When I first came to Bangkok in February 1976, the city was relatively quiet with the tallest structure the Dusit Hotel. One could see this hotel from about anywhere in Bangkok. With the advent of Western capitalism around 1985, Bangkok came to life as a thriving financial center of Southeast Asia. The Dusit Thani Hotel became one of the smallest hotels in Bangkok. From around 1986 until 1996, Thailand was the fastest growing economy in the world. With this new-found wealth, Bangkok grew unbelievably fast. By the early 1990's it had become the most traffic-clogged city (with possibly the exception of Seoul, Korea) in the world. When I arrived as an Air Force officer assigned to the U.S. Embassy in 1992, the traffic had become unbearable. It took me anywhere from two to four hours to get to work (a nine mile trip) and longer to return home. From 1992 until 1998, the traffic actually began to make visitors stay away, it was so bad. Airports in the north and at world-famous Phuket began to take international flights directly to their airports. Finally in 1998, the newly-constructed highway system was opened and the new SkyTrain came on line. I have seen a remarkable improvement in traffic since that time.
