left this grand old building to weather time..
If anyone has any information, please message me..
Thanks for the information Igor. This building is now slowly being renovated.
I know the building next to Pakpassak Press.
igor Narijny
14-Dec-2010 18:18
Hi Jurgen,
When I was in Laos back in 1981, this building was looking very old and needed repair almost like it is now. But it was not abandoned then - it was full with young men and looked like a hostel. Locals told me it really was a hostel of medical students, if I remember correctly.
If you are interested in curious buildings in Vientiane - do you know about a building with a ghost in it, also on the riverbank, close to Pakpassak Press (a two-storey house to the left of the Pakpassak, looking from the river, before the road turns right)? It was really abandoned then - everybody feared to move in, they told stories about a terrible ghost coming at nights and that there was a murder committed there long ago. In 2008, when I was there last time, it was inhabited.
Vientiane is fabulous. Good luck!
