Bangkok Photos

[AlbertC]

Photos taken by Jonas on SkyscraperPage:

1.
Wat Pho

2.

3.
Near Siam Square. This might be one of the main central points of Bangkok

4.

5.

6.
MBK Center

7.
SkyTRain station

8.

9.

10.
SkyTrain

11.

12.

13.
Inside the train

14.

15.
Siam Paragon, possibly the largest shopping mall in Bangkok... in any case one large mother*ucker by all standards... about 300,000sq.m (3.2 million sq.ft) of retailing... a brand new 15 storey Kempinski Hotel is rising as a part of the same project

16.

17.

18.
SMartcard e-ticketing system was launched not so long ago...

19.

Sukhumvit Road

20.

21.

22.

23.
Where the fun's at...
Nana Plaza (Sukhumvit Soi4)... not much happening at the daytime tho

24.

25.
Soi 4

26.

27.

28.
Those innocents and having conservative attitudes don't go there. Believe me, you won't be happy to see all of that (and especially don't go to Rainbow 4) :sly:

29.


30.
SOmewhere around Soi5

31.

32.
Those looking for Halal food won't have to look too long.

33.
Soi4

34.
There are some 1500 of 7-Eleven stores in Bangkok alone... (total of about 4000 in Thailand)

35.

36.
Time to leave

37.
Entrance to the Suvarnabhumi Airport

38.
Inside the terminal

39.

40.
Suvarnabhumi - second largest airport terminal in the world

41.
Departures areas and corridors

42.

43.
Information, Internet and telephone

44.
Gotta leave the city of Anglels. Nothing to worry about, we'll be back ASAP!

 

[Canuck]

A lot of the city looks very grey. Almost like Toronto.

 

[ganjavih]

It looks a lot greyer than Toronto... but it has a certain coolness factor. Anyone been? Opinions?

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Thanks for the pics JanneClaude.

No matter how you slice and dice it, above ground transportation infrastructure (particularly when constructed out of concrete) tends to look atrocious.

The airport by Murphy/Jahn is quite amazing - but apparently in the drive to maximize retail income, the local airport authority managed to really clutter up that place (which showed). Yikes.

AoD

 

[Hipster Duck]

Alvin,

Personally I love above ground transportation (of the rail variety). I have a soft spot for els, having once lived right beside one, and skytrains and maybe even the Scarborough RT.

----

I really like the look of Bangkok. It's a mess and most of the architecture is so wrong but every picture suggests that this is a really vibrant, edgy city. The state of the infrastructure looks highly advanced there. From the pictures, the metro looks like its treated as a showcase, unlike the extremely utilitarian systems that North Americans tend to build.

One more thing, re pic 31: I didn't know there was an Arab/Muslim community in Bangkok. Very interesting.

 

[Zephyr]

During the US/Vietnam War, Bangkok was a favourite haunt of American and Canadian soldiers on so-called R&R, and it has its share of lone wolves traveling out of their way from Britain, Australia and elsewhere, to see what is going on there. I will not be graphic.

From time immemorial, your conventional tourists visit the religious shrines with all that elaborate gilding and repeating layers of rings and upside down goblet-like structures, that seem more South Asian than Far East, as does the food, as does the written/printed language, etc.

Throughout this city there is noticeable decay, and typical overcrowding, but the people are truly special in their warmth and practised art of welcoming visitors in many public areas, and this is what I remember the most from the four days that I spent there in the 1980s. I already was predisposed to like the cuisine of Thailand, but no one told me how different it was in Bangkok, burning your tongue into not recognising any flavour if you were not careful.

It may seem grey from these particular photos, and overly colourful from the ones you may see in a tourist shoppe, but it is somewhere in between and depends on where you are located in that city. My mind's eye recalls faded pinks and faded greens and lavender, but dark green grasses and palms and flowers of all types, and wretched poverty on the outer streets away from the areas of stores and tourist traps.

Jahn's airport came later than my visit, and his airport has captured some of those intriguing shapes of this exotic land, with the vaguely Indian-like inner courts and inner areas.

 

[cacruden]

It looks a lot greyer than Toronto... but it has a certain coolness factor. Anyone been? Opinions?

It is probably greyer in those pictures since it is the tail end of RAINY season ....

Bangkok is one of my favourite large cities, but I have a strong bias because of my love of Thai cuisine... I will be returning to that area, including Bangkok starting sometime in the later half of November (for 2 months). I will try to take some pictures this time.

