Nowhere else in Southeast Asia, have I seen such a diversity of cats on the streets as in Bangkok! Explore the Thai catscape by watching the images I took over the last two weeks in the Thai capital.
There are not many cats on the Thai busiest avenues but turn into the side streets, follow alleys, visit ordinary Buddhist temples, and you'll discover Bangkok as a densely populated catopolis.
There is a small secret though: in the midday heat, Bangkok cats prefer the darkest places and you'll see few before 5 p.m. Then they begin to emerge from their shelters. That's when the best time for the photographer comes.
The easiest way to find a lot of cats in one place is to go to a Buddhist temple, hundreds of them are scattered all over the city.
However, cat mobs can be found in any place where they are fed. For example, I've recently found a motorcycle taxi stand where one of the drivers feeds all the cats he can find. There was a whole exhibition of cats around 5:30 pm there.
Some Bangkok neighborhoods are richer with cats than others. Old areas with narrow streets and roofs adjacent one to another are the best. The shabbier houses, the better.
Many Bangkok felines you spot on the streets are house cats on an outdoor walk.
They look healthy and clean, often with a collar.
They ignore your kibbles most of the time so keep them until you meet a real hungry cat.
This couple is a good example of happy Bangkokian cats. They belongs to an institution at Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen Buddhist temple.
They don't sleep in a dirty underground, and they get good food. You can read it from their look.
Some cats live and sleep outdoors but have owners.
Some felines are less lucky:
But many stray cats have a human to feed them. It's common, for example, because being kind to animals is part of Thai Buddhist culture. For Thais, feeding stray animals out of compassion is a spiritual practice not worse than prayer or meditation.
I also raise my karma from time to time. Although taking images and feeding cats are quite different things. Because you are losing precious photography moments while feeding.
However, some cats are desperately asking you for food and it feels so mean to leave them in that state after taking pictures of them... For such situations, I keep a bag with kibbles in my backpack.
The palette of cat colors in Bangkok is extremely wide, which I am trying to show in this post.
Greys are the rarest: I saw only one over the last 2 weeks.
Oranges are probably the most common.
Fully brown felines (Suphalak type colorization) are present too.
Most cats are short-haired, and I think natural selection has contributed to this.
Although there are "Northerners" here too, like the charming tabby in the image above.
I visited many cities in Southeast Asia and they all have a much, much smaller cat population.
The reason is that the Thai people have a big passion for cats, and that passion isn't a product of the social media era but has a long history behind it.
These are drawings from Thai Medieval Cat Book Poems representing Thai cat breeds. And another old Thai illustration:
Thailand has its own ancient breeds: grey Korat, brown Suphalak, white Khao Manee, and, of course, classical colorpoint Thai cats + Siamese cats derived from the latter.
It's common to see colorpoint little guys in Bangkok streets, alleys, and temples. For example, look what a cute colorpoint kitten I found in Wat Khun Chan Buddhist temple:
Timid and abandoned.
It was heartbreaking to see this tiny creature searching for protection below the statue...
But he'll be fine, the temple's people will care about him. 😎
How do you like Bangkok cats? 🙂 Be free to express your thoughts and feelings in the comments section!
More Southeast Asian stories to come, stay tuned! Check out my previous posts on my personal Worldmappin map.
I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in February 2025, in Bangkok, Thailand.