A Case Study of the Wealth Divide
The first thing that sticks to you in Bangkok isn’t the heat, though that comes soon enough - it’s the sheer contrast between the haves and have-nots. A Lamborghini purrs to a stop outside of ICONSiam, its driver stepping out in that latest designer outfits that cost more than the street vendor makes in a year. A few steps away, an old woman crouches beside a makeshift cart, selling mango sticky rice for a handful of baht. Over on the road, a tuk tuk driver beckons to any tourist that will look to him to offer a ride across the city for $4. The city lives in both worlds at once, without hesitation or apology.
Walking down the western side of Sukhumvit Road, it’s easy to feel as if you’re in the heart of American metropolis. Atop towering glass skyscrapers you can find rooftop bars with cocktails that cost more than dinner for two. At night the haze makes things look like a modern day dystopia, with flashing lights and the rumble of the BTS overhead. On your periphery are malls saturated with luxury, immaculate and opulent as anything in Tokyo or London.
The rich here are very rich - estimates put the number of millionaires in Thailand at over 150,000, more than many European nations. The wealth of this tiger nation that concentrates in Bangkok’s high-end districts is staggering. Yet turn a corner, duck into an alley, and the scene utterly changes. Dark damp corners, tangled power lines, and the deep, heady scent of street food mingling with fumes of screaming exhaust. A woman squats on the pavement, stirring a bubbling pot over open flame, while monks in saffron robes weave through the crowd, collecting morning alms.
It’s this duality that makes Bangkok so fascinating to all types. The city doesn’t try to hide its extremes—it wears them boldly, like two colours that shouldn’t match but somehow do. A skyline of five-star hotels soar over the Chao Phraya River, where wooden long-tail boats, powered by retrofitted car engines, still ferry workers to and from their daily grind. A Rolls-Royce might glide past a row of motorbike taxis waiting for fares, their drivers leaning on their handlebars, smoking cheap cigarettes and laughing about something only they understand. Like many parts of Asia, it just works - go with the flow.
Bangkok is never just one thing. It’s not just the sleek modernity of its luxury malls or the grit of its working-class districts. It’s not just the neon-lit chaos of Khao San Road, the hedonism of Sukhumvit, or the quiet reverence of Wat Arun at sunset. It’s the fact that all of this exists together, pulsing through the streets like an electric current, impossible to ignore.