Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Bangkok Wonderous and Woeful

Bangkok Wonderous and Woeful


By John HoskinBangkok is not a beautiful city. But it is unquestionably a captivating one, exerting an irresistible charm as the epitome of all things Thai.Alec Waugh got it right in his 1970 book on the Thai capital: "Bangkok has been loved," he wrote, "because it is an expression of the Thais themselves, of their lightheartedness, their love of beauty, their reverence for tradition, their sense of freedom, their extravagance, their devotion to their creed -- to characteristics that are constant and continuing in themselves."

The characteristics seem contradictory, but Bangkok is a huge paradox, at once wondrous and woeful. For this it is one of the world's most distinctive cities, a place that fascinates by making innumerable contradictions seem consistent. It is at once chaotic and serene, ancient and modern, sacred and profane, pandering to nouveau riche greed and proudly caring of traditional values... the oddities are as endless as they are real.
Real Time Booking on Bangkok Hotels
All prices include breakfast.
Menam Riverside

Landmark Hotel
91 $
Baiyoke Sky
51 $
Asia Hotel
42 $
Novotel Lotus
60 $
Swiss Park
33 $
Rembrandt
62 $
Royal Park View
35 $
Hilton (Nai Lert)
97 $
Montien Riverside
69 $
Arnoma
61 $
Century Park
61 $
The Grand Hotel (old Nikko)
42 $
Royal Orchid Sheraton
137 $
Zenith
44 $
Hyatt Erawan
171 $
Intercontinental
192 $
JW Marriott
152 $
Sheraton Sukhumvit
154 $
Peninsula
185 $


The key to understanding Bangkok is to realize that beneath its modern facade it remains unmistakably Thai, traditional and essentially unchanging. Ultimately, the city is simply itself and you have to accept it as such if you are ever going to come to terms with it. The horrendous traffic congestion is perhaps everyone's biggest complaint, but even for those who complain, cars in Thailand are not firstly a means of transport, they are social cachets which once obtained are not to be relinquished lightly.
Traffic congestion is part and parcel of the Bangkok experience, and it is easier to accept when you realize it is not going to change. Nor is it new. There never were any halcyon days before the canals were filled in to make way for paved roads. Here's Queen Victoria's envoy Sir John Bowring on the hazards of Bangkok's then waterborne traffic: "Boats often run against one another, and those within them are submerged in the water...The constant occurrence of petty disasters seems to reconcile everybody to their consequences." That was in the 1850s but the idea of being reconciled to the inevitable hassles of city traffic remains true today.More

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