Designed by Plan Architects; completed 1987 Bangkok, Thailand Distinctive for its horizontal strips of rainbow color and a gableshaped roof, the first Baiyoke tower in Bangkok, Thailand, was famously known as the one-time tallest reinforced-concrete building in Asia. This skyscraper signified the start of Thai high-rise architectural development. Land Development, a real estate company dominated by the Baiyoke family, the project developer and landowner, proposed this 42-story building to serve as both a commercial and a residential complex. The company turned the site on Rachaprarob Road, which once had been occupied by a large-scale theater, into a garment and cloth market and a residential tower for the Pratunam district. Not only did the garment and cloth business inside the building fit in well with the neighborhood’s business in general, but it also eventually became one of the most significant wholesale cloth markets in Bangkok for years to come. Although the Baiyoke tower estab...