A nostalgic walk through “my Bangkok” of the year 2000


Since I started blogging, I couldn’t develop an appropriate approach to Bangkok. The City Of Angels, Krungthep Maha Nakorn Among Rattanakosin and so forth. Just the beginning of Bangkok’s name. The capital with the longest word in the world. So why not start with a nostalgic walk?

Leaving Novotel and here we go.

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How to begin?

The capital is just too huge and with so many stories. However, today I felt that I should start with a short photo journey from 1998-to 2006. First, I stayed in Phetchaburi soi 7 in Avenue Mansion and then moved to the D-Mak mansion. The tour company I worked for had their office in Asia hotel. So the location was practical and convenient. After a while, I moved to Sukaa Place in Phetchaburi soi 12. That was even closer to Asia Hotel. I rented a condo with a small kitchen and a balcony that offered many magical sunsets in the capital. The incredible light formations probably derive from a fair share of pollution from Bangkok’s congested and clogged roads.

The nostalgic walk took me to Soi 12 of Phetchaburi road in Bangkok
Enter “my soi”.
A new high-rise in my old hoods in Bangkok.
New Skyscraper on Phetchaburi road.
Sukaa place was my home for 6 years but now there is a new condo being constructed on soi 12.
Sukaa Place, no more. I stayed there from 2000 to 2006—New Condo under construction. Sukaa is gone for one year. T Thinking about it, it was just amazing that I could stay in downtown Bangkok for 9000 baht monthly.

A great location to live

A great benefit of living in Phetchaburi soi 7 was the proximity to Ratchathewi Sky Train station. Asia hotel at the time, 1999, was the only or at least one of the few hotels that had its Skybridge to a Skytrain station. With our tours, we could enjoy the Bangkok night scene while eating a welcome dinner by the swimming pool of Asia hotel.

We were gazing out over Siam Square and the Skytrains disappearing on the horizon. The clients would have dinner and then go down to watch Calypso Cabaret. One of the best drag shows in Bangkok.

Near Siam Square

From my soi(sidestreet), it was just a 15-minute walk to Siam Square anyway with MBK, Siam Discovery malls as well as Hard Rock Cafe, where I was taken for my welcome dinner in Bangkok. The walk would take you over the historic Elephant head bridge, one out of three in Bangkok. This one crosses the Khlong(canal) Seap with its own rushed boat bus.

Also, CoCo Walk and the building with the Rock Club was still there.

New apartment blocks behind Coco Walk
Behind Coco Walk, there used to be a beautiful heritage house before these apartments were positioned here.
This was really a surprise on my nostalgic walk. To find that the Hollywood street still stood.
So strange that this still stands. I would have expected it to be replaced by prime real estate.
Elephant Head bridge.

Outside Sukaa Place, there was a laundry shop that’s still there, and outside the soi facing the principal road, plastic chairs and tables were set up every night for crowds craving some of the best Isarn(North – Eastern) street food in town. The restaurant’s name was Jeak Goi, and it is still there. More successful than ever, so now it is not a street food sensation anymore.

The favourite Isarn hangout. Jaekoy. Had many grilled pork and larb evenings here.

Two classic restaurants in the area where our staff and clients often frequented were the Siam House and Ole Ole. The latter was, to my surprise, still there.

Ole restaurant still there.
The old sign and logo for Asia hotel
Back entrance to Asia hotel
Upgraded facade of Asia from the main road. I stayed here in 2018. The service was still good, but the rooms were too worn. Fund to see it during my nostalgic walk through Ratchatewi.
Finally, a photo of the wonderful Skytrain what a relief it was when it started operating in 1999. In celebration of Queen Sirikit’s 60th birthday. Ratchatewi station.

At the end of my nostalgic walk, I gazed out over the Ratchatewi area. It felt dreamlike that it used to be home. Good memories. But, I figure that it was indeed a nice move to settle in Chiang Mai instead.

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