Well, that was a long break. As previously stated, I took a wee vacation to the far-off land we call “Europe” with my lady, and am only now getting back into the Bangkok groove. I only manage one big vacation every few years, so it was a long time coming. Enjoyed it a lot, spent too much money, but it was worth it – you know the drill. At any rate, it was interesting to me, living in one of Asia’s biggest, most culturally important cities, to experience some of Europe’s biggest, most culturally important cities. I had a few thoughts on Bangkok while there…
Actually, it’s a bit of a misnomer to call the places I went to some of the biggest cities in Europe. My journey took me to Vienna, Salzburg, Prague and Budapest, of which Budapest is the biggest, with just over 1,800,000 people (Moscow is the biggest at nearly 8,300,000). Vienna has 1,540,000, Prague has 1,193,000, and Salzburg is a teensy 150,000. Here are some quick thoughts on each city:
Vienna: Lovely architecture, super-efficient subway and tram system. Smaller than I thought, with the streets surprisingly empty by 10pm.
The gardens at Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. Meh, okay I guess.
Salzburg: Well, I was only there for half a day, but it seemed to retain the small town charm it must have had when Mozart grew up there.
Prague: Mind-blowing, awesome, gorgeous. Too gorgeous – every building you see is photo-worthy. Centuries of history drip from every brick, and you can wander in and around the old town for hours days.
Budapest: The Buda side is a bit run-down and less glitzy than the Pest side, with its cool office buildings, huge churches and funky entertainment districts. But the Buda side does have Budapest Castle, which is pretty impressive, and is called greener and less noisy by locals.
My favorite of all the places we went to was Prague, which had gorgeous parks, well-maintained architecture, a great transportation system, fantastic bike paths, and awesome food (and beer!). If I had to move to Europe, I’d likely choose Prague as my destination.
I coulda stared for hours at Prague’s skyline.
But how did they compare to Bangkok?
Well, for one, it was a nice break to be in a place where things happened in an expected fashion governed by the rules of common logic. 300-year old sidewalks had no potholes, unlike those in Bangkok which can’t stay whole for more than a month. Police were stern but friendly, and you knew you could trust them. Traffic moved in an orderly fashion and no one tried to shave 3 seconds off their commute by driving like a jackass. No one approached us with any tourist scams. But mostly there was an overall feeling of order; that there existed a well-defined rulebook for most any situation that is usually followed. This is not a feeling you have in Bangkok.
I’m not knocking my beloved Big Mango, mind you. As I’ve said many times, I really love this city and enjoy the controlled chaos of it all, but the more I thought about it, the more I began to summarize Bangkok a bit differently. People often cite ‘Thai culture’ as one of the major takeaways from their vacation and/or life in Thailand, but I think that’s a bit of an overstatement. Of course Thailand has culture, it has great culture, but after my trip I’ve narrowed my definition of the word.
Crossing the street in Bangkok is a bit, uh, noisier than in Salzburg.
Prague has culture. Salzburg has culture. Centuries of contributions to the combined book that is humanity: science, mathematics, architecture, art, music, exploration, war, food, literature. Major contributions that have changed the course of history, that have opened up doors to places and ideas that simply didn’t exist before. Other cultures can claim many of these too, of course, but not in the same way or with the same authority that European cities like Prague and Vienna can.
Also, their money is weird.
So what does Bangkok have? Bangkok has attitude. Prague doesn’t have attitude, or if it does, it’s that lippy rich kid who gives you too much attitude on the playground. Salzburg doesn’t have attitude, it has an aura. But Bangkok… Bangkok has attitude. Bangkok is that guy who will lead you through a war zone but turns to you just before he starts running and says “If you don’t keep up, you’re on your own.”
Although I do agree, “Come and Experience Thai Attitude” probably doesn’t sound as nice on a tourist brochure.
Took your advice and strolled down Petrin Hill to the city (through the orchards) indeed beautiful! I was really impressed (shocked actually) by my visit to Terezin (concentration camp)… The horror which took place during WWII opened my eyes and gave me chills…
I really enjoyed strolling through Old Town and visiting Prague Castle… Never took so many pictures in such a short time.
Also had a funny night at a restaurant with a stone-age theme going on (speaking in sounds instead of words, slamming the tables to catch attention from the cavemen and -women to place orders… also lots of meat and BIG beers!)… yeah Prague is indeed awesome!
Still though, really looking forward to heading back to the Big Mango…
I compared Bangkok with Reading, UK, in the comments section on this blog post: http://readingroars.com/top-10-things-to-do-in-reading/
Glad to see you back in Bangkok – I see you've imported some interesting insights. I'd venture to say that many of those cultured European cities, with which I'm all too familiar, have a lot of BS, whereas Bangkok is the real deal. But maybe my overly patriotic love to my city of choice is blinding me here.
Think it's also a misnomer to call BKK one of Asia's "biggest, most culturally important cities"… Elsewhere in Asia, you have Vietnam, currently seen to be more prosperous than Thailand in terms of tourism, then Mumbai, the world's most populous city, then China's capitals — and Tokyo is still the world's 3rd largest economy. Regionally, Singapore and Kong Kong are both better equipped to be regional hubs than Bangkok – and more stable. Thailand is a cultural melting pot, granted – but that doesn't make it "important." In fact, what "important" (read: original) cultutal products have come out of Bangkok? Go-go bars? The tuk-tuk is Indian, as is Thai massage. You can't even say Thai cooking originated there… Even the copies of stuff – possibly Thailand's biggest claim to fame – are often second rate…
Interesting comment, Mainly Curious, true on many points. Saying that anything perceived as Thai isn’t actually Thai will earn you considerable scorn here (as I guess it would in any country). Even Muay Thai is an amalgam of different fighting styles; a guide at Angkor Wat once proudly showed me a stone carving showing Muay Thai fighters on an 800-year old wall that predates the commonly held origin of Muay Thai in Thailand by 400 years. Even bringing up the fact that Thai (Tai) people originated in Yunnan, China with the average Thai will elicit sideways glances.
At any rate, while other Asian metropolises (metropoli?) certainly exert greater influence in various areas (economics, infrastructure, R&D, politics, population, etc), if you were to ask anyone to list Asia’s most important cities, I daresay that there’d be very few people who would choose to exclude Bangkok.
Hi! I commented earlier on your Thai language post…
Anyway, I find it interesting that Bangkok attracts a lot of foreigners (more than I initially thought). I love the capital of the motherland but there are just too many negatives for me to consider calling it home.
I actually just wrote a post (in my blog) about why I don't want to live Bangkok but living abroad in a big city for me right now is a huge priority yet strangely Bangkok is toward the end of that list.
Come on, saying that tuk-tuk, thai massage, thai food, and muay thai are not thai is like saying that ramen, sushi, origami and basically anything Japanese is Chinese. Most cultures in East and South Asia are basically rooted from China and India like Western Culture to Greece and Roman.