Bangkok has changed radically since 1988. There were no metered taxis and unless you spoke Thai, it was difficult to negotiate the fare. My books are a chronicle of the vast changes the city and people have experienced over the last 12 years. Hopefully, at the same time, there is a timeless quality to the novels that allow readers who weren't living here in those days, to walk through the streets of a different kind of Bangkok but yet to feel that the observations of the characters are as meaningful today as when they were first made some years ago. The main change has been the internet.
People are full more knowledgeable.
Perhaps it is better to say they have more facts but that does not always translate into understanding or wisdom in using the information. Communication is so much easier because of email. As a result, there is far more inter-reaction between people. You have lived in Thailand for quite a long time now. Ice hockey, the CBC morning radio show, English Bay, skiing at Whistler, the mountains, the clean beaches, Granville Island, Stanley Park, long walks through the Endowment Lands on Point Grey, and, of course, my friends.