ABSTRACT
The pictorial recalled of Bangkok as Venice of the East which emphasizes the distinctive scene of houses along waterways surrounded by orchards has now been replaced by the intermingling landscape of both surviving and newly emerging elements corresponding to the mixture of old and new characteristics of the city (muang). The phenomenon of city urban sprawl has transformed many localities, both in the city and suburbs, into the coexistence of traditional and modern essences in various degrees. Hence, this chapter attempts to illustrate the so-called ‘complex’ qualities and reveal the constituting processes of such character. Local vocabularies and knowledge are brought in to comprehend deeper understanding of place in the Thai contexts, hoping that the increased sensitivity in the reading of local places would prevent the development of Bangkok into a ‘city of nowhere’.
