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30-412: New World Department Store may refer to: New World Department Store (Bangkok) New World Department Store China Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title New World Department Store . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to

60-741: A central heating plant . These pipes are generally run through utility tunnels, which are often intended to be accessible solely for the purposes of maintenance. Nevertheless, many of these steam tunnels, especially those on college campuses, have a tradition of exploration by students. This practice was once called "vadding" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , but students there now call it roof and tunnel hacking . Some steam tunnels have dirt floors, poor lighting and temperatures above 45 °C (113 °F). Others have concrete floors, bright light, and more moderate temperatures. Most steam tunnels have large intake fans to bring in

90-611: A four-storey structure. Construction began in 1982, and continued after the mall opened, even as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) denied its request for additional approval in 1984. In 1985, the BMA filed suit against the company for violating building codes, but the case dragged on for years while the mall continued to operate, and even after the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of

120-604: A specialized set of guidelines, the foremost of which is "When it rains, no drains!", because the dangers of becoming entrapped, washed away, or killed increase dramatically during heavy rainfall. A small subset of explorers enter sanitary sewers . Sometimes they are the only connection to caves or other subterranean features. Sewers are among the most dangerous locations to explore owing to the risk of poisoning by buildups of toxic gas (commonly methane , hydrogen sulfide , or carbon dioxide ). Sewers can contain viruses, bacteria , protozoa , and parasitic worms . Protective equipment

150-591: Is Cities of the Underworld , a documentary series that ran for three seasons on the History Channel starting in 2007. This series roamed around the world, showing little-known underground structures in remote locales and right under the feet of densely packed city-dwellers. Websites for professional and hobby explorers have been developed to share tips and locations. With the rise in the hobby's popularity, there has been increasing discussion of whether

180-703: Is Željava Air Base , situated under the Gola Plješevica mountain, near the city of Bihać . It was the largest underground airport and military air base in the SFR Yugoslavia , and one of the largest in Europe. The complex contains tunnels in total length of 3.5 km (2.2 mi), and other large facilities. Nowadays, it is popular for urban exploration, although it is risky due to the possibility of anti-personnel landmines being located in unexplored areas, remnants from 1990s Bosnian War . Many explorers find

210-473: Is known as haikyo ( 廃墟 ) (literally "ruins"), and the term is synonymous with the practice of urban exploration. Haikyo are particularly common in Japan because of its rapid industrialization (e.g., Hashima Island ), damage during World War II , the 1980s real estate bubble , and the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . In Bosnia and Herzegovina , a large underground facility abandoned since 1992

240-412: Is recommended for people who enter sewers. Exploring active and abandoned subway and railway tunnels, bores, and stations is often considered trespassing and can result in civil prosecution due to security concerns. As a result, this type of exploration is rarely publicized. An exception to this is the abandoned subway of Rochester, New York , the only American city with an abandoned subway system that

270-546: Is the exploration of manmade structures, usually abandoned ruins or hidden components of the manmade environment. Photography and historical interest/documentation are heavily featured in the hobby, sometimes involving trespassing onto private property. Urban exploration is also called draining (a specific form of urban exploration where storm drains or sewers are explored), urban spelunking , urban rock climbing , urban caving , building hacking , or mousing . The activity presents various risks, including physical danger,

300-597: Is the practice of exploring active or in use buildings, which includes gaining access to secured or "member-only" areas, mechanical rooms, roofs, elevator rooms, abandoned floors, and other normally unseen parts of working buildings. The term "infiltration" is often associated with exploring active structures. People entering restricted areas may be committing trespass, and civil prosecution may result. Catacombs such as those found in Paris , Rome , Odessa , and Naples have been investigated by urban explorers. Some consider

330-712: The Discovery Channel , MTV's Fear , and the Ghost Hunting exploits of The Atlantic Paranormal Society have packaged the hobby for a popular audience. The fictional film After... (2006), a hallucinatory thriller set in Moscow's underground subways, features urban explorers caught up in extreme situations. Talks and exhibits on urban exploration have appeared at the fifth and sixth Hackers on Planet Earth Conference, complementing numerous newspaper articles and interviews. Another source of popular information

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360-587: The Mines of Paris , comprising many of the tunnels that are not open to public tours, including the catacombs, the " Holy Grail " due to their extensive nature and history. Explorers of these spaces are known as cataphiles . Entry into storm drains , or "draining", is another common form of urban exploration. Groups devoted to the task have arisen, such as the Cave Clan and Darkside in Australia . Draining has

390-695: The Yugala family , and which inspecting engineers had found to be structurally sound. Another exhibition was held there in 2022 as part of the Creative Economy Agency 's Bangkok Design Week . The BMA has since announced plans to partially redevelop the site as a public space, with permission from the owners. 13°45′42″N 100°29′54″E  /  13.76167°N 100.49833°E  / 13.76167; 100.49833 Urban explorer Urban exploration (often shortened as UE , urbex, and sometimes known as roof and tunnel hacking )

420-560: The 1980s, counting among its contemporaries Pata  [ th ] , Merry Kings  [ th ] , as well as early branches of Central and The Mall . Business was initially good, and the owners opened secondary locations at Rattanathibet Road in Nonthaburi and in Saraburi (both of which have since closed down). The building was planned and constructed with eleven floors, though it only received building permission for

450-400: The BMA to bar entry to the site over safety concerns; it later had the fish removed and the water drained in 2015. The building again fell into obscurity until 2020, when Supitcha Tovivich, an architecture professor at Silpakorn University , engaged a local community organization to host an exhibition on urban community development at the building, the rights to which had by now returned to

