In
the early 90's, Silom and Patpong was the more established
venue; more alive and interesting than Sukhumvit.
Now, there are so many new buildings on Sukhumvit
and so many other projects under construction. Sukhumvit
has taken over the pre-eminent position as the major
street in Bangkok.
Krung
Thai Bank has built two giant buildings near Soi
1, the Nana Center is nearing completion down also
on Soi 3. The Ambassador hotel, once a thriving
venue, is finally ending an era and that whole area
in front of Soi 11 is going upscale. Two new five-star
hotels, a residential condo, business offices and
shopping mall are going up in the lot in front of
the Ambassador.
The
area between Soi 4 and Soi 6 is almost like a foreign
country; it is so oriented to Western tastes, which
can be good and bad. The good is Ronny's New
York Pizza, I just discovered, and this pizzeria
delivers great New York style pizza to the lower
Sukhumvit area.
The
Raja hotel on Soi 4 used to host boxing matches
several years ago in an outdoor ring. It was interesting
for me because a lot of guys from my boxing gym
used to fight there. It was a low level of competition
that was suitable for guys with some training but
who weren't ready for big stadium fights.
There
were mainly farang (foreign) fighters from my gym,
but there were also a few Thais. The Thai trainers
wouldn't fight because they were just too good -
former champions that would destroy their opponents
without much of a competition.
We
went one night with Jitti, Rajasak, Tanomsak and
a bunch of other people from the gym to watch the
fights. The boxing "show" was on. The
boxers were people I had seen before. The punches
and kicks were dramatic but always stopped short
prior to actual impact. The boxers were real boxers
maybe at one time, possibly ranked professionals,
but now the show was choreographed and they looked
somewhat like hacks (at least to us).
After
the staged fight, the actor-fighter would walk around
and ask for money from the spectators. They came
to our table and then paused and looked at us. There
was Rajasak, three-time Rachadamnorn champion, Tanomsak,
the former heavyweight champion of Thailand and
various other professional boxers, all probably
much higher ranked than the show fighters ever were.
The fighter actors looked embarrassed realizing
whose table they were at. Tanomsak, Rajasak and
Jitti just looked impassively at them and didn't
smirk or show any outward signs of contempt. Just
motionless. The actor fighters slunk away, tails
between their legs.
Sukhumvit
looks less like a frontier everyday. The sidewalks
have been cleaned up and the sky train is world-class.
New condos and shopping malls are going up on Soi
3 and Soi 11. It seems only a matter of time before
the older venues like Nana Plaza are pushed out
as real estate prices rise.
The
Sofitel and the Regent hotels are going up in the
lot formerly occupied by Clinton Plaza. They are
joined by the Trendy office, condos and shopping
plaza. The Ambassador on Soi 11 is mainly relegated
to tour groups but it appears it can no longer compete
and is in its final death throes. With all the new
hotels going up, what will happen to the older established
four-star and five-star hotels like the JW Marriot
and the Landmark?
I also wonder where the infrastructure is to support
all these ambitions projects. The sewers under Sukhumvit
are stinking canals running out into real canals
where the fish have all died. In front of some buildings,
there is a noticeable odor of waste.
I
basically am here for work. if not for my job, I
would prefer Koh
Samui, Ko
Phangan or even Chiang Mai. But Bangkok
is still the heart of Thailand and Sukhumvit has
some of the best darn restaurants
in the world.
