Would you pay to go to prison? Mugshots and curfews for guests at Bangkok’s jail hotel
BANGKOK’S bizarre prison-themed hotel makes guests feel like criminals - and they pay for the privilege.
Two of the world's most LUXURIOUS prisons are in Britain
The first prison-themed hostel to open in Bangkok is drawing polarising attention
The first prison-themed hostel to open in Bangkok is drawing polarising attention.
Sook Station hostel in the Udom Suk neighbourhood offers nine rooms designed just like jail cells.
Guests can hire pin-striped pyjamas for 700 baht (£16) and have their mugshots taken when they arrive.
There are black-out doors and windows in two of the rooms, which recreate solitary confinement.
The seven other rooms have a small balcony in case you need a breather, but beware the ‘lights-out’ curfew at night.
Each room is only eight square metres in size, and guests are given an inmate number rather than a key.
Showers are perched on a caged-in rooftop, while the whole property is enclosed by a perimeter fence topped with razor wire.
The hostel charges between 790-1,630 baht (£18-£38) per night for the bizarre experience.
It’s the first hospitality venture for husband and wife Sittichai Chaivoraprug, 55 and Piyanat Teekavanich, 49.
With previous careers in the technology sector, the pair were inspired to branch out because of their combined passions for travel and prison escape film The Shawshank Redemption.
Sittichai told Reuters: "People love it or hate it.”
Those who love it often come back for more, like 42-year-old hotel worker Yui.
She said: "I feel it's a real prison because when I arrived it was dark.”
After her third visit, Yui said the hostel “feels like home”.
While it’s the first hostel of its kind in Thailand’s capital, Sook Station isn’t the only prison-themed accommodation in the world.
A former jail in Slovenia has been converted into a hostel, with prices from €24 per night.