Has Bangkok Gone “Hipster”?

[Inspire]

Has Bangkok Gone “Hipster”?

Orlando Barton

 

 

The theme this month is things I missed about living in Bangkok. Pardon me if I keep making comparisons with Pattaya. It seems I didn’t really understand how sheltered a life I was living hidden away in the neon netherworld I called home for 7 years.

 

A tourist town like Pattaya tends to pull the walls in and create its own world. Things like fashion, culture and trends don’t penetrate those walls. Nobody knows what they should be wearing or eating or listening to until it’s already out of vogue. To be honest, it is a little bit of what gives Pattaya its charm. To steal an old tagline from the restaurant chain “Hooters”, it is “delightfully tacky”.

 

But not so in Bangkok. The Big Mango is a “city” city. Around here people do pay attention; especially young middle class Thais. They wear the right clothes, sport the right haircut and drive the right car. They listen to stripped down indie-rock duos while not smoking and eating vegetarian cuisine. Bangkok has entered its “hipster” phase.

 

What is a “hipster” you ask? Well, according to The Urban Dictionary, “Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20′s and 30′s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.”

 

Full story: http://www.inspirepattaya.com/lifestyle/bangkok-gone-hipster/

 

 

 

-- © Copyright Inspire Pattaya 2016-11-05

 

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

In other words ... CONFORMISTS! 

[ukrules]

Well, I saw this guy a month or two ago in Hua Hin :

 

 

[mca]

Just now, ukrules said:

Well, I saw this guy a month or two ago in Hua Hin :

 

 

That's a great photo mate. I thought the  Phrachuap Khiri Khan Lionel Richie Commodores-era Lookalike Rockabilly & Penny Farthing Appreciation Society had disbanded due to a lack of members. Good to see they're alive and well.

[tutsiwarrior]

 

 

Travis Bickle is a NYC hipster...

 

 

[Enoon]

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

In other words ... CONFORMISTS! 

 

Nathan Barley (2005):

Rise of the Idiots - YouTube

[PremiumLane]

Oh dear, hipsters are dead already, so already behind the times 

[yellowboat]

Many years ago, when Thailand was more la sai fair and less junta, was mesmerized by its style.  

[NoshowJones]

53 minutes ago, PremiumLane said:

Oh dear, hipsters are dead already, so already behind the times 

Hipsters were in fashion when I was at school, and that wasn't yesterday.

[jollyhangmon]

3 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

Oh dear, hipsters are dead already, so already behind the times 

 

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Hipsters were in fashion when I was at school, and that wasn't yesterday.

 

... sure thing, that's why it's hip (sorry, couldn't resist) here just now ... nothing new in other words.

[The manic]

Once a trend has been defined and recognised by the media it has lost its energy and creativity and is full of trend followers not trend setters. I remember the headline ' Punk is Dead' in 1976 in IT - The International Times after the SP gig at the 100 club .  The '60s ' were over by 68/69- possibly earlier by 66. So no -Bangkok is not going hipster - or hip hop or grunge or Mod- I do hope in some places it is revisiting it's Thai roots and enjoying it's own unique sub cultural tendencies.

[Emster23]

I'm a rebel, just like everyone else!

[sandemara]

Independent thinking? Counter-culture?  Bangkok?  lol.

[Ireland32]

I thought I Left those Tards in San Francisco

[geisha]

Coming from the south of France where fashion means a lot , i find bangkok very up and coming. Great fashion on the streets, and I like to people watch the new hairstyles and clothes that pass by day and night. Also, lots of fashionable restaurants and bars to go to, of course, if you have the money. Many new independent boutiques opening , Terminal 21 has some great shops for fashion, if very Japan influenced. 

[SiSePuede419]

My God, try to keep up.  Brooklyn went hipster 20 years ago.  Brooklyn is in NYC.  NYC is the #1 city in the world.

 

BKK is just catching up years later, like everywhere else.

 

555

[Jingthing]

My God, try to keep up.  Brooklyn went hipster 20 years ago.  Brooklyn is in NYC.  NYC is the #1 city in the world.
 
BKK is just catching up years later, like everywhere else.
 
555

Yeah Brooklyn is ground zero of the hipster silliness but I hadn't realized it had been 20 years.

Some of the oldies here may be confusing hipsters with hippies, beatniks, etc.

[The manic]

3 hours ago, geisha said:

Coming from the south of France where fashion means a lot , i find bangkok very up and coming. Great fashion on the streets, and I like to people watch the new hairstyles and clothes that pass by day and night. Also, lots of fashionable restaurants and bars to go to, of course, if you have the money. Many new independent boutiques opening , Terminal 21 has some great shops for fashion, if very Japan influenced. 

The Parisian were still wearing terylene flares in the 80s. The French know as much about style as the Pakistanis

[nausea]

Well I like bacon and vinyl, does that make me a hipster. Seriously, although I've been out of the loop for a while due to sickness, there are lots of Thais into things like Dr.Who and Sherlock Holmes, plus the myriad of stuff coming out of Japan and S.Korea. I would imagine your average ex-pat out of Pattaya doesn't have a clue where these guys and girls are coming from. And so it should be. 

[mca]

3 hours ago, nausea said:

Well I like bacon and vinyl

Isn't the vinyl a bit crunchy to the taste mate? ?

[riceyummm]

On 11/5/2016 at 9:05 PM, Jingthing said:

In other words ... CONFORMISTS! 

 

Back in the 60s we wanted to be non-conformists but all we managed to do was make ourselves look exactly like everyone else that wanted to be non-conformists, in other words CONFORMISTS.

In my experience true non-conformists are scary and universally despised and shunned.

[tutsiwarrior]

in my case folks thought that I was terminally hip when actually it was autistic spectrum disorder...

[Krankies fan club]

It's hip to be square