Reading Bangkok
Ross King


Reading Bangkok is an account of stories and meanings derived from the built fabric and spaces of Thailand's capital city. The narrative shifts from King Taksin's mostly forgotten but wondrous Thonburi to the tourist spectacle of Rattanakosin, Dusit and Ratchadamnoen (King Rama V's superficial emulation of admired, imperialist Europe), Sukhumvit 'Road' (consumer land), and the slums that are part of the modern city.

Levels of external intrusion (colonisation) and local resistance provide a structuring device for the book. The geographical movement from center to periphery (Thonburi, Rattanakosin, Ratchadamnoen, Sukhumvit, Ratchadapisek, Khlong Toei, the universities) took place in tandem with a chronological transition from internal or self-colonisation (Bangkok's incorporation of its periphery, which in turn colonised Bangkok), to the economic colonisation of the 19th and 20th centuries, the invasion of globalized tourism (colonisation by consumption), colonisation by the 'better' ideas of others - typically in the West, and finally to colonisation by 'better' ways of thinking - notably the intrusions of the universities and of popular democracy.

This highly original study combines concepts drawn from urban planning and development, history, anthropology, and political economy, and contains a rich body of empirical detail. It provides insights into the maze of power relations, inequalities and global influences that are normally hidden from view. Reading Bangkok is that rare entity, a book that genuinely changes the way its subject is understood.