[Asia Report] The Revival of the World’s Top Tourist City: How Bangkok, Thailand Is Changing

Jong Hojae, Secretary General of Asia Vision Forum

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It was so clean that it left me bewildered. "Is this really the Thailand I know?"

Returning to Bangkok, Thailand after two years, I found the city far more organized than expected. The once-chaotic and disorderly image of a Southeast Asian metropolis-especially the dire conditions on Bangkok’s streets during the COVID-19 pandemic-had faded. Instead, I was struck by a sense of managed order and tidy streets. To be honest, it even felt cleaner than Seoul.

In disbelief, I meticulously explored the back alleys around the main tourist attractions to check for myself. The scope of change was far too great to be attributed to mere beautification efforts. Even cigarette butts were hard to find. As the city prepared to overflow with water and people for the Songkran Water Festival, which began on April 13 (Thai New Year), the streets remained impressively orderly and stable. This city is undeniably changing. How did Bangkok become so clean?

Perhaps the most noticeable change is the city’s physical structure itself. The tangled overhead wires that once symbolized Bangkok are gradually being moved underground. Although some areas still have clusters of intertwined wires, the main downtown and tourist routes now boast a clean appearance. Another notable change is the visibly reduced number of motorcycles and Thailand’s characteristic three-wheeled tuk-tuks. This has resulted in smoother traffic flow and a significant reduction in noise and dust.

Shared bicycles in downtown Bangkok appeared to be better maintained than those in Seoul. Photo by Jeong Hojae

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These changes go beyond the achievements of simple urban administration and reflect a broader, pragmatic shift in Thai politics. Recently, Thailand has experienced frequent changes in government and ongoing instability at the central political level. In this context, the administrative capabilities of major cities like Bangkok have gained even more attention. The city’s cleanliness and efficiency have come to symbolize the potential for political reform. Chadchart Sittipunt, who was elected Mayor of Bangkok in May 2022, is widely regarded as successfully carrying out a political experiment that emerged from public fatigue with traditional party politics. A Ph.D. in urban engineering from MIT and the University of Illinois and a former Minister of Transport, he ran as an independent, stepping away from Thailand’s chronic ideological and factional conflicts, and won enthusiastic support from the middle class and younger generations.

His administrative reforms, in stark contrast to the long-standing military dictatorship, have produced tangible results. Since taking office, his focus has not been on grand urban development projects, but on restoring the city’s most basic functions. He personally inspects drainage systems and sidewalks from the early morning hours and communicates directly with citizens through social media. His "technocrat leadership" has brought unprecedented efficiency to Bangkok. Rather than pursuing lofty political slogans, he has been relentless in improving basic municipal services, such as overhauling the trash collection system and reorganizing street vendors within designated areas. As a result, Bangkok has been reborn as a sophisticated megacity that maintains its unique energy while skillfully managing its underlying chaos. Of particular note is his sense of balance. Bangkok is a city where street vendors and the street economy are an inherent part of life. Simply eliminating them would undermine the city’s vibrancy. Instead of removing street vendors entirely, Mayor Chadchart opted to relocate and manage them within certain zones. This approach has preserved Bangkok’s distinct liveliness while reducing inconvenience and disorder.

With just three months remaining until the Bangkok mayoral election in July 2026, these urban management achievements have become a key metric for voters. Bandit Chanrochanakit, a leading scholar of Korean studies at Chulalongkorn University, observed, "Since Mayor Chadchart, who opposed the military, took office, Bangkok has rapidly enhanced its global urban competitiveness. The mayor’s outstanding administrative skills stand out even more in the midst of Thailand’s political turmoil and carry important implications for other Southeast Asian countries."

The BTS, Bangkok's subway system, is cleanly maintained at every station. Photo by Jeong Hojae

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Ultimately, the key to the tourism industry lies in the capital’s urban competitiveness. Thailand has long designated tourism as a core national industry, with Bangkok at its center. Although the tourism industry collapsed at the height of COVID-19, the pace of recovery was remarkably fast. The Thai government actively increased foreign arrivals by easing visa requirements, launching long-stay programs, and introducing policies to attract digital nomads. As a result, Bangkok has reclaimed its place as a global tourism hub, drawing tens of millions of visitors once again. In a city flooded with tourists, cleanliness is not a choice but a necessity.

To understand these changes in Bangkok, it is important to recognize the city’s overwhelming tourism statistics. As of 2024, the total number of visitors to Bangkok reached approximately 47.2 million, with 32.4 million of them being foreign tourists. This ranks among the highest in the world for a single city, rivaling traditional megacities in the West such as Paris, London, and New York. While cities like New York and London naturally attract large floating populations as centers of global business and finance, Bangkok is more akin to a massive tourism platform designed for the "consumption of experiences" by foreigners. This explosive scale provides the strongest economic justification for Bangkok to organize its streets and manage its urban infrastructure according to global standards.

This reveals the true character of Bangkok as a city. While Seoul is designed with the lives of citizens at its core, Bangkok has been restructured around the experiences of tourists. Streets and public spaces are maintained for consumption, and the environment is managed for experiences. Therefore, Bangkok’s cleanliness is less the result of spontaneous civic consciousness and more a product of a system designed to sustain tourism. In other words, Bangkok is a city that creates "managed cleanliness."

The globalization of the city is also accelerating these changes. Bangkok is no longer just a regional center; it is transforming into a megacity that attracts global capital and talent. Public transportation networks such as BTS and MRT have expanded rapidly, and platform-based mobility services such as Grab have established themselves, resulting in a more orderly transportation system than before. The spread of electric vehicles and regulations on old vehicles have also led to improvements in air quality. As the way the city operates itself changes, both citizens and tourists experience a noticeably improved environment.

In the end, Bangkok’s transformation cannot be explained by a single factor. The physical improvements such as underground wiring, the administrative competence of Mayor Chadchart, the national strategy focused on attracting tourists, and the city’s globalization have all worked together. These elements have merged to reshape Bangkok into a city entirely different from its past. What is particularly interesting is that these changes go beyond mere cleanliness and are actually redefining the city’s identity. While Bangkok is still bustling, the chaos is no longer neglected but rather transformed into a managed vibrancy. This "managed chaos" has become a distinctive competitive edge for modern cities. Bangkok has now chosen this path-one that appears to be quite successful. Bangkok is no longer the city we once knew.

Jong Hojae, Secretary General of Asia Vision Forum

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