There’s A Hostel in Bangkok That Treats You Like a Prisoner

What? Who would pay to live like a prisoner? Well, if you think no one will do it, think again.

The newly opened Sook Station in Bangkok is exactly what we are talking about.

This boutique hostel is serving time for curious law-abiding citizens by recreating what it looks and feels to be in a real prison.

Sook Station Hostel

Nestled in Bangkok’s Udom Suk neighbourhood, the Sook Station hostel offers narrow rooms, mental bars and bunk beds for those who wish to live a criminal life for a few days.

Guest can opt to wear pin-striped pyjamas and have their mugshots taken against a wall with a height chart for THB700 (SGD$28).

And…it’s limited edition, guys.

The hostel has 9 rooms, out of which 2 of them have black-out windows and doors to recreate the solitary confinement cells in prisons.

The remaining 7 rooms are normal “cells” with a balcony for guests who may need a breather.

Each room is only 8 sqm in size and most guests share a communal bathroom just like a prison too.

When guests arrive at the hostel, they are given the standard treatment of inmates in a jail.

If they have opt-in for uniforms (most of them do for the fun of it!), they are given a mugshot, uniforms (the pin-striped pyjamas) and assigned a number instead of a room key.

This number will get them in and out of their cells or room if you like to call it one.

These rooms are also decorated with iron bars and black and white striped curtains. The hostel will also inform guests the curfew and the consequences of missing the curfew.

Despite that, you’ll feel like those billionaires who goes to prison

Despite all the seemingly harsh elements, Sook Station is not without its comfort.

There is a rooftop hot tub, an in-house coffee shop which also serves as the breakfast room in the morning, as well as a co-working space for guests who need to work during their travels.

This nine-room boutique hostel is the first attempt into the hospitality industry for the husband and wife team, Sittichai Chaivoraprug, 55 and Piyanat Teekavanich, 49.

They had careers in the technology sectors previously but inspired by their love for travel and their common passion in the 1994 prison escape movie The Shawshank Redemption, they decided to hitch the corporate world and start their own little business.

Guest reviews: You’ll either love it or hate it.

Guests who stayed at the hostel expressed vastly different opinions about the hostel. They either love it or hate it. There is simply no in-between.

There are some customers who have been back to the hostel for multiple times because they love it so much. One of their regular customers, Yui, said that she almost “feels like home” whenever she is there.

She said that she was impressed by the theme hostel because, on her first visit, it felt like a real prison because she arrived at night.

Sook Station charges between THB790 to THB1630 (SGD$32 to SGD$66) a night for their rooms, depending on the number of guests and their choice of common or private rooms.

Address: 45-49 Soi Sukhumvit 101/2, Khwaeng Bang Na, Khet Bang Na, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10260, Thailand

So, the question is, would you pay to stay here?