A mall in Thailand that used to be awash with shoppers was teeming with fish after the abandoned building was flooded. The New World Mall, in Bangkok, was closed in 1997 after it was found to have breached building regulations, before a fire in 1999 left it without a roof.
Located in the city’s Banglamphu district, Thailand’s Supreme Court ordered a partial demolition of the shopping center in 1997 when judges determined that seven of the 11 floors were built illegally. Since the court-ordered demolition, the remaining four floors have been left exposed to the elements while becoming one of the world’s strangest fisheries and attracting the awe of abandoned mall gawkers around the world.
Rainwater slowly filled the building with water, causing a major mosquito problem. In an effort to rid themselves of the pests, the locals introduced freshwater talapia fish to eat the insects. The fish thrived, quickly multiplied, and now fill the lower floors of the mall, swimming around rusty escalators and across the 5,000sqft floor.
All marine wildlife that included carp, tilapia and catfish were later relocated to less absurd settings by Bangkok officials before demolition.