Has Bangkok become too western?
JAMIE HARKIS


Featured image is by @FelixTriller and is used under a Creative Commons licence

BANGKOK: -- Now I appreciate the title may be a little incendiary, but do allow me to explain why I decided to headline this piece with such a loaded question.

Before I settled in Bangkok in January of 2016 – as I have mentioned in a previous piece – I spent the best part of 2015 travelling across Asia, with the year bookended by time spent in the Kingdom.

It was only on my return to Thailand at the end of the year that I fully appreciated just how developed and essentially ‘western’ life was here – particularly in Bangkok. From the countless hotels, restaurants and bars to the supermarkets, malls and businesses, to the sheer volumes of westerners who actually live here.

Only after having spent a little time experiencing other Asian countries and cultures did this reality really hit home.

On a personal level, I began to consider whether this was a positive or negative reality for me. Was I simply looking to shoehorn the life I had in England into a more tropical setting?

Or should I be looking for something more authentic, more real than that?

I questioned whether there is anything essentially ‘Thai’ about my life at all, other than occasionally having to break into a little ‘taxi Thai’ and, of course, now considering it completely normal to eat rice for breakfast…

Broadening out from this I began to wonder whether this westernisation has had a positive or negative impact on Bangkok and Thailand, socially and economically, and how the country has changed and is changing from a cultural perspective for both the native and foreign people who live here.

Put simply, Thailand appeals so strongly to foreigners thanks to the warm hospitable people, the incredible food, the tropical climate, stunning natural beauty and, for those who are so minded, the burgeoning and overt sex industry, dating back to the late 1960s when the country was a haven for American GIs seeking R ‘n’ R from the horrors of the Vietnam war.

From such ‘beginnings’ it is estimated that around 29 million people now visit Thailand annually, accounting for a whopping 20 percent of the national GDP.

Recent studies indicate that Bangkok is now the most visited city in the world by international tourists. These figures are consistently rising year-on-year too. Whilst a significant proportion of those tourists will not be from western countries – Chinese tourists account for a large percentage of the annual visitors – the numbers are still huge.

Full story: http://whatsonsukhumvit.com/has-bangkok-become-too-western/


-- (c) What's on Sukhumvit 2016-05-19

If BKk is western then my city must be missing out on alot. Sewage smells, litter, garbage, uncontrolled traffic, non existance police and buffalos with guns running the country.

Our buffalos dont have guns!

Edited May 18, 201610 yr by Reigntax

Welcome to the material world in all its glory

Bit of a broad and vague piece with little point. He might be able to write a more interesting and informed piece after spending 4 years in the city rather than 4 months.

Sounds like the type of person who for selfish reasons never wants things to change no matter how much it may benefit the locals.

I'm not saying if Bkk, and other places, are benefiting but there must be some and it far outweighs an individuals' personal desire to have things as he / she wants.

Edited May 18, 201610 yr by NongKhaiKid

Bkk is trying hard to blend into the western way but failing miserably

"On a personal level, I began to consider whether this was a positive or negative reality for me. Was I simply looking to shoehorn the life I had in England into a more tropical setting?

Or should I be looking for something more authentic, more real than that?"

Talk about someone disappearing up their own self righteous anus...awful article.

Edited May 18, 201610 yr by Bluespunk

A failed attempt at sensationalist writing. Total crap.

Sounds like the type of person who for selfish reasons never wants things to change no matter how much it may benefit the locals.

I'm not saying if Bkk, and other places, are benefiting but there must be some and it far outweighs an individuals' personal desire to have things as he / she wants.

There are many foreigners here who hate seeing Thailand changing. It's always western culture that is to blame.

It's actually insulting to Thais. Thais are human beings. Human beings like material items. This is a fact of life. For what's good and bad, people should be free to do what makes them happy in life.

Unfortunately for some foreigners, they're coming to Thailand and getting annoyed because Thailand isn't what 'they' think it should be. Well, foreigners are free to live the simple life as well. Funny how they choose the western life style.

Bit of a broad and vague piece with little point. He might be able to write a more interesting and informed piece after spending 4 years in the city rather than 4 months.

Indeed...sounds like the writer's never been more north the Petchaburi Rd.

He must be here for the temples and a bowl of rice soup for breakfast..........

Bet he is really disappointed when he encounters a sit down western toilet rather than

the authentic squat model........that brings tears to his eyes

Edited May 19, 201610 yr by namatjira

Rookie. "Settled" in Bangkok a mere 4 months ago - and I bet my hat he "settled" somewhere along the Sukhumvit tourist ghetto between Soi 1 and Onnut. Because they all do. And then they soon brag how well they have "settled" in a completely different culture, and how well they have taken to having rice for breakfast (which is oh sooo ethnic), and how well their "taxi Thai" is developing (not to mention their bargirl and street vendor Thai).

And now this new settler implores in a rather broad and boring (some might say, naive) piece whether Bangkok has become "too western"? Give me a break...

I have "settled" here since March 5, 1991, and my short answer is: no, Bangkok has not become too western. But you only realize that when you break out of the Sukhumvit ghetto, and venture away from Silom Road or the Ratchaprasong shopping strip.

