I’ve talked about the subject before, but for some reason I have a strange fascination with comparing Bangkok today to Bangkok of old (of yore?). In such a dynamic, crazy, haphazard city that rushes forward while dragging giant piles of the past, it’s endlessy interesting to juxtapose what is with what once was. In other words – dude, things change fast. While browsing the excellent site 2Bangkok.com, I found a link to another excellent site, ThaiVisa.com, which had a discussion going on in one of its forums about pictures of Bangkok throughout the decades. Two caught my eye – firstly, because I know this particular area so well, and secondly, because the change is so severe.

These are images of an area of Bangkok called Siam Square. Today, it’s where the two lines of the Skytrain meet up, and where a large portion of the city’s college and university students come to shop, eat, and flirt. It’s busy 24/7, filled with stalls selling everything from mirror-balls to Starbucks lattes to fake cockroaches (because we need more cockroach-looking things here), and is also where most of the big shopping malls are located. So, below is picture #1…

This is Siam Square in 1970, looking east up Rama I Road toward the beginning of Sukhumvit Road. The white building in the back left is one part of the old Siam Intercontinental Hotel.

This is Siam Square in 1970, looking east up Rama I Road toward the beginning of Sukhumvit Road. The white building in the back left is one part of the old Siam Intercontinental Hotel.

Note the American and Thai flags around the traffic circle, and the policeman standing just behind the bus, apparently wearing the same godawful skintight brown polyester body condom uniforms that they wear today. Next is picture #2…

This picture was probably taken around 1975. The patch of green trees has been replaced with what will eventually become Siam Centre, there is noticeably more traffic, and the buses haven't changed.

This picture was probably taken around 1975. The patch of green trees has been replaced with what will eventually become Siam Centre, there is noticeably more traffic, and the buses haven’t changed.

Also notice, if you will, that there is still a cop directing traffic. Hopefully it’s not the same one… talk about stagnating in your job. Traffic circle is getting a bit more overgrown and the American flags are gone – perhaps they needed them to wave in Vietnam? The sign on Siam Discovery Centre says “Siam Trade Centre”. And finally, what the same view looks like today in picture #3…

The same view from a slightly higher elevation. The street in the extreme bottom right of this picture is where the traffic circle once was, and that tall tower is standing on where the patch of trees was in the first picture. Progress has its drawbacks, I guess; less greenery, but a quick commute!

The same view from a slightly higher elevation. The street in the extreme bottom right of this picture is where the traffic circle once was, and that tall tower is standing on where the patch of trees was in the first picture. Progress has its drawbacks, I guess; less greenery, but a quick commute!

Ahhh, Bangkok, you never fail to amaze.