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Story  BKK · Bangkok

A month in Bangkok

12 photographs from a month of finding my way around Bangkok, stopping for coffee, and looking for air-conditioning.

Written and photographed by Ethan Ward
Went: 1 month

I spent a month in Bangkok. Looking through the photographs, I recognize the practical decisions as much as the places. Where I could sit down and get out of the heat. What I could fit in my carry-on. A coffee that cost 70 baht.

There was a dog outside a convenience store in the same spot every time I walked past. The train was new to me. So were the streets, even when everyone around me seemed to know where they were going.

These are 12 photographs from that month, starting on the floor of my apartment.

Worn white Veja sneakers and dark Hoka running shoes sit side by side on a wood-patterned apartment floor.
Two pairs down to one. The Vejas lasted 2 years. The Hokas survived Dublin, Paris, and every gym in between. I replaced both with one pair of New Balances. The carry-on required it.ETHAN WARD
A sign on the back of a car seat prohibits smoking, vaping, food, durian, mangosteen, and vomiting, and lists a 5,000-baht fine.
No smoking or vaping. No food, durian, or mangosteen. No vomiting. The sign in this car lists a 5,000-baht fine. That last prohibition made me laugh. As if you could simply decide against it.ETHAN WARD
Pancakes with sliced banana, whipped cream, and ice cream on a café table beside another plate of food, water, and an orange iced drink.
Tuesday. Nobody at the other tables yet. The AC was on high, and this was the only place I’d found within walking distance where I could sit down and escape the heat. There were pancakes, too.ETHAN WARD
A hand holds an iced coffee wrapped in a white napkin on a Bangkok sidewalk, with a motorbike blurred in the street behind it.
To go. Condensed milk settling at the bottom. I paid 70 baht.ETHAN WARD
A black and tan dog lies beside the entrance to a 7-Eleven, with shop promotions behind it and a red motorbike in the foreground.
Every time I walked past this 7-Eleven, the dog was in the same spot. Same position. Right by the doors, where the AC could reach whenever someone went in or out.ETHAN WARD
An upward view of Bangkok buildings with tall columns, curved balconies, and weathered walls above a shop sign.
I looked up from the shopfronts and found balconies, tall columns, and plants growing from the ledges. There was more to look at above the signs.ETHAN WARD
Motorbikes pass pedestrians along a narrow Bangkok street lined with shopfronts, balconies, potted plants, and overhead cables.
Bang Sue, near my apartment. Motorbikes passing, people walking ahead, cables crossing above the street.ETHAN WARD
A red and cream bus with a purple advertisement travels beneath elevated transit structures, beside motorbikes parked along the sidewalk.
An elevated line overhead, a bus in traffic, motorbikes parked at the curb. I was on foot, looking at all the other ways to get around.ETHAN WARD
People wait beside a train at a Bangkok station, with a uniformed staff member in the foreground and a clock overhead.
My first time on this train. I was watching the doors open and close.ETHAN WARD
Cars, taxis, buses, and motorbikes fill a Bangkok road at night beneath an elevated line, with red brake lights stretching into the distance.
9 p.m. and traffic was still backed up beneath the elevated line. Red brake lights stretched down the road.ETHAN WARD
Shoppers walk between lit stalls at Chatuchak market beneath a sky fading from orange to purple.
Chatuchak as the sky turned orange and the stall lights came on. Loud, crowded, everywhere to look. I left with a passport holder I got to customize, a leather bag, some stationery, and a pair of sunglasses.ETHAN WARD
A sunset over low-rise Bangkok rooftops and distant towers, with a narrow street running between the buildings below.
From up here, I could see across the rooftops to the towers farther away. Between the buildings, a narrow street ran almost the full length of the picture. I kept looking down as well as out.ETHAN WARD

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