Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon meaning “city of angels”

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and also the biggest metropolitan area in the country, with about 9 million residents. The city is known as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon in Thai, or Krung Thep, meaning ‘City of Angels’.

Bangkok used to be a small village on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. Life took place mostly on the water. Ordinary people lived on rafts made of bamboo and floating vendors sold fruit and vegetables. The temples and palaces were the only stone structures build on land.
Bangkok historic canals

Bangkok historic canals

In the 18th century the Ayutthaya fell and King Taksin the Great turned it into the new capital of Siam and named it Thonburi. Bangkok has been the capital of Thailand since. In the 19th century, much of Southeast Asia was turned into colonial empires by the Western powers. The kings Rama IV and V thought that the only way to keep Siam independent was to modernize it in a European way. Canals were filled up to turn them into roads and the residence of the King was moved to Dusit and he constructed grand boulevards European style.

The real development came after World War II. The economic centre shifted eastward, leaving Bangkok without an obvious city center. Bangkok was the driving power behind Thailand’s role as newly industrialized county in the 1980s. Economic growth attracted migration from the countryside and millions of Thai moved from the northern provinces like Isaan to find a better living. This expansion turned Bangkok into a cosmopolitan and happening city. But the expansion also caused a lot of problems. A wide gap emerged between the workers who came from the countryside and those who profited most from the economic activity and traffic jams seem never-ending. There are few places to escape the chaos, as Bangkok has the lowest amount of green space of all capitals in the world.

Today, Bangkok is an important commercial center in South East Asia. It has 6 universities and more then 400 richly decorated temples. Bangkok is also known as “Venice of the East”, due to its many canals, many of which are home to floating markets.