Bangkok Then and Now [Hardcover]

Steve Van Beek (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2000

A history of Bangkok, Thailand in which photos taken 100 years ago are juxtaposed by photos shot at the same place and angle two years ago. Extensive text is augmented by 140 items taken from the Bangkok Times newspaper of 1900 and 1901. The approach is at the same time informative, yet light, giving a comprehensive picture of a city in transition and leaving the reader to decide whether life today is an improvement on life a century ago.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A Remarkable book on a remarkable city." -- Japan Times, February 2000

"A tribute to a great city." -- Bangkok Post, December 1999

"Written with remarkable wit and tied together deftly with the magic string of a skilled storyteller." -- The Nation (Thailand), Dec. 1999

About the Author

Steve Van Beek has resided in Thailand for 32 year as a writer and filmmaker. To date, I have written 21 books, two of which ("The Chao Phya, River in Transition" published by Oxford University Press; and "The Arts of Thailand" published by Periplus) are sold on Amazon by other publishers.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: AB Publications (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9748706397
• ISBN-13: 978-9748706399
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,662,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended., March 9, 2004

By 

Bruce (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bangkok Then and Now (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book to anyone interested in how major cities change when industrialisation comes. The author has researched old photos of Bangkok and laboriously worked out where the subject is (if it still exists!) then taken a photo from the same vantage point, and placed them side-by-side, with a history of the place, anecdotes taken from old newspapers and the like. My favourite is a view of my old home in Pratunam market, taken from a biplane in the 40s, juxtaposed with a similar picture taken from the Baiyoke tower - with a note that the floor in the skyscraper it was taken from is higher than the biplane had flown to take the original.

Meticulously researched, beautifully printed on high-quality paper with a hard cover and dustjacket, this was a book I bought many copies of to give to family and friends as a keepsake when the came to visit me in Bangkok. Highly recommended.