I've been swamped with stuff from school, which is why I haven't had as much time to update this blog or explore bangkok as I would have liked, but that will all change next week when that work generally disappears.
I'm essentially in the Central Business District of Bangkok, known as Silom, just across the street from Lumphini Park (BKK's rough equivalent to Central Park or Boston Common)--with easy access to the skytrain and subway system. I am somewhat removed from historical "old bangkok," the touristy sites alongside the river, and the Khao San Road/Banglamphu district.
An interesting note is that while Bangkok doesn't have an easily identifiable downtown area per se, like another sprawling city (Los Angeles), the skyscrapers generally follow a pattern of clustering around the skytrain and metro routes, with the notable outliers being some of the nicer hotels alongside the river that are just south of the royal palace/old quarter area. Just about anything taller than 10 stories or so has been built since 1990, according to my boss, which makes me wonder which came first, the skytrain/metro routes, or the skyscrapers.
The area I am in is heavily commercialized, with the closest Dallas equivalent being roughly the uptown/oak lawn area, but it's hard to make an adequate western comparison, because there are certain features of the area that are unique to Southeast Asia--which I will explain a little bit later. This is an expat-heavy area, as demonstrated by the prevalence of Au Bon Pain--three of which are located within walking distance from me, and one of which is in my office building's lobby. Lots of coffee shops and malls in this area, and some very nice french restaurants as well. Though the lack of lighting at night sometimes takes getting used to in the streets off of the main roads, the area is in fact very safe (as bangkok is as a whole) provided you take the sort of precautions that you would if you were in any big city--ie, guarding against pickpockets and bag snatchers.
Also a sign of a built up area: the local supermarket sells peanut butter and all sorts of western favorites.
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