Yes, the city has developed, has become a lot more convenient for everyone, locals and foreigners alike. But that development happened gradually over a couple of decades and longer, and it is still ongoing. I therefore must strongly doubt our little rookie's claim to have witnessed the rapid "westernization" of Bangkok since 2015.

To support his thesis he mentions "the countless hotels, restaurants and bars to the supermarkets, malls and businesses, to the sheer volumes of westerners who actually live here" - and with that he unwittingly discloses to us in which small part of Bangkok he drew his mind-blowing observations.

He chooses to patronize these hotels, restaurants and bars, supermarkets and malls, etc., and he chooses to live among these "sheer volumes" of other foreigners there. And then he honestly asks whether Bangkok has become "too western"?

Edited May 19, 201610 yr by Misterwhisper

BKK seems adept at sucking in the worst of every culture from around the world. Sort of a cultural carbon tab, catches all the crap.

4 months living in lower Suhumvit and feeling Thailand isn't Thai enough for the poor delicate petal.

Perhaps a stint in Nakhorn Nowhere is in order.

4 months living in lower Suhumvit and feeling Thailand isn't Thai enough for the poor delicate petal.

Perhaps a stint in Nakhorn Nowhere is in order.

And send him scuttling back to the comfort of not Thai enough Bangkok.

"Burgeoning sex trade". Seriously, there's never been a more fully fledged and firmly established sex trade.

Comments on moderation have been removed. Please comment on the thread and refrain from comments about the source of information posted. Doing so is off-topic and is also covered under this rule:

10) Do not discuss moderation publicly in the open forum; this includes individual actions, and specific or general policies and issues. You may send a PM to a moderator to discuss individual actions or email support (at) thaivisa.com to discuss moderation policy. You will not block contact with moderators or administrators. Doing so will result in suspension.

Yeah agree this article is super shit. Thai's like western food, hotels and shopping as much as anybody else, and similarly it's the same scenario in most internationalised major cities..... Is China town also considered too western?

Give the poor so and so a break.

He's probably just trying to make it as a freelance journalist.

He knows it's rubbish, we know it's rubbish, the publishers know it's rubbish. It serves to provide a framework to hang adverts on, brought him some ( a little) cash and will help his CV when he returns home to look for a job!

The whole world is becoming one big flat screen strip mall. Visit any city around the world and you will know your way around the malls and fast food joints without ever having visited before. Watch both young and old stare into mobile devices. There are no mysteries remote hideaways or mysterious lost cities now. Long gone.

Yes indeed, Bangkok is becoming totally Westernized. I recall seeing roving gangs of drunken thugs speeding around on rink-dink mopeds wielding knives and hatchets and chopping up someone who brushed up against them in a crowded market in downtown Toronto all the time.

Western/Schmestern....this is a totally false premise.......what is needed is practical approaches and solutions that face Thailand today..... I get the feeling that the concept of "too Western" is actually just a patronising perspective from someone who wants to keep parts of the world as the kind of impoverished tourist traps that adorn postcards and suits his own needs

Edited May 19, 201610 yr by cumgranosalum

This writer has never used a motorcycle taxi, or a water bus on a khlong or the river. He has never visited Khlong Toey market or Talad Bobae. Try to wake up early at 5am and go to Lumphini Park, or Suan Luang or Suan Chatuchak and watch Thais practice Tai Chi, KungFu or Chinese Sword Fighting, or watch a game of Takraw in the evenings....

I just believe the writer never even tried to open his eyes or put a little effort in disproving his own headline, writing something preconceived is just plain lazy.

Edited May 19, 201610 yr by klauskunkel

Yes.

The authors next article will be :

' Are there too many cars in Bangkok '

or perhaps

' Is Thailand too hot ? '

The guy probably thought TV was some of the wall travel blog. Hope he has a hard head.

Sounds like the type of person who for selfish reasons never wants things to change no matter how much it may benefit the locals.

I'm not saying if Bkk, and other places, are benefiting but there must be some and it far outweighs an individuals' personal desire to have things as he / she wants.

There are many foreigners here who hate seeing Thailand changing. It's always western culture that is to blame.

It's actually insulting to Thais. Thais are human beings. Human beings like material items. This is a fact of life. For what's good and bad, people should be free to do what makes them happy in life.

Unfortunately for some foreigners, they're coming to Thailand and getting annoyed because Thailand isn't what 'they' think it should be. Well, foreigners are free to live the simple life as well. Funny how they choose the western life style.

Bugger!!! heres me thinking they were all devout Buddhists and wanted for nothing

I am guessing we all agree this article is BS!

accounting for a whopping 20 percent of the national GDP.

I think it's more about 10%. For Thailand to achieve the same GDP growth rate of the other ASEAN countries tourism will need to be about 50% GDP if exports don't keep contracting.

Like many Western and Asian-Pacific (ie., Japan, South Korea, China) nations Thailand adopted capitalism to drive its economy. But it has been resistant to allow its culture and tradition to become diluted by Western practices.

No....

Thailand has moved from a third world country to a more developed country exciting people worldwide who visit.

I'm always at a loss to understand why many tourists and expats post negative content about Thailand, while many expats have lived here for years and the same tourists return year after year?

Perhaps it’s time for them to return to their home countries for a lengthy stay and experience all the expenses, tragedies, civil unrest, unhealthy food, confused women and all the problems first hand.

Then they can evaluate a fair comparison and reset their thinking.