480-627: The Sydney Cave Clan 's website after they raised concerns that the portal could "risk human safety and threaten the security of its infrastructure". Another website belonging to the Bangor Explorers Guild was criticized by the Maine State Police for encouraging behavior that "could get someone hurt or killed". Toronto Police , called for an "end" to rooftop photography in 2016, citing similar concerns about

510-484: The ascents of rooftops, cranes, antennas, smokestacks, etc., usually illegally, to get an adrenaline rush and take selfie photos or videos . Rooftopping differs from skywalking as the latter is mostly about taking panoramic photographs of the scene below, and safety is more important than the thrill. Rooftopping has been especially popular in Russia . Buildering has a similar goal as rooftopping and skywalking (to reach

540-399: The decay of uninhabited space profoundly beautiful, and some are also proficient freelance photographers who document what they see, such as those who document the infrastructure of the former USSR . Abandoned sites are also popular among historians , preservationists , architects , archaeologists , industrial archaeologists , and ghost hunters . Another aspect of urban exploration

570-483: The extra attention has been beneficial. The activity's growing popularity has resulted in increased attention not just from explorers but also from vandals and law enforcement. The illicit aspects of urban exploring, which may include trespassing and breaking and entering , have had critical attention in mainstream newspapers. In Australia , lawyers for the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales shut down

600-399: The first (ground) floor, one of whom died in hospital. The mall was permanently closed down afterwards. Demolition work resumed in 2005, leaving the remaining structure of the first four levels mostly intact. With the upper floors of the building removed and the roof left unreplaced, the bottom floor became flooded with rainwater and became a breeding ground for mosquitos. Locals addressed

630-457: The floor, making slips and falls a special concern near hot pipes. Steam tunnels have generally been secured more heavily in recent years due to their frequent use for carrying communications network backbone cables, increased safety and liability concerns, and perceived risk of use in terrorist activities. The rise in urban exploration's popularity can be attributed to increased media attention. Recent television shows such as Urban Explorers on

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660-434: The fresh air and push the hot air out the back, and these may start without warning. Most active steam tunnels do not contain airborne asbestos , but proper breathing protection may be required for other respiratory hazards. Experienced explorers are very cautious inside active utility tunnels since pipes can spew boiling hot water or steam from leaky valves or pressure relief blow-offs. Often there are puddles of muddy water on

690-401: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_World_Department_Store&oldid=1204668924 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages New World Department Store (Bangkok) New World Department Store

720-419: The issue by releasing fish in the pool, which eventually came to hold thousands of fish (numbering around 3,000 by 2015), regularly fed by a few locals. In 2011, the existence of the fish pond in the abandoned mall began to gain attention online, drawing visitors and urban explorers . Their numbers surged in 2014 after photographs of the site went viral online and became noticed by the media. This prompted

750-533: The most common example of urban exploration. Many sites are entered first by locals and may have graffiti or other kinds of vandalism , while others are better preserved. Although targets of exploration vary from one country to another, high-profile abandonments include amusement parks , grain elevators , factories , power plants , missile silos , fallout shelters , hospitals , asylums , prisons , schools , outmoded and abandoned skyscrapers , poor houses , and sanatoriums . In Japan, abandoned infrastructure

780-531: The possibility of arrest and punishment if done illegally and/or without permission, and the risk of encountering squatters . Some activities associated with urban exploration may violate local or regional laws, certain broadly interpreted anti-terrorism laws , or can be considered trespassing or invasion of privacy. Encountering squatters , who are unauthorized occupants in abandoned or unmonitored properties, can lead to unpredictable and potentially dangerous situations. Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps

810-1120: The possibility of death or injury. The Toronto Transit Commission has used the Internet to crimp subway tunnel explorations, going as far as to send investigators to various explorers' homes. Jeff Chapman , who authored Infiltration , writes that genuine urban explorers "never vandalize, steal or damage anything". The thrill comes from "discovery and a few nice pictures". Some explorers also request permission for entry in advance. Storm drains are not designed with human access as their primary use and can be subject to flash flooding and bad air. Many abandoned structures have hazards such as unstable structures, unsafe floors, broken glass, stray voltage , entrapment hazards, or unknown chemicals and other harmful substances (most notably asbestos ). Other risks include freely roaming guard dogs and hostile squatters . Some abandoned locations may be heavily guarded by motion detectors and active security patrols, while others are more easily accessible and carry less risk of discovery. Rooftopping and skywalking are

840-445: The unapproved floors in 1994, the owners delayed such action until the BMA sought to enforce the order in 2002. Further wrangling over demolition costs delayed action until work finally began at the end of 2003, all while shops remained open on the lower floors. On 2 June 2004, part of the building's eighth floor—where rubble from the demolition work had been piled—suddenly collapsed, and the falling debris severely injured two people on

870-476: Was once operational. The Cincinnati subway is also abandoned but was never completed. London has a number of stations on the London Underground network that have been closed over the years, with Aldwych tube station a popular location for explorers. Universities, and other large institutions, such as hospitals, often distribute hazardous superheated steam for heating or cooling buildings from

900-547: Was opened in 1983 by Kaew Fah Shopping Arcade (aka Kaew Far Shopping Co., Ltd.), a company owned by local business developer Kaew Pooktuanthong. It was developed on land leased from Prince Bhanubandhu Yugala on the southern corner of Bang Lamphu Intersection, in the eponymous neighbourhood of Bang Lamphu , one of Bangkok's historic commercial centres. New World was among an emerging new generation of integrated department stores and shopping centres that became popular in Bangkok in

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