The Bangkokian appears in many guises. Sitting behind the darkened windows of a chauffeur-driven Mercedes is the high-society lady on her way to a VIP gala function. Hurrying up the steps of the Skytrain station is the young and smartly dressed office manager, late for a meeting. Slicing up a watermelon on his cart in front of a towering office block is the fruit vendor busy with the lunchtime crowds. Bangkok is a city of contrasts – between wealth and poverty, east and west, the old and the new. The city’s inhabitants dwell on all sides of these delineations, with many creatively straddling more than one divide.
Fresh lime juice vendor.
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City on the move
Bangkok is forever shifting, always adapting to Western trends and outside influences. The cityscape is in a constant state of renewal, with old wooden buildings frequently demolished to make way for modern office and shopping complexes. For the most part, Bangkokians are creatures of this environment, enthusiastically embracing all things new. Trends spread through the city like wildfire, from the craze for fitness gyms to Starbucks copy-cat cafés. Clubs and restaurants open and close at a bewildering rate as they fall in and out of fashion.
Friendly smile at the Flower Market.
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Cool Hearts
The essential ingredient to surviving the stresses of daily life in the hot and humid streets of Bangkok is the Thai concept of jai yen (literally, “cool heart”). Jai yen is about taking obstacles in your stride. It is the antithesis of out-of-control tempers and sudden anger. This very Thai concept ensures that an oasis of calm exists inside every Bangkokian; differences of opinion rarely escalate to fistfights, and misunderstandings are countered with a smile. The accompanying phrase that answers to all of life’s vicissitudes is mai pen rai, or “never mind”. Make use of both these concepts and Bangkok will seem a little less difficult.
Though the capital’s official population hovers around 6 million, the large number of migrant workers bring most estimates closer to 12 million. Bangkok’s biggest growth spurt has taken place during the economic boom years from the 1980s, during which the Bangkok dream has become a reality for many. As glass-and-chrome condos rise into the sky, Western fast-food outlets take over the streets, along with glitzy nightclubs and swanky restaurants.
This perennial change is oiled by the generally accepting Thai nature and the Buddhist concept of non-attachment. Historically, rather than resisting outside influences, Thailand has always welcomed them, and traditionally chooses compromise over conflict. Which is why the ongoing, sometimes violent, political struggle of recent years has taken many by surprise (see box). While there are those who deride Bangkok as not representing the “real” Thailand, the city stubbornly retains a sense of Thai-ness. Beneath the yellow arches of McDonald’s you’ll find women threading fragrant jasmine garlands and next to every modern skyscraper is an old shrine where the spirits of the land are still appeased each day.
A Nation Divided
Thailand’s recent political crisis started in 2006 with the disposing of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra via a bloodless military coup d’état. Thaksin was roundly regarded as a self-serving politician who changed laws to further his business interests. But this is far from unusual in Thailand; what he did that was slightly different to the norms of political life was his introduction of policies such as affordable health care that made real changes to poor people’s lives. They elected him time and again with a huge majority.
In the years following the coup the anti-Thaksin Yellow Shirts and pro-Thaksin Red Shirts infiltrated every aspect of daily life. Hundreds of thousands marched on both sides; people defined themselves as “red shirt” or “yellow shirt”, dividing offices and homes; Thais discussed politics like never before.
Grass-roots movements, previously a mess of disparate causes, have united behind the Red Shirts, who by February 2010 consisted of 459 affiliated organisations from around the country. The media claimed the 2006 coup instigators were “the traditional ruling elite”. The cost for them of removing Thaksin has been long-term change in the political landscape. As one Red Shirt leader said about the coup makers: “They have turned Thaksin the big capitalist into Thaksin the revolutionary.” Subsequent demonstrations and counter demonstrations led to another coup in 2014. The military have taken a sterner line with decent this time around and the political landscape is changing as a result.
Sanuk means fun
The city is infused with the Bangkokian’s search for sanuk, a Thai word meaning fun. The quantity and quality of sanuk, whether in work or play, determines if something is worth pursuing. Checking out anything new – the latest movie, a recently opened restaurant or shopping mall – is a sure-fire sanuk activity. Gatherings of friends always have high sanuk value, whether it’s an evening beneath the gaudy chandeliers of a karaoke club, or huddled around a tin table on the pavement quaffing whisky.
The concept of sanuk (fun) is always close to the surface in Bangkok. Thais seemingly never crave solitude, preferring to gather in groups for drinks and laughter-filled meals of shared food.
The traditional Thai greeting known as the wai.
