Comments on: Comparing Bangkok to a Few European Cities…

By: puri

puri — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 07:17:04 +0000

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.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 00:55:17 +0000

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.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:02:26 +0000

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.

By: Mainly Curious

Mainly Curious — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 09:12:21 +0000

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…

By: Bangkok Temples

Bangkok Temples — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 04:38:16 +0000

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.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 03:03:12 +0000

I compared Bangkok with Reading, UK, in the comments section on this blog post: http://readingroars.com/top-10-things-to-do-in-reading/

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 19:03:44 +0000

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...