Architecture & panorama
The Mahanakhon Tower: Bangkok's pixelated giant
Its silhouette is impossible to miss: a skyscraper that seems to disintegrate into pixels, as if the city had torn pieces off it. The Mahanakhon Tower is one of the most recognisable landmarks in Bangkok, and one of the tallest in Thailand. Here is its story, its figures and the secret of its architecture.
A silhouette unlike any other in the Bangkok sky
Mahanakhon — "great metropolis" in Thai — resembles no other tower. Where skyscrapers usually seek the smooth, continuous line, this one displays a spiralling notch that coils around the entire building, like a ribbon of pixels nibbling away at its surface.
This deliberate "erosion" is not merely a stylistic effect. By removing pieces of the glass façade, the architect created dozens of recessed terraces and balconies, which reveal the inner structure and break the usual coldness of office towers.
The result is striking: depending on the light and the angle, the tower appears now solid, now in the process of dissolving. Within a few years it has become the modern image of Bangkok, just as the temples are for old Bangkok.
Key figures: height, floors and timeline
The tower rises to 314 metres over 78 floors. The first stone was laid on 20 June 2011, the structural work was completed in 2015 and the building was finished in 2016: roughly five years of construction for one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in the capital.
It was designed by the German architect Ole Scheeren, with the engineering firm Arup handling the structure. Originally led by the developer Pace Development, it was later renamed King Power Mahanakhon after the King Power group bought the naming rights.
On its completion, Mahanakhon became the tallest tower in Thailand, a record it held from 2016 to 2018 before being overtaken by a few metres. It remains today the second tallest in the country, and the most emblematic.
Mahanakhon versus the Baiyoke: the changing of the guard
For nearly twenty years, the title of tallest tower in the country belonged to the Baiyoke Tower II, in the Pratunam district: 304 metres, 88 floors, completed in 1997. Its revolving observation deck was, for an entire generation, THE viewpoint over Bangkok.
In 2016, Mahanakhon topped that record with its 314 metres. The pixelated giant of the south of the city took over from the colossus of Pratunam: a symbolic changing of the guard between two eras of Bangkok architecture.
Mahanakhon's reign was brief. As early as 2018, the Magnolias Waterfront Residences tower, at Iconsiam by the river, overtook it at 318 metres. Bangkok grows fast, and the race for height there is never quite over.
The SkyWalk and its glass walkway
At the summit, the Mahanakhon SkyWalk observatory occupies floors 74 to 78. You reach it by one of the fastest lifts in Asia, emerging onto a 360-degree panorama that embraces all of Bangkok, from the river to the towers of Sukhumvit.
Its great attraction is the glass walkway: a transparent slab set above the void, more than 300 metres up, which gives the impression of walking on air. It is not for those prone to vertigo, but the sensation is unique in Thailand.
Mahanakhon's open roof is, to this day, the highest open-air observation point in the country accessible to the public. At sunset, when the city lights up, it is one of the most impressive spectacles in Bangkok.
The architecture in detail: the crumbling ribbon
Ole Scheeren's principle comes down to a single idea: take a perfectly simple glass prism, then carve into it a spiralling groove that descends from the summit to the base. Where the façade is "torn away", the structure is revealed and the light pours in.
This play of solids and voids breaks the crushing scale of the skyscraper and restores a human dimension to it: each notch becomes a terrace, a balcony, a viewpoint. The tower is not content to be tall — it lets the city pass through it.
It is this signature, half building, half sculpture, that brought Mahanakhon into the visual culture of Bangkok. Few towers in the world are as instantly recognisable by their silhouette alone.
Frequently asked questions
How tall is the Mahanakhon Tower? It measures 314 metres over 78 floors. It was the tallest tower in Thailand from 2016 to 2018, and it remains the second tallest today, behind the Magnolias Waterfront Residences tower (318 metres).
When was it built? Construction began on 20 June 2011 and was completed in 2016, roughly five years of work. It was designed by the German architect Ole Scheeren.
Can you go up to the top? Yes. The SkyWalk observatory (floors 74 to 78), its glass walkway and its open roof can be visited every day. The rooftop features among the addresses in our selection of the most beautiful roofs in Bangkok.