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Doing anything alone is generally considered mai sanuk (not fun). Thailand’s culture and society have traditionally been centred on agriculture, an activity that nurtures a sense of community. The shift to urban life has changed much of the countryside’s ways, but it is a rare Thai who does not enjoy getting together with friends. Most are puzzled by Westerners who dine or holiday alone, as they do not understand the occasional need for solitude. The sanuk quota of any given event can usually be gauged by the number of people involved: the general rule being “the more, the merrier”. A Bangkokian’s mobile phone is never silent for long.
A game of takraw, or kick volleyball.
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Hi-So and Lo-So
Bangkok society is fiercely hierarchical. At the top of the pyramid are the “hi-so”, a Thai slang abbreviation for high society. The phrase and its counterpart, “lo-so” (for low society), are used to boost or deride a person’s standing: “She’s very hi-so”, or, “Oh no, he’s too lo-so”. The city’s hi-so tribe is not limited only to aristocratic Thai families; the economic boom has created a significant nouveau riche class; being hi-so is as much about glamour and wealth as it is about pedigree. The hi-so are pictured in the society pages of newspapers and magazines (like the English-language Thailand Tatler), with the women sporting big hair and big jewels. Hi-so life is a seemingly endless whirl of lunches, cocktail parties and shopping.
Many members of the hi-so are Sino-Thai. The Chinese knack for entrepreneurial know-how has ensured that Sino-Thai families control much of Bangkok’s wealth. Chinese traders have lived in the Bangkok area since the 18th century, and have been assimilated, to a remarkable degree, into the life of their adopted land. Chinese and Thais have intermarried freely and there is no outward anti-Chinese bias in Thailand, and racial conflicts like those found in neighbouring countries have been very rare. While some estimates state that a quarter of Bangkok’s population is Chinese, it is now hard to differentiate between Chinese and Thais as most second and third generation immigrants are Thai citizens and no longer speak Chinese.
Spectacular views from the Vertigo Grill – popular with the hi-so.
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All over the city are billboards advertising the moo bahn, or housing estates, that litter the outskirts of Bangkok. Depicting Western-style houses complete with two children and a dog playing in the garden, they appeal to Bangkok’s burgeoning middle-classes. Residing on cheaper land at the city’s edge, though, means a long daily commute to work.
Mixed races and migrants
A Bangkok phenomenon of recent years is the rise of the luk kreung, literally “half child”. Luk kreung are mixed-race children, mostly with one Thai and one Caucasian parent. The luk kreung “look” is astoundingly popular with Bangkokians and many Bangkok celebrities are luk kreung TV presenters, pop stars, soap opera actors and actresses, or models. The luk kreung epitomises Bangkok’s hybrid culture: Thai, but also a little bit Western. It is a blend that infuses everything from the mix-and-match style of pop music to the city’s creative takes on fusion cuisine.
Taxi driver.
Harsha KR
Of other minorities in the city, Indians make up the second largest group after the Chinese. There are around a million Muslim Thai-Malays who are fairly well integrated into Thai society, despite the many killings on both sides in the last decade of separatist unrest in the Muslim provinces of the Deep South. There are also significant groups of expatriates living in Bangkok, working mostly for international companies. Among them are some 25,000 Westerners, known as farang or foreigner in Thai, and around 50,000 Japanese, whose “Little Tokyo” is centred around Sukhumvit Soi 33/1.
Teashop in Chinatown.
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Less integrated with Bangkok society are the illegal immigrants fleeing poverty in Cambodia and Burma (Myanmar). They provide the city with low-cost labour and are forced into the jobs no one else wants: on construction sites, refuse collection and in factories and brothels. Of the estimated one million migrant workers in Thailand, 800,000 are from Burma.
The admirably named radio station “Let’s Get Together and Help People” was established to do just that. People phone in with problems and the listeners rally round to help them.
Rising above and beyond all these social divisions is the king and the Thai royal family. The passing in October 2016 of His Majesty King Bhumibol (for more information, click here), much-loved and revered figurehead of the nation, was felt as a national tragedy and a year of mourning was declared. Portraits of the king and queen hang in almost every office, shop and restaurant. At cinemas, the audience stands while the King’s anthem is played before each film. In many ways, the king acts as a moral arbiter for all Bangkokians; while the city races helter-skelter towards all that is new, the monarch stands as a symbol of Thai tradition and old-world values. This institution of the monarchy is still very much revered in Thailand with the passing of King Bhumibol and the crowning of King Vajiralongkorn.
