The Footpath Files

Stories

  • As It Was: The Bangkok House Where One Tenacious Woman’s Gift of Nostalgia Lives On

    As It Was: The Bangkok House Where One Tenacious Woman’s Gift of Nostalgia Lives On

    Bangkok’s collective memory can seem shortsighted — increasingly blurred the further removed it is from its past. For many of us who live here today, it can be hard to imagine a time when the cityscape was not dominated by concrete, condominiums and highways, but rather, dotted throughout with wooden houses, low rise buildings and… Read more

  • [SINGAPORE EDITION] The Last of Us: Golden Mile Complex and the Final Days of Singapore’s Little Thailand

    [SINGAPORE EDITION] The Last of Us: Golden Mile Complex and the Final Days of Singapore’s Little Thailand

    This story began as a quest that has likely been embarked upon by countless Thais who live in Singapore, searching for Holy Basil — that aromatic, mildly peppery cousin of mint known in Thai as Kra Pao, the sine qua non of herbs that tugs at the heart strings of every Thai. Without it, you… Read more

  • [SINGAPORE EDITION] Hiding in Plain Sight: Emerald Hill, the Last Village on Orchard Road

    [SINGAPORE EDITION] Hiding in Plain Sight: Emerald Hill, the Last Village on Orchard Road

    Sense of place is elusive in Singapore. Concepts like community, heritage and authenticity have often all too often taken a back seat to progress, growth and efficiency — in some instances being obliterated all together. While this prosperous city-state has made great strides in recent decades in restoring and preserving historic facades, rarely have the… Read more

  • Bangkok’s Original TCDC, Where Creativity Once Unfolded, Finally Folds Up

    Bangkok’s Original TCDC, Where Creativity Once Unfolded, Finally Folds Up

    This is a story about a space. Eighteen years ago on the top floor of a shopping complex, a remarkable series of rooms opened its doors to an un-expecting public, the physical embodiment of the nation’s ‘Creative Economy’. Since then, the Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC) has served as the de facto base camp… Read more

  • Where Spirits Reside and Wishes Flourish

    Where Spirits Reside and Wishes Flourish

    As the new year begins the world over, social media feeds abound with resolutions and reflections. In Thailand, the commencement of life’s annual chapter refresh does not generally take the form of personal resolves — which are a fairly western construct.  Interestingly, in this deeply Buddhist kingdom, we do not make promises to ourselves, we… Read more

  • A River Runs Through It

    A River Runs Through It

    Founded on one side of the Chao Phraya, Bangkok is a city both by and of the river. Due to the expansion of the greater metropolitan area over time, the Chao Phraya no longer runs along one side of the city, but rather, right through the middle, in what is now South East Asia’s largest… Read more