Bangkok vs. Baltimore
Hello!
This week, I'm going to compare my hometown of Baltimore, to my new, current home of Bangkok.
For starters, I need to state the obvious, Bangkok and Baltimore are two COMPLETELY different cities. To begin with, they are on completely opposite sides of the globe. While Baltimore lies in the Western hemisphere, in North America, Bangkok resides in the Eastern hemisphere, in Asia.
Bangkok is a huge city with an area of 606 square miles. Even though I have always considered Baltimore to be a "big" city, compared to Bangkok, it is tiny. Baltimore is only 90.28 square miles and has a population of 618, 493, while Bangkok's population is 8.281 MILLION. Baltimore does not compare to Bangkok at all in population or size.
This can easily be seen when you wander outside in any city. Bangkok is constantly bustling and moving, while Baltimore seems like a dead town compared to Bangkok. In the southeast Asian city, people are out and about working or selling food, until the late hours of the night, while in Baltimore, everyone usually tries to get home early, and not go out at night.
Another thing which I feel I need to point out is that I personally have never felt unsafe in Baltimore, or in Bangkok for that matter. Even though I now live in Baltimore County, I was born and raised for most of my life in Baltimore City. In addition, even now I frequent downtown Baltimore quite often, not to mention that Loyola is situated in the city as well. Anyway, at least one similarity between the two cities is that I have never felt unsafe in either.
In Baltimore, I have never seen or had anything scary or inappropriate happen to me while I have been there. In Bangkok, even though it is a bigger city with a bigger population, likewise, I have never felt unsafe, probably because everything is still bustling at night and the streets are still full of people.
Another difference between Bangkok and Baltimore is the difference in diversity. Even though I am technically a minority in the United States because I am Latina, I have actually never felt like a minority because I have so many Latino friends and because of the increasing Latino population in the U.S. Here in Bangkok however, for some reason, I feel like a "double" minority, not only am I not Thai, but I am also Latina.
The diversity of the people is also really obvious in both cities. Baltimore is full of African Americans, and Latinos, and Asians, and many other ethnicities, while, for the most part, Thailand is full of just Asian people. This is something that in the beginning I didn't really pay much attention to, however, thinking about it now, it would be nice having someone of the same race to simply talk to or see.
An unfortunate difference between Baltimore and Bangkok is that Baltimore doesn't really have any street food, and if they did, I don't think it would be as good or as cheap as in Bangkok. It is not just Baltimore though, I wish more cities sold as good street food as is sold here. Here in Bangkok, you can get a full meal for $2.00, while in the U.S., that would be close to impossible.
Since now I'm living in Baltimore County and not the City, Bangkok is also very different from the suburban areas as well. For starters, since Bangkok is a huge city, there are many different options on how to get around, the BTS station, the water taxis, normal taxis...and so on. In my neighborhood in the U.S, your only option to getting around is Uber or your own car. There is a light rail station maybe 15 minutes driving from my house, however, there are no water taxis or taxis really, which makes sense since Bangkok is a bigger city.
This week, I'm going to compare my hometown of Baltimore, to my new, current home of Bangkok.
For starters, I need to state the obvious, Bangkok and Baltimore are two COMPLETELY different cities. To begin with, they are on completely opposite sides of the globe. While Baltimore lies in the Western hemisphere, in North America, Bangkok resides in the Eastern hemisphere, in Asia.
Bangkok is a huge city with an area of 606 square miles. Even though I have always considered Baltimore to be a "big" city, compared to Bangkok, it is tiny. Baltimore is only 90.28 square miles and has a population of 618, 493, while Bangkok's population is 8.281 MILLION. Baltimore does not compare to Bangkok at all in population or size.
This can easily be seen when you wander outside in any city. Bangkok is constantly bustling and moving, while Baltimore seems like a dead town compared to Bangkok. In the southeast Asian city, people are out and about working or selling food, until the late hours of the night, while in Baltimore, everyone usually tries to get home early, and not go out at night.
Another thing which I feel I need to point out is that I personally have never felt unsafe in Baltimore, or in Bangkok for that matter. Even though I now live in Baltimore County, I was born and raised for most of my life in Baltimore City. In addition, even now I frequent downtown Baltimore quite often, not to mention that Loyola is situated in the city as well. Anyway, at least one similarity between the two cities is that I have never felt unsafe in either.
In Baltimore, I have never seen or had anything scary or inappropriate happen to me while I have been there. In Bangkok, even though it is a bigger city with a bigger population, likewise, I have never felt unsafe, probably because everything is still bustling at night and the streets are still full of people.
Another difference between Bangkok and Baltimore is the difference in diversity. Even though I am technically a minority in the United States because I am Latina, I have actually never felt like a minority because I have so many Latino friends and because of the increasing Latino population in the U.S. Here in Bangkok however, for some reason, I feel like a "double" minority, not only am I not Thai, but I am also Latina.
The diversity of the people is also really obvious in both cities. Baltimore is full of African Americans, and Latinos, and Asians, and many other ethnicities, while, for the most part, Thailand is full of just Asian people. This is something that in the beginning I didn't really pay much attention to, however, thinking about it now, it would be nice having someone of the same race to simply talk to or see.
An unfortunate difference between Baltimore and Bangkok is that Baltimore doesn't really have any street food, and if they did, I don't think it would be as good or as cheap as in Bangkok. It is not just Baltimore though, I wish more cities sold as good street food as is sold here. Here in Bangkok, you can get a full meal for $2.00, while in the U.S., that would be close to impossible.
Since now I'm living in Baltimore County and not the City, Bangkok is also very different from the suburban areas as well. For starters, since Bangkok is a huge city, there are many different options on how to get around, the BTS station, the water taxis, normal taxis...and so on. In my neighborhood in the U.S, your only option to getting around is Uber or your own car. There is a light rail station maybe 15 minutes driving from my house, however, there are no water taxis or taxis really, which makes sense since Bangkok is a bigger city.
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