Bangkok charm evaporates as skyscrapers replace traditional communities

If you’re heading for BKK and expecting to enjoy the traditions and history of the city whilst you settle in to your new job, you’d better explore in hurry as they’re all disappearing!

Expats and tourists alike used to love Bangkok’s traditional districts with their picturesque teakwood homes, local craftsmen and buzzing markets, but present day Bangkok seems to be striving to become a faceless copy of sanitised, soulless Singapore. The old communities are dying or being driven out by the constant political rush for orderliness and by rapacious developers encouraged by the military government’s plans to ‘modernise’ the city.

Many traditional markets have been closed down, small communities who’ve occupied areas for over 100 years are being displaced, and even Bangkok’s famous street food sellers are being relocated in order to clear the pavements for pedestrians who no longer have any reason to visit the area. One favourite, the world-famous Flower Market, has now been moved to a large indoor shed, and the ancient, traditional wooden homes in Mahakan Fort have been demolished and their residents relocated.

At the same time, Thailand’s tourist authority is attempting to publicise the city’s traditional arts and crafts, offering community-based events in the gardens of luxury, high-end hotels in the commercial district. It’s the latest ruse to draw more tourists to Thailand, thus increasing revenues at a time when the economy is seen by many to be faltering. It’s an odd juxtaposition – genuine traditional crafts set in a Western-style venue totally outside the experience of the average Bangkok resident – although the tourism authority doesn’t seem to see it that way.

One French tourist told reporters she’d like to take a tour around Bangkok’s old neighbourhoods in order to get a feeling of how real life was and is still lived inside them. She’s not happy about the trend of eviction and modernising, pointing out the city is now a mass of skyscrapers where real people used to live and work. Her friend agreed, saying she couldn’t understand why the city fathers were going down this route, adding it’s sad to see all the old buildings being demolished. Another Thai visitor believes it’s all about GDP rather than cultural values, adding that spiritual values sadly disappear with the old world.