In search of

Old neighborhoods replaced over time

I lived in Bangkok during the early 1970s, a member of the small expat community here for ‘safe haven’. Our compound had two multistory walk up apartment buildings though was not a gated community. The others living there were small families

or wives of those working in Vietnam. I never thought much about living in an apartment as we had also done so in South America but can’t recall anyone from my Thailand circle of friends that lived in a detached house.

My intrepid husband and I took a cab in search of my old apartment this morning. The hotel where my high school reunion is being staged is on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River while the overwhelming majority of my time was on the other side of town. We intended to snap a couple of pictures of my old compound, then come back as the heat—projected to be 94 degrees Fahrenheit by early afternoon—is affecting both of us.

We failed in our quest. The cab driver did all he could, including biding me to give him ever more encouragement in my serviceable but admittedly rusty basic Thai. (‘I drive, you talk talk’ as he motioned straight ahead). He stopped to ask for more guidance from one of the ubiquitous gaggles of motorcycle delivery persons along the narrow passage of Soi 49 off Sukhumvit Road. Alas…

The compound—actually the entire sub soi (street) off the bigger soi off Soi 49 as well--were simply no longer there, subsumed into massive new structures. Bangkok, however, is a city transformed. The high rises are in every direction as far as on can see, interspersed with the beloved open-air kitchens every few between countless small shops. The neighbourhood we drove through also had some Japanese signs, a Fuji department store and a restaurant, an American School, and Starbucks among the predominantly middle class Thai establishments. Yes, Soi 49 is still a tiny street struggling to carry the traffic but it was not paralyzed as so many in Delhi or Beijing.

I think I expected to be disappointed as I could not photograph the old place to send my brother, unable to make the trip. Instead, I was unexpectedly happy to see the emergence of this modern city. Soi 55, a nearby street where my closest friend lived in a compound grandly called Mansion House, was bustling as a commercial vector far more than it was as a residential one but the twenty-plus story buildings along its sides towered.

Construction for infrastructure improvement has been amazing. In August 1973 when I departed, the number of fly-overs was at nest probably a dozen across the area I knew but today they dominant Bangkok traffic. I heard yesterday that mass transit growth continues apace as this city of 11 million continues to need more support.

Pollution ensues. Yes, the overall pollution was markedly worse today than Saturday upon arrival or Sunday; the thick haze sadly took me back to the days we so seldom saw clear skies. But a 45 minute drive across the city did not manifest the overtly bulging areas of people stagnant on the street without visible means of any sort of employment. I am not naive: I suspect much of what we saw was ‘underemployment’ but we transited multiple districts with energetic building and commerce. These are small measures, perhaps, but in a country where tourism suffered deeply from three years of paucity, this looked hopeful.

I also learned why bougainvillea are perhaps my fondest memory of the Pacific region. They are everywhere, even in January, a beautiful spectacle for all obviously imprinted in my DNA memory.

I registered a few minutes ago. The schedule looks fuller than originally advertised, including a cruise and a meeting with the Ambassador before we depart. My husband mused this morning that we didn’t likely know anyone in the Embassy since we are now both out of that National War College environment where we met prospective students who might appear at any Embassy. Wrongo. The U.S. Ambassador was the International Affairs Advisor my second year as Dean of Faculty. Bangkok is an unlikely yet totally unsurprising venue to reconnect.

Thank you. I welcome any thoughts.

Be well and be safe. FIN