Over the past year or so, I’ve developed a fascination with ‘old’ Bangkok. The history of the city, the buildings and the roads, why and when they were built and what significance they played in the growth of this huge, awful, awesome city. It started when I moved to Chinatown, a pretty wild area, and read Edward Van Roy’s book “Sampheng Inside Out” (links to Thai only) which gives a great history of the area from when it was just a mosquito-infested swamp. I was happy when Time magazine a while ago began a project that would see several million unreleased photos from its archive scanned and hosted by Google, which provides hours of fun. Below are some of my favourites found after running a search for ‘Bangkok’:
A traffic cop from back when they used to stand on elevated platforms in the middle of the intersection. The writing above the triangle says “Kap Chaa Chaa” (Drive Slowly) and on the sign at top it says “Yut” (Stop). And check out this guy’s waist, what is he, a Barbie doll?
The forebearer of the mighty tuk-tuk was all human powered and, one presumes, significantly more friendly to the environment.
Looking north on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, pas the Democracy Monument, which was built in 1939. The road going diagonally downward on the bottom left of the picture is Khao San Road.
Look at these two swingin’ young kids, probably from the 40’s, judging by their clothes. I wonder how Thai/expat relationships were viewed back then?
This reminds of of Back to the Future, when Marty goes back in time and sees the empty plot of dirt that will become his neighborhood. I wonder what’s here today?
Flooding in Bangkok has been going on since it was a little fishing village, and continues unabated into today.
Another great book to check out if you’re interested in this kind of thing is Steve Van Beek’s book Bangkok Then and Now, which compares a photo taken years ago with a photo taken today from the same spot, a really interesting comparison.
have you seen the latest exhibition at the Art & Culture Centre across from MBK?
it shows Bangkok from past to future.
there’s this one picture of the Victory Monument–used to be like a plain field, look at it now!
I think you’d like the books of Thai historian Anake Nawigamune (เอนก นาวิกมูล). Copiously illustrated, they’re generally more photographs than text, on topics ranging from everything from old Thai advertisements to compilations of old photographs. His only work in English is A Century of Thai Graphic Design. I’ve often thought I’d like to translate some of his stuff. Mostly captions, really.
The guy is a meticulous documenter and hoarder of old things — he runs a museum that’s a couple km from my house (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=109458602949096656767.0004618f294d19fc00062“ rel=”nofollow”>map ), called บ้านพิพิธภัณฑ์ Ban Pipittapan “House of Museums.” It’s a house converted into a museum, displaying Thai life as it was 50 years ago (you know, back when they were producing the buses we all ride on today :P). It’s really a trip to visit. Everything is hands on, and photography is strongly encouraged. Open on the weekends.
Thanks for the tip, they sound pretty cool. I’ll head to the bookstore to see if I can find one. And the ‘Museum of Buses That are Still in Use’ sounds good too. 😛
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