
An impressive seven-storey cruise ship, tucked away in the deep jungle on a beautiful island in Thailand was hoped to be a luxurious and unique stopover for thousands of visitors, but this ended up being far from the case. The Galaxy, also known as the Grand Laguna Hotel, started life as a US Navy vessel before it was converted into a traditional Thai ship.
A resident billionaire subsequently bought the ship to fulfil his dream of owning a floating hotel. The resort, which now lies abandoned, sits deep in the jungle on the beautiful island of Koh Chang, Thailand's third largest island, which lies seven hours south of Bangkok. A tourist hotspot in the late 1990s, visitors were able to stay in impressive bungalows dotted around the area, or aboard the ship itself. Originally, the seven-storey hotel and its lavish guest rooms were said to be the height of luxury with plush carpets, chandeliers and highly trained staff. The first and second floors of the ship hotel were occupied with meeting rooms and staff areas. The third, fourth and fifth floors held around 200 guest bedrooms. It even boasted a restaurant that spanned the two top levels.
However, due to growing financial pressures, the hotel closed its doors to paying guests in 2012.
This did not stop visitors from flocking to the ghost ship, however. It soon became possible to buy tickets to explore decks of this haunted relic, but the COVID-19 pandemic soon stopped this in its tracks.
US social media influencer, Joshua T Yozura, known for his YouTubeseries, , decided to take the plung and explore the dark and mysterious history behind the abandoned ship. Where a gleaming white exterior once stood, Josh was met with a dilapidated wreck, with its outside marked with brown rust.
The Galaxy's bad luck began when a Banyan tree was knocked down so the ship could sit in its lagoon location. This angered the highly religious and spiritual locals, who believed the tree was sacred to the land, as were the elephants, who could no longer roam freely. This started the buzz that the hotel was cursed.
Josh revealed that when the hotel was active, it was said a lot of workers and guests became sick, had falls and even died. "There's a lot of legends and rumours that say people used to jump from the top of the ship to the bottom," he said. "I can't prove that online [...] There was an article I read that a Russian guy actually got hurt and fell and died on the ship - it's hard to say [if it's true]."
One Reddit user said: "People have killed themselves by jumping [off] the top, and probably because the thing is creepy as hell."
In addition to its curse, the hotel also suffered because of its tropical location. The area, which was surrounded by water, was infested with mosquitoes, which led to Dengue fever and malaria. It was also extremely humid, and the ship was difficult to keep cool - all of which did not make for a comfortable holiday.
The final blow came in December 2024, when the ship mysteriously caught fire and was destroyed. Around 50 emergency workers attempted to put out the blaze, but failed to do so due to strong winds that caused the flames to spread quickly. The cause of the damaging inferno remains unknown. The ship was left to smoulder for a few weeks, and then work began on dismantling the charred remains. As of mid-2025, only the hull remains, with the upper sections shipped to the mainland and sold for scrap.
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