Bangkok is a very fast growing metropolis. Thailand is relatively rich country in comparison to other ASEAN countries with the exception of Singapore. This leads to a large influx of illegal immigrants from other neigbouring countries. Most of this immigration will head directly to Bangkok. There is also a large influx of people from the rural areas of Thailand which is relatively poor. The end result is that you Bangkok's population goes from the very very wealthy (Thai Thai), to the less fortunate.

If you like shopping, Bangkok is quite an amazing place. The shopping ranged from out of my price range, to really cheap - depending on what you are looking for.
I usually have some pants and shirts (and the odd suit) made there when I am there -- I have a tailor that I will go to (recommended by someone that I knew that worked in the Canadian Embassy there).

Accomodations range from 5 star to the no-star locations ... (more 5 star hotels in Bangkok than will exist in Toronto).

Bangkok has many options for getting around:
- Skytrain
- Subway (5 more in financing - beginning of construction phase)
- air conditioned buses
- non air conditioned buses
- metered taxis
- tuk tuks (cute - but not my favourite method in a congested city -- you are at the level of the tail pipes).
- motorcycles (hop on back - but only those that are expecting customers )
- Water ferry (long boats that run up and down the major rivers - actually one of the better ways to travel - avoid the tourist ones - you get sick of the person talking all the time )

Street food is amazing -- this is where a large number of thai people get lunch or dinner. Basically a place has a parking lot, many tables and chairs and different vendors are located around that make better quality food than what you will find in Toronto -- Pad Thai, Green Mango/Papaya salad, large noodle/soup, fresh fruit, fresh juice -- and a beer if you want (but only after 5pm).

A great place to visit....

 

[Hypnotoad]

Street food is amazing -- this is where a large number of thai people get lunch or dinner. Basically a place has a parking lot, many tables and chairs and different vendors are located around that make better quality food than what you will find in Toronto -- Pad Thai, Green Mango/Papaya salad, large noodle/soup, fresh fruit, fresh juice -- and a beer if you want (but only after 5pm).

A great place to visit....

Bangkok is definately a riot. I But you forgot the best street vendor of them all - banana pancake.

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Murray Head was right - it does have everything but Yul Brynner!

 

[cacruden]

For Canadians posted to Bangkok (embassy staff etc.), it is fairly easy to live well.... Accomodations equal to condos in Toronto, Shopping, Grocery shopping, cheap street food, Movie Theatres (very nice theatres) with English and Thai movies, pretty much anything that you can get in Toronto you can get the equivalent in Bangkok -- plus things that you would not be able to find in Toronto. I was amazed that people posted to the Embassy in Bangkok still get a "hardship bonus".

For vegetables, etc. there are a number of markets in the area..... but they do have many grocery stores -- one of them is in Siam Paragon, and one in down the road a little.... I have not seen a store of the same quality in Toronto as those two. They serve a mixture of customers that are upper-class Thais and many people from the many many embassy's around. Even the Tesco - which was a 15 minute skytrain+subway ride away -- was superior to any Dominion/Lawblaws in Toronto. The pollution/particulate matter in the air is a little higher than Toronto I think -- but they are aware of it -- and seem to be trying to deal with that problem. An interesting note is that the most popular foreign food restaurant these days -- seems to be Italian -- I did not patronize them since I was not interested in wasting my time on non-regional food (maybe if I was there semi-permanently). The local Big-C chain is much like a No-Frills -- but of course with local product/produce in addition to some imports.

 

[ProjectEnd]

Alvin,

Personally I love above ground transportation (of the rail variety). I have a soft spot for els, having once lived right beside one, and skytrains and maybe even the Scarborough RT.

I couldn't agree with you more. Although they don't present an overt beauty, I still love the look of them because of the streetscape they create. It also looks like they've really taken the time to make sure the space under the elevated tracks doesn't slip into squalor as it so easily can...potted plants everywhere, lots of other greenery - very pleasant.

I think a lot of people get the impression that Bangkok is some crazy lawless place where you can buy anything and have sex with anyone. Though this is partially true, theres so much more to the city as evidenced by these pictures.

Great Job!

 

[junctionist]

1500 7-Elevens is unprecedented. That beats us hands down.

 

[MisterF]

1500 7-Elevens...world class!

Thanks for posting the pics.

 

[JennyScoth0109]

Wow. Great Pics. Even I haven't seen that place yet, the picture looks real which made me think that I'm already there.

 

[allabootmatt]

Bangkok is definitely worth a visit for anyone traveling in Asia. It's hard to beat it for sheer vibrancy, and it has an unbelievably advanced luxury sector (hotels, restaurants, etc). While it's definitely not the prettiest place in the world you'll be hard pressed not to like it...and it helps that Thais are some of the nicest, gentlest, friendliest people you will ever meet, if I may engage in a generalization.