Bangkok Favourite Things (infrastructure, mobility, parks, waste management, art)

I am writing this post 2.5 months after leaving Thailand for Western Europe, where the infrastructure is often amazing. The things I will highlight in this post may be taken for granted in Europe, but I do not see all of these examples yet at home in Nova Scotia.

We were in Bangkok, a city of 10+ million people, from 18-25 February and 6-9 March 2022.

Bangkok has a network of e-tuks available for hire through the MuvMi app. I tried to use the service, but it didn’t seem to be available for the 5 or 6 km journeys that we needed to cover (designed for shorter trips).

Walking can be tricky in the city, as sidewalks are often narrow or non existent, and crossing the street can feel impossible. The good news is that once you decided to step onto the roadway (at a crosswalk at least) I felt like most drivers were paying attention and would stop. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

I would not cycle in Bangkok (nor would I drive), as I am not familiar with the rules of the road nor the particular cultural driving behaviours, and separate bike paths are not common. I was happy to see some infrastructure for bicycles around though.

Recycling was not often possible at the hotels we stayed at (beyond water bottles). Perhaps the waste from our rooms was separated later? Clearly the city has the facilities to recycle and compost (but public bins were uncommon).

I found finding a free public washroom much easier in Thailand in general than in Europe. (I did have to pay a small fee at Queen Sirikit Park.)

Lumphini Park has a playground (albeit sponsored by Michelin), a bball court, a gym and of course, free public toilets.

I love public laundry facilities and am now used to hanging our clothes to dry. I’ll be investing in a good indoor drying rack (in addition to our clothes line) so we can use our dryer less often when we get home.

And finally, a few examples of public art. We saw the same picture of this boy in Chiang Mai.

Next stop, Athens!