A lot of people don’t like Bangkok, they arrive for a few days, think it’s crowded, dirty, busy, nothing to see, it’s loud, stressful and in your face. I hated Bangkok at first as well but I ended up living there and now I love the city. I think the best way to describe Bangkok is like a person, Bangkok is like a friend to me.
Bangkok makes a bad first impression and if you only met Bangkok once for a small amount of time you wouldn’t like them. Bangkok needs to be introduced to you by a friend who knows Bangkok. If a friend introduces you to Bangkok and tells you about all the reasons why they like Bangkok then you’ll probably appreciate why people like Bangkok but it won’t be love at first sight.
Bangkok grows on you slowly, it’s loud and in your face which puts a lot of people off but underneath it’s rough exterior it’s got an amazing personality and is heaps of fun. It’s the Bangkok you don’t see at first that you fall in love with, Bangkok becomes more fun and more interesting when you give it time and get to know it better.
It’s not just that Bangkok is fun and interesting but the friendship group that Bangkok has is one of the most amazing group of you will meet. You wonder why all these people who could be friends with any city in the world chose to be friends with Bangkok. As you become friends with these people you start to like Bangkok more and more until you are in love with Bangkok and you don’t feel complete without Bangkok in your life.
When you are away from Bangkok you feel there is a void in your life and no other city is quite the same, other cities have great qualities but they’ll never be Bangkok. You enjoy other cities, you may even live in other cities but deep down you long to be reunited with Bangkok again.
When you are away for a long period of time from Bangkok and you are finally heading back to meet again you feel nervous and anxious.
You question yourself:
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“what if Bangkok is not as I remember?”
“what if I only liked Bangkok because of the amazing friendship group we shared?”
“What if we’ve both changed or have outgrown each other?”
Then the moment arrives when you touch down in the airport, you walk through customs, get your bag and as you walk out to the taxi rank you feel the warmth of Bangkok upon you whispering to you “Welcome home”. You wonder if Bangkok will remember you and as you go to your apartment building, favourite restaurants, bars, food stands and everywhere you go you are greeting with “welcome home, where did you go?” asked as though you were only for a few days and other questions such as “why did you go for so long?” are asked as though you were the most important person to them and they had been waiting everyday for you to return.
The apartment manager remembers your room and has it reserved for you, your hairdresser remembers how you like your haircut even if there’s less hair than they remember, your restaurant remembers your favourite order with chilli on the side instead of on the dish, bar owners remember your favourite drink and order it for you before you even ask. It’s as though you never left.
You realise that Bangkok just as amazing as you remember and that Bangkok remembers you. As you leave again you will be told “come back again soon”, “don’t go for so long next time”. Bangkok is that friend that may go long periods of time without seeing but whenever you do it’s like no time has passed, you still get on great, you remember why you are friends and wonder why has it been so long since we’ve seen each other.
Bangkok it’s been good to see you again old friend.
