Bangkok Homecoming: “Same Same, But Different”
When a crazy big metropolis like Bangkok feels like home every time—30 years ago, 15 years ago and today.
In 1996, with a one way airplane ticket, a backpack, some cash, and a loose plan, Bama Mike headed to Thailand to experience part of the Asian hippie trail. A foreshadowing of what he’d be doing again 30 years later today.
Back then, he spent 3 months in Thailand before planning to head to Hong Kong to stay and find work. There was no smartphone, no apps, no Internet cafe, no online banking, barely any ATMs, and the one Thai guy with dial-up who took money as the email broker to the backpackers. Basically, no immediate way to communicate your whereabouts or plans.
While chilling in the Thai island of Koh Samui, Bama planned to meet a friend who was slow traveling through Australia to Thailand. How does one go about planning a rendezvous thousands of miles away from each other with an uncertain arrival date? Bama communicated via a public phone with this friend’s mom in the States of his whereabouts with hopes that they would check-in with their mom regularly as the conduit! After many Singhas on the beach, the friend eventually showed up 2 weeks later.
Can you even imagine the uncertainty of not knowing what day or week said person is supposed to arrive? The daily anticipatory wait? Or, the niggling worry that they may never come due to some unknown unforeseen issue? Imagine the genuinely giddy surprise of seeing that person actually appear in the flesh, out of the mirage, on the beach of Koh Samui after weeks of suspense. It’s a kind of magic that we can’t readily experience these days.
With this backdrop of memories, we’ve returned to Thailand several times over the years.
Today, with everything at our smartphone fingertips, as long as we have an internet connection, there’s zero travel friction. And...that’s just not as interesting of a story.
However, during our few nights back in Bangkok, it’s been fun to eavesdrop on a Gen Z backpacker four top convo at our world’s favorite blues bar—Adhere the 13th.
The backpacker energy still seems to be same-same: meetups at hostels over cheap beer to swap backpacker hacks and form an organic travel circle towards their next destination. Oh, and occasionally experience the local culture.
Today’s backpackers with literal overstuffed packs strapped to their backs (and front!) while walking in the torrential rain at night are also the same-same. It reminded us of our budget trip ~15 years ago, walking through the streets of Bangkok at 11pm, trying to catch an overnight third class train or a bus to wherever…just to save a buck. These days, our transport options are waaaaay better, and less adventurous.
All in all, nothing’s really changed, but also everything has changed. In other words, “same same, but different.”
For example, weed is now legal and interests have shifted to vegan food, social media, eco-tourism, yoga meditation retreats, and all things self-care, especially after an all night bender on Khao San Road.
Speaking of Khao San Road…
We grew out of the Khao San Road crowd a long time ago, but even 15 years ago, it was still a comfortable landing spot for weary westerners. It was still a place where someone new to Bangkok could have the full experience of backpacker lore.
Today, Khao San Road is very much alive but definitely dead-to-us. It’s the opposite of the laidback hippie vibes where we gorged on a $1 heaping plate of Pad Thai from a street cart and chilled on a plastic chair, listening to live music. Instead, all our senses were assaulted by the cacophony of massive neon dance clubs lining both sides of the street. What happened to all the small eclectic bars?! And so many aggressive touts. At least the D&D Inn still stands as the last landmark. We quickly slithered our way through Khao San and escaped through a side street to an alley bar (Immortal Bar—which happened to be blasting thrash metal to every corner of the alleyway, 😂🎸).
What keeps Bangkok so alluring and easy to love is the mix of quiet local neighborhoods woven between the skyscrapers and ultra-luxe malls. Some recognizable institutions—like the Hard Rock Bangkok—may have gotten a makeover, but it still remains. It’s the best of all the worlds at our fingertips…and affordable.
Now, we're off to Chiang Mai, Thailand!
