One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

 

The photos on this page were all taken during one single night in Bangkok, Thailand.  I started in the backpackers’ district called Khao Sanh Road, where I always used to stay, and ended up late night in Sukhumvit Road, where I stay nowadays.  I started shooting on this particular evening just before sunset and finished perhaps 3:00 a.m., and could have gone much later.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

Bangkok is a place where things happen on the street.  All day long, people set up to sell you something, offer a service, or just hang out.  Anyone who’s been to East Asia, especially Southeast Asia, has seen this.  People stay up awfully late.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

I’ve been to Bangkok six times.  On my last trip there, I took photos of temples, and the palace, and such during the day, because I like to take photos.  But most people would agree that the essence of Bangkok happens on the street.  That’s where people eat, drink, do business, and hang out.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

I’ve been learning about photography only for a few years.  I can do the canonical landscape shot, the travel shot of the nice vista or the beautiful view, but street photography is a different game.  It’s about capturing moments and scenes.  I tried to show the slice of life, what’s happening at the moment.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

Khao Sanh Road is the quintessential backpackers’ area.  It’s oh-so gradually gentrifying, in a strange way, but it’s still backpacker central.  This is where you find $8 a night rooms, Pad Thai on the street for 40 cents, people who will make you fake student IDs, and inexpensive services such as massages, laundry, and people to book the next part of your journey.  I find this area somewhat sad now, and I don’t stay there anymore, but it’s still worth a stroll.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

These shots are quick, done in low light and on the spot, meaning they are often fuzzy and grainy.  The quality is not high.  I did them in black and white because it seems more appropriate; it’s not about the colorful tableau.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

Over on Sukhumvit, I stay in an area bordered by two red-light districts, lots of eating places, many business hotels, and lots of nightlight.  All these affect the area.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

After dinnertime, the area changes.  The night claims things.  To stay in Bangkok is to be caught up in what’s happening in your neighborhood.  Much of it, you don’t understand.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

 

Late enough at night, people set up small carts on the sidewalks that act as open-air bars.  They blast music, flash lights, and serve up anything you need.  Especially after 2:00 a.m., when the regular bars close, everyone moves to the streets.  In the morning, these places have vanished.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

Many set up additional tables around the carts, making it a portable lounge that can attract its own crowd, sometimes a very particular one.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

I wonder about these characters, drinking on the street at 2:00 a.m., if they live here, are just visiting, and why they’re up.  Of course, I have joined them.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

Travel writers focus way too much on the seedy side of Bangkers, but still, it can’t be ignored.  Particularly not in the a.m. hours.  Girls stand in the street, on the sidewalks, and in the clubs.  If that’s what you’re looking for, it’s easy to find.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

Oftentimes, they find you.  You see way too many couples of young Thai girls and older, Western guys.  After a while, it’s almost impossible to not assume something, though I don’t think everything is what it appears.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

They’re usually fun to watch.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

But after some time in Bangkers, I realize it’s not usually that straightforward.  One can never tell what someone is doing late at night.  Often, a person hanging out is just a person hanging out.  Not everyone is doing business, and if they are, you may not realize what it is.

 

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

My favorite shots are of people where I have no idea what they’re doing.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

I bet sometimes, they’re just going home.

 

One Night in Bangkok photo essay

 

These last shots were taken hanging out by my hotel, waiting for a late-night Pad Thai snack to be made by a street vendor, watching people pass in front of me.  I’ll never know where they’re going or what they’re doing.  Late at night, people have their own business.

 

If you’re into Bangkok, see why I think hanging out in their shopping megamalls is a great way to experience the local culture, and go visit a very under-known attraction there, the Metal Castle.

 

 

 

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13 Comments

  1. Wow – I absolutely loved this photo essay! You really captured the essence of Bangkok at night… the people, places and things that make up this interesting city! I’ve traveled to Thailand once and stayed near Soi Cowboy area..which I stumbled upon while trying to find street food at night. I’m really excited to go back. I would like to try and stay in the backpackers area this time…just to see what it’s like. When we went there for drinks, there was lots happening and I enjoyed the hustle and bustle!

    Great post thanks for sharing!

  2. Absolutely beautiful photos and stories told by them. Isn’t it incredible how much a photo can say! I laughed at myself when I read your blog name. Clearly I have never had to sleep on someone’s couch. I didn’t even know what a flophouse was 🙂

  3. SSuch an interesting post! So much character in these pictures even in black and white. I actually like the blury fuzzy feeling in some of them.

  4. Ah Tom! Its been a while since I visited your site, but these bring back incredible (debaucherous) memories. You are completely right about there being some sadness tied to Koh San Road. I was there for my first leg of a trip for 2 days were it was just filled with ridiculous ‘party backpacker’ antics and after two months of travelling and coming back to the road again, my perspective was completely changed. It was all just too much, the noise, the parties, the constant pressure of partying. Maybe it was just me.

    Beautifully shot photos. The black and white do it justice. On a side note I had a neck massage at the same place that you took a photo where the towels are shaped like swans. It really is a small world after all!

  5. Well that is prove that pictures are art =) Loved your series, I think they capture quite well the idea of Bangok. Really enjoyed looking at them =)

  6. This is what a photography is called.
    Perfect shots.
    Never been to Bangkok, every time I plan and every time there is some or the other hurdles that come along the way ;-(
    this time lets see, again have a business meet the next month hope this time ill manage to visit Bangkok. 😉

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