Drive along Bangkok's busy Ramkhamhaeng Road and you may spot an unusual sight: commercial aeroplanes in a field on the side of the road, miles from the nearest airport. This overgrown lot is an aeroplane graveyard – where decommissioned passenger jets go to die. It is the final resting place of two McDonnell Douglas-built MD-82s and all that's left of a couple of Boeing 747s after they were dismantled.

These abandoned planes are home to three families. The seats have been ripped out and the bare interiors have been partitioned to create rooms. The residents say they began living in the jets because they were unable to afford Bangkok's rents.

Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
The aeroplane graveyard is the final resting place of two McDonnell Douglas-built MD-82s and sections of a Boeing 747 Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A man lies on his bed in one of the planes Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A woman sits in her room inside one of the planes Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A woman hangs laundry in the aeroplane graveyard in Bangkok Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A man sits outside his home in the aeroplane graveyard in Bangkok Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A family are seen in their home inside a plane Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A woman sits with her possessions, many of which were salvaged from rubbish dumps Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
Toys that were thrown away by their original owners are displayed in a room in the aeroplane graveyard Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A young boy plays outside his unusual home Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A resident walks past two of the converted fuselages Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
Night falls on one of Bangkok's most unusual apartment blocks Taylor Weidman/Getty Images

The residents of one of Bangkok's more unusual housing developments eke out of a living by collecting and sorting recyclable rubbish. They occasionally supplement their income by charging tourists and photographers 100 Baht (about £1.80, $2.77) to look around their homes.

Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
A woman prepares to take bags of plastic bottles to a recycling centre in Bangkok Taylor Weidman/Getty Images

The planes' valuable electrical wiring and components have been stripped out and recycled. Oxygen masks, safety manuals and inflight magazines lie scattered across the floor, almost as if the planes had crashed in a field in Bangkok.

Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
Fittings and fixtures that were stripped from one of the planes Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
Oxygen masks lie scattered on the floor of one of the jets Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Aeroplane graveyard Bangkok
The cockpit of one of the disused passenger jets Taylor Weidman/Getty Images
Similar picture stories
Travel pictures