Full Description
"What is Bangkok like?" asked an American visitor, rhetorically in 1903. Some answer the question by relying on cliches 'Venice of the east' or 'city of places in temples'. Others insisted that its contrasts and contradictions made an easy description impossible.
Bangkok at the turn of the 20th century was a city in transition, mixing as it did east with west and traditions with modernity. Here live the diverse communities which made it what it is today but this collection of writings by a huge variety of visitors to Bangkok captures the city through foreign eyes.
In Bangkok is a collection of texts which reflect the foreign experience of the city the foreigners in question being both long-term residence and short-term visitors. It draws on a wide range of sources including travel books, memoirs, novels, short stories, verses, inscriptions, newspaper reports, directories and advertisements. It is richly illustrated with contemporary artwork and photographs.
Contents
Preface 8
Introduction: Bangkok in 13
the Early Twentieth Century
Bound for Bangkok 23
First Impressions 43
Ice 53
The Sudden Death of an Engineer 56
Palaces and Royalty 58
Doing the Wats 66
Built Upon the Waters 72
The City of Magnificent Distances 76
Post and Telecommunications 92
Along New Road 95
An Up-to-Date Building for Business 98
Almost a Danish Colony? 101
Germans and the Great War 105
The People of Bangkok 114
One of the Truly Great 136
Men of the World
Dinner at the Room of the Moon 139
Food Production 145
Ceremonies and Festivals 148
The Foreign Colony 154
Legations and Consulates 163
At Home 170
Shopping 181
Chummeries 190
Beer 194
X'mas 197
Language 201
Mias 206
Servants 209
Flora and Fauna 214
The Snake Farm 223
Night Life 227
Vice 253
Crime and Punishment 266
Missions 275
In School 283
Health and Hygiene 296
Sports and Games 313
Wongkit's Dream 320
The Press 324
Scholarly Pursuits 330
The Visual Arts 339
Tourists 345
The Aerodrome 365
What Price Progress? 369
The Protestant Cemetery 373
Going Home 377
Sources 382
Further Reading and Visits 387
Index 389
