Last year, we learned about Bangkok’s New World Mall, among the most dystopian places on the planet. It’s a shopping centre in the middle of one of the world’s more tumultuous cities that was abandoned nearly 20 years ago. After a roof collapse, the mall flooded, and a population of fish thrived in newly formed ponds. Now, those fish are finally being set free.
It sounds weird, but the fish were actually there for a reason. Local vendors actually introduced an estimated 3000 carp, tilapia, catfish and koi into the I Am Legend-like environment in an attempt to control the (potentially dangerous) mosquitos breeding in the tepid water. It’s unclear how well the fish eradicated the blood-sucking critters, but the whole scene attracted trespassers who wanted to feed the fish and photograph the decay.
Ruin porn is ruin porn. However, it is not something that the city government wants to support. So now, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) staff are removing the fish from the abandoned mall. Their method is basic but effective: A combination of giant nets and buckets will carry the fish out of the putrid ponds and into rivers and streams across Thailand. Meanwhile, the BMA is demanding the mall’s owner to pay over $US300,000 to demolish the 11-storey structure, But not until the fish are free.
There’s no word on how the mosquitos are taking it. [Citylab, io9]
