The headlong
pace and flawed
modernity of
BANGKOK (called
"Krung Thep" in
Thai) match few
people's visions
of the capital
of exotic Siam.
Spiked with
scores of high-rise
buildings of
concrete and
glass, it's a
vast flatness
which holds a
population of at
least nine
million, and
feels even
bigger. But
under the shadow
of the
skyscrapers
you'll find a
heady mix of
frenetic markets
and hushed
golden temples,
of glossy
cutting-edge
clubs and early-morning
almsgiving