Asian influence
Thailand, like many other countries, in the past looked to the dominant West for direction in fashion, music and film. But the last decade has seen a shift as the internet generation, many educated abroad, have found a new confidence in Thai and Asian styling, particularly in clothes fashions and interiors. Foreign influences in music and youth trends are as likely to be Japanese or Korean as Western, and bands from both these countries (J-Pop and K-Pop) have huge numbers of fans. And if Japanese manga comics are the biggest read for teenagers, when it comes to music Korean popstars and Korean culture are at the zenith amongst Bangkok’s teenage population. Korean restaurants are springing up everywhere and a small Korea ‘town’ on Sukhumvit Road draws large numbers. Daily viewing of Korean soap-operas (dubbed into Thai) is rapidly becoming the norm for Bangkokian middle class consumption.
Girls at a Japanese-style costume role-play in Bangkok.
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Bangkok as a village
The most neglected Bangkokians are the poor, hundreds of thousands of whom live in inner-city slums. The largest of these, Klong Toey, is rapidly disappearing, being replaced by high-rise towers and high-end condo projects. Slum life persists though and is fuelled by yaa baa (the Thai word for amphetamines, meaning, literally, “crazy medicine”) and desperation forces many people into crime and prostitution. Many are migrants escaping rural poverty in Isaan, northeastern Thailand, where a tenant farmer may earn as little as B30,000 a year. Though the Bangkok dream has yet to filter into their lives, the city would surely collapse without them. Manpower from the northeast provides the city with a crucial task force of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers, construction workers, cleaners and security guards. Many find work in the streets as roving vendors or rubbish-collectors.
Living away from the air-conditioned world of shopping malls and nightclubs, these rural migrants bring a touch of the village to the capital. The outskirts of the city especially have many barn-like halls where bands play regional music like morlam to hundreds of Isaanites fuelled by rice whisky.
Children diving in the polluted canals in the Siam district.
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Little girl coming back from school to life in the slums.
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Despite its wide variety of residents, Bangkok retains many of the traditional communal elements of Thai village life. Proof comes in the form of one of the most popular radio stations, Ruam Duay Chuay Kan, or “Let’s Get Together and Help Each Other”. The radio station is broadcast live, 24-hours-a-day, and its concept is simple: a person calls in with a problem and the presenters muster all the forces of good in the city to solve it. Bureaucratic tangles are untied, lost relatives are reunited and even Bangkok’s steaming gridlock can be moved when drivers hear that a screaming woman in labour is trying to get to hospital. The radio show emphasises the familiar sense of community inherent in village life. Through it, Bangkokians can share practical advice, help out in times of trouble and, of course, stick their noses into other people’s businesses. Most of all, though, the station is proof that the big bad city has a heart of gold.
Sin City Bangkok
Bangkok has a complex historical relationship with its sex workers: the trade is both illegal and openly tolerated, a source of shame to some, and of income to others.
Thailand made prostitution illegal in 1960, although the law is rarely enforced, and sex is openly for sale in the capital’s many girlie bars, brothels and massage parlours. In part this is because it is an accepted and common practice for Thai men to patronise prostitutes or have a mia noi, literally “little wife” or mistress on the side. They will usually patronise more discreet brothels or, at the higher end, plush members-only clubs, while foreign tourists go for the brash red lights of Patpong and Nana Entertainment Plaza.
Sex tourism escalated with American troops taking R&R during the Vietnam War, and, by the 1980s, planeloads of men were flying in for the purpose. Most Bangkok sex workers, both male and female, come from northeast Thailand, where incomes are the lowest in the country. They regularly send money home to support their families. Many cross-cultural marriages have started in a Bangkok brothel, and government figures often cite foreign husbands in northeastern villages as being significant contributors to GDP.
NGOs estimate there are between 200,000 and 300,000 sex workers in Thailand, and, having found that few are motivated to leave the business, no longer focus their primary efforts on extricating them. Organisations such as Empower instead educate bar girls and boys about the dangers of HIV, and teach them English so they are less likely to be exploited by their clients.
The non-voluntary side of the sex trade is infinitely more grim. There are an estimated 60,000 child prostitutes in Thailand, many willingly sold by their parents, against whom convictions are very rare. Young women and girls are also trafficked from neighbouring Laos, Burma and Cambodia. Lured by promises of factory jobs or waitress work, they unwittingly sell themselves into lock-up brothels, where they must work until they have earned back the price the brothel-owner paid for them. Thailand is also an established transit point for trafficking to other countries.
The highly visible nature of sex work in Thailand is at odds with the otherwise high moral code of behaviour in the country. Women especially are expected to deport themselves modestly, and the Ministry of Culture (much to the outrage of many) is constantly making edicts about appropriate behaviour and dress. (Websites that criticise the ministry have been closed down). The discrepancy between the requirement for modesty and the prominent profile of sex work is often attributed to the Thais’ general high tolerance for other lifestyles.
Pole-dancing bar along Soi Cowboy in Sukhumvit.
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