Bang Rak Heritage
The Old Customs House: From Derelict Riverside Landmark to Hotel
Built for tax collectors in the 1880s, abandoned for generations, and now mid-restoration as a hotel — the Old Customs House is less a ruin to visit than a story to follow.
Charoen Krung Soi 36 runs down to a riverside plot of roughly four rai that has, in one building, told two very different stories: a working arm of the Thai state, and a decades-long ruin. The Old Customs House is now telling a third story, and it is one still being written.
Built for tax collection, not for tourists
The building was constructed between 1886 and 1888 under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), designed in Neo-Palladian style by the Italian architect Joachim Grassi, who worked on several Bangkok landmarks of the period. Its south building served the collection of import and export duties and, for a time, international postal functions — a customs house in the literal sense, positioned on the river because that was where Bangkok's trade actually arrived.
Decades of dormancy
As Bangkok's port and customs functions moved and modernized elsewhere, the building fell out of official use and stood largely derelict for decades. It became, informally, one of the city's best-known abandoned riverside structures — a building people sought out and photographed precisely because it was empty. That period is now over, and the site is not one to treat as an open ruin: it sits within an active restoration and construction project.
An excavation, then a restoration
Before redevelopment could proceed, an archaeological excavation and restoration effort was jointly carried out by Thailand's Ministry of Finance, U City Public Company, and the Fine Arts Department — the government body responsible for heritage conservation in Thailand. That involvement is part of why the building's historic fabric is being retained rather than cleared.
Becoming a hotel
The site is now being developed into The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok. Langham Hospitality Group has publicly stated the hotel is taking reservations, with an opening slated for December 20, 2026, comprising 60 rooms plus 15 suites, and with the historic customs house building restored and incorporated into the new development.
- 1886–1888
- Constructed under Rama V in Neo-Palladian style, designed by Joachim Grassi.
- Late 19th–20th century
- Used for import/export customs duties and international postal functions.
- Decades of disuse
- Fell derelict and became known as an abandoned riverside landmark.
- Today
- Under excavation and restoration, being incorporated into The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok, slated to open December 20, 2026.
Sources and fact review
Every claim below is traceable to a named source. Items marked volatile — opening hours, fares, routes and exhibition schedules — change without notice and are rechecked before publication rather than presented as permanent.
Construction dates (1886–1888), Neo-Palladian style, architect Joachim Grassi, original customs and postal use, and Fine Arts Department involvement in excavation
The Old Customs House site is being redeveloped into The Langham, Custom House, Bangkok, with the historic building restored and incorporated
The hotel is taking reservations with an opening slated for December 20, 2026, comprising 60 rooms and 15 suites
Corroborating press coverage of the Old Customs House redevelopment into a Langham hotel