Street Photography in Bangkok

The Inspired Eye ranks Khao San first for Bangkok, and it earns it on volume alone: backpackers, hawkers, bar touts and street food packed into one short strip. It's quiet in the morning and peaks from about 21:00. Neighboring Soi Rambuttri has the same energy with more trees and less noise. Stand on a step at one of the corners and let the crowd pass through signage and smoke from the grills. A slow shutter around 1/15 s with flash gives you frozen faces against streaky light. Scams run here, from tuk-tuk tours to gem shops, so decline politely and keep walking.

Yaowarat is Bangkok at night: food carts line the road and diners sit at plastic tables in the gutter. Come in the late afternoon to work the narrow wholesale lanes of Sampeng by daylight, then stay for dark. Mibreit found that the big neon signs sometimes light up well after sunset, so the side lanes are often the better bet at blue hour. For height, the car park at the Odeon roundabout looks down on the Chinatown Gate. A composition idea: shoot a cook through the steam of a wok, with the street blurred behind. The pavements are narrow, so keep out of the way of the carts.

The Inspired Eye liked the old-style streets and shops around MBK because they sit right beside some of the most modern malls in the city. That contrast is your subject. The elevated skywalks linking MBK with Siam give you a safe perch above traffic and a crowd walking straight at you. Use them at midday, when the ground-level light is harsh and the walkways put people in shade against a bright street. A longer lens from the skywalk compresses buses, tuk-tuks, motorbikes and pedestrians into one layered frame. The skywalks are busy commuter routes, so step to the rail and don't block the flow.

Soi Cowboy is a short lane off Sukhumvit, a short walk from Asok BTS, lit almost entirely in red and pink neon. It is a nightlife strip, and The Inspired Eye describes the camera as not particularly welcome. Photography inside the bars is banned, and the people working outside dislike being photographed. So treat it as a color study, not a portrait hunt. Shoot from the ends of the lane with a wide lens, and use the neon on wet pavement or on passersby walking away from you. Arrive after 20:00 when the signs are on. Don't raise the camera at the staff or the customers at the door.

Bangkok's flower market by the Memorial Bridge trades around the clock, and it peaks at night and before sunrise. Trucks unload sacks of marigolds, and vendors thread garlands at low tables under bare bulbs. That light is the reason to come: hard and warm, with deep shadow behind. Stand at the end of an aisle and wait for a porter to push a cart of flowers through the light. Most vendors are busy and indifferent to cameras, and a smile goes a long way. The aisles are tight and the carts don't stop, so keep your bag in front and give way to anyone carrying a load.

Walk ten minutes from Khao San and the backpacker scene falls away. The old Banglamphu neighborhood along Khlong Banglamphu has shophouses and small temples along the water. This is where I'd go for slow, local frames: a man washing his scooter, kids in school uniform, a vendor dozing in a doorway, a cat on a step. Mornings are best, before the heat, when the light comes low through the gaps between buildings. Frame someone through the railing along the canal, with the water as a clean background. These are homes, not attractions, so keep a respectful distance and ask before shooting into a doorway.