1864 · 1767 · the two monsoons
Charoen Krung was paved in 1864 because the foreign community asked for somewhere to take a carriage. It set the line the modern city grew along.
The riverThe Chao Phraya at first light, looking downstream from the Phra Pin-klao bridge.
Doors we have opened alongside our own.
Places and people we have come to know on the way in.
- TUSHY RAWBangkok never does slow arrivals either.
- Noir MaleFrames its subjects the way good cinematography should.
- DFXtraBuilt a new port for traffic that outgrew its old berth.
- Abuse MeAll intensity, no itinerary, straight off the gangway.
- Girlfriends FilmsHas been perfecting its craft for years.
- RK Prime Rules reality the way the Chao Phraya rules commerce.
- Sweet SinnerProves patience makes the crossing worth it.
- Anal EnvyProof the side dish outshines the main.
- Boy For SaleSome arrangements were never written down.
- Model TimeNeeds no script, just like a market needs no sign.
- Young PerpsSomeone always gets stopped at the checkpoint.
Six things worth looking at first
The rest is on the archive page.
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Markets
Chinatown eats at night because it worked all day
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Skytrain
The ground was too soft to tunnel, so the railway went over the road
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Kitchens
Khao soi is a Chiang Mai dish, and the north argues about it
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Markets
The floating market outlived the trade that made it
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Markets
A weekend market big enough to need a street plan
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The Year
Every building has a smaller building beside it
Two coasts, six months apart
The Andaman and the Gulf take turns, and the calendar is built on it.
- BangkokThe first paved road, cut in 1864
- Chiang MaiKhao soi, and the border it came across
- AyutthayaPortuguese, Japanese and Persian streets in one river bend
- Khon KaenIsaan food, and the labour that carried it south
- SukhothaiA tree grew around a sandstone head and kept it
- PhuketThe Andaman side: wet from roughly May
- ChumphonThe Gulf side: wet from roughly November
- Chiang RaiFloating lights on the twelfth full moon
- Hua HinThe planting follows the rain, not the calendar
The Andaman and the Gulf take turns being unswimmable
The southwest monsoon works the Andaman side from roughly May, the northeast monsoon works the Gulf from roughly November, which is why the two coasts have opposite seasons.
Two MonsoonsThe dates this site keeps coming back to
From the first foreign quarter to the last thing added to the calendar.