Wish you were here -- Suan Lum night bazaar

Bangkok can be quite the whirlwind of consumption. There are countless shopping complexes, a shocking abundance of fancy restaurants, and markets filled with delirious crowds. People tend to criticise this city too quickly without truly understanding it. Yet there are countless redeeming qualities here that get glossed over. It was the mysteriously gentle Thais I have met, and the myriad of side streets and back alleys that kept me intrigued. You can hate the traffic, the polluted air, the humid weather, the small handful of rude drivers. But all these do not negate the city's distinct cultural diversity and charming sprawl, which one will unquestionably fall in love with if they look beyond the surface. 

I traipsed through Suan Lum night bazaar one stifling December night armed with a can of Chang, when an artist who draws portraits by the sidewalk caught my eye. He was well-dressed with an understated style, almost as if he walked off a film set (and immediately made me feel incredibly underdressed in my slippers). As I looked on while he was adding some finishing touches to a portrait, he noticed me standing nearby. His kind eyes beaming, he asked if I would like a portrait too. I smiled and shook my head, explaining how owning a portrait of myself is really not one of my priorities. A girl waiting for her friend's portrait to be completed seemed amused by my antics and we exchanged a few words, briefly joking about the temporary tattoo that she had painted on moments ago on the same sidewalk. As I wandered off into the nighttime soundscape of tuk-tuks and people buying and selling, I thought of you. I wish you were here.

To get to Suan Lum, take the Bangkok Metro and alight at Lumphini station. The night bazaar is open from 5pm to midnight, but do note that tuk-tuk and taxi fares here are known to skyrocket past the 10 o’clock mark.