After our friends from Philippine Airlines, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and fellow travel bloggers/vloggers departed for Manila, the three of us—myself, Karla, and Coleen—extended our stay for a few more days. Doing so, we got to experience more of the city, including seeing it above the roof of a thirty-five-story building. How did we do it without breaking and entering? Let me take you back to a little flashback.
Sneaking Into Bangkok's Thrilling Roofer Subculture
Meeting a Rooftop Photographer
Prior to our familiarization trip to Bangkok with PAL and TAT, Coleen had already connected through Instagram with a rooftop photographer who went by the handle @whoismaggs. On our second day post-famtrip, we met up with her in a nice garden café in the city.
“We’re going to shoot at a rooftop today, want to join?” @whoismaggs casually asked us, to which both Karla and Coleen replied in the affirmative without missing a beat. “What building?” someone asked. “Hmm, we’ll know when we get there.”
I thought Mags was just being coy about the skyscraper rooftop we were about to climb, but that was not the case.
An hour later, we found ourselves in one of Bangkok’s commercial districts where towering hotels and condominiums lined up between spacious parks and food markets. “I think that one is tall enough,” Mags pointed out.
“So, we will just pick one at random?” Karla butted in. “Yes, c’mon, let’s check it out,” Mags said.
(Breaking, Not) and Entering a High-Rise Condominium
Unlike in the Philippines, lobby receptionists and security guards of condominiums there were not strict enough to ask for an ID or the name of the person you were visiting. “Just walk like you live here,” Mags advised us.
We walked straight to the elevator as if we lived there. Before we entered the elevator, we waited for an actual resident to come in. Inside, the condo unit owner punched her card and pressed the fifteenth floor. It became obvious to me that despite the looseness of the security in the lobby, one could not use the elevator without a key card—but thanks to the resident who was in the elevator with us, we could go as high as the fifteenth floor.
Getting off the fifteenth floor, Mags led us to the staircase door, which turned out to be unlocked, and directed us to climb twenty more floors to the top. Climbing twenty more storeys by foot was no easy task, factoring in the added thrill of doing it against the building’s policy of not allowing any outsiders.
Woof, Roof, Roofer Culture
With my legs almost numbed from the mad rush to the top, Mags finally opened a door that exposed us to the afternoon sun. Climbing another twenty feet to another platform introduced us to a stunning 360-degree view of the Bangkok skyline.
Resting a bit to appreciate the scenery, I got a glimpse of the thrilling world of what was then described as a subculture consisting of “roofers”, who achieved a natural high standing on top of towering skyscrapers.
The rooftop of the condominium had a spacious floor and several horizontal thick columns where one could walk confidently without losing balance—that is, if you took your mind off the steep drop below your feet.
What to do on top of a building other than regaling at the scenery? Take pictures, what else? Mags took out a mask from her small bag to put on her face. She then walked to the edge of one of the horizontal columns and positioned herself in a kneeling position. She looked like a masked avenger looking down on the city of Bangkok, searching for an ongoing crime to thwart.
Moving gingerly, I also walked over the columns, mindful of any sudden burst of wind that could topple me over. After a few minutes, I realized it wasn’t that much of a daredevil act as long as I did not go too close to the edge.
As someone with a semi-fear of heights, our random skyscraper rooking adventure helped me ease some of my dread of verticality. Would I do it again? Definitely, yes. But only to stand on the safer parts of a rooftop. No hanging, no hand-standing on a ledge, and absolutely no parkour acts. That’s for YouTube roofers to do and risk their lives for views.
