With its narrow rooms, metal bars and bunk beds, Bangkok's first
prison-themed hostel promises the look and feel of a real jail in
the bustling Thai capital.
The Sook Station hostel in Bangkok's Udom Suk neighbourhood
offers guests striped pyjamas for 700 baht (S$29) and a wall with a
height chart where they can have their mugshots taken.
The nine-room hostel is the first foray into the hospitality
industry for Mr Sittichai Chaivoraprug, 55, and his wife,
49-year-old Piyanat Teekavanich, after careers in the technology
sector.
They were inspired by a shared love of travel and the 1994
prison escape film, The Shawshank Redemption, starring Morgan
Freeman and Tim Robbins
The hostel's design includes black-out doors and windows in two
rooms to create the feeling of being in solitary confinement.
Showers are located on a caged-in rooftop.
For guests who may feel a sense of claustrophobia, seven rooms
have a small balcony.
Thailand expects to welcome almost 35 million foreign tourists -
nearly half the country's population - this year. Many of them
visit or transit through Bangkok, a regional travel hub.
Sook Station charges between 790 and 1,630 baht a night for the
prison-themed experience. "People love it or hate it," Mr Sittichai
told Reuters, adding that most bookings have come by word of
mouth.
Some guests like Ms Yui, a 42-year-old hotel worker, are repeat
customers. "I feel it's a real prison because when I arrived it was
dark," Ms Yui said. Now on her third stay, she said the hostel's
style and friendly staff "feels like home".
