Thailand · TH

Phra Pradaeng Wartime Air Raid Shelter

Tucked in the old market quarter of Phra Pradaeng, just across the Chao Phraya from Bangkok, the หลุมหลบภัยสมัยสงคราม ("Wartime Air Raid Shelter") is a low concrete bunker from the Second World War. Built around 1941, when Thailand was drawn into what is locally called the Great East Asian War, it was one of the public shelters the government raised near strategic points to protect townspeople from Allied bombing raids. It is not a polished, ticketed attraction. Today the shelter survives as a weathered relic at the head of Phet Hung Road, opposite the district office and the busy Bang Ko Bua minivan station. For anyone interested in the overlooked everyday history of the war on the home front, it is a rare, tangible reminder of how close the conflict came to Bangkok's doorstep.