The Skytrain, over 300 meters directly below, snakes across its elevated track like a miniature toy train.
Nearby, cars limp down Bangkok‘s Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Road in the evening traffic, tiny specks with glowing pinpoints for headlights. But it’s the views of the Chao Phraya River off in the distance that impress the most; unbroken vistas of the “River of Kings” and its dramatic twists, the flowing water marred by the slim lines of wake that trail behind the barely distinguishable boats that cut through it. These are just a few of the scenes that will pull at the camera lenses of visitors to the Sky Observation Deck and Bar atop Thailand‘s new tallest building, the 314-meter MahaNakhon.
Now comes the bad news. Though the building’s structure is complete, the rooftop attraction — with its very own cantilevered glass floor — won’t open till 2018. CNN was recently given an exclusive tour of MahaNakhon by the project’s creator, Pace Development CEO Sorapoj Techakraisri.
For now, the rooftop is a mass of scaffolding, concrete and steel.
Though it requires a huge leap of imagination to envision the rooftop attraction in its final form, when looking at the empty frame where the glass floor will sit you can almost hear the terrified squeals of tourists creeping across it to pose for photos.