Rising from the Pratunam area of Bangkok, Baiyoke Tower II is Thailand’s first supertall building and Bangkok’s tallest building for 19 years until the completion of MahaNakhon in 2016. It was developed through the Baiyoke Group of Hotels following upon their success with Baiyoke Tower I , located one block to south and completed in 1987. The first Baiyoke Tower was the tallest building to rise in what was at the time, primarily a garment district full of low-rise buildings aligned to narrow streets doubling as open-air markets. The second Baiyoke Tower from the onset was to be even larger and was designed to not only be the tallest building in Thailand, but also the tallest hotel and tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. Initial planning begins soon after the completion of the first tower and construction then began in 1990.

The design was inspired by the traditional architecture of Thai temples with triangular rooflines accented with gold color. These features were to be included on what was initially proposed as a red colored exterior, envisioned as a block of red sandstone ascending from the earth skyward while sculpted and hallowed out for human occupancy. While the red color was not included in the finalized design, the tower’s form does adhere to the idea of monolithic block of stone rising from the ground. The exterior is largely made up of a grid of small windows on a tower form which begins as a large podium base and then becomes more slender through a series of terraces and upper level setbacks marked by golden triangles.

Economic downturns stalled completion of the tower until 1997, after which it became a redefining feature of the Bangkok skyline. The tower’s first four floors and the basement are dedicated to retail use while parking assumes the role of the next 10 floors of the large podium base. The hotel spaces are then allocated to the tower as it rises above the large base with the podium roof featuring an outdoor deck and swimming pool. The uppermost floors include restaurants, lounges and public observatories on the 77th floor and the 84th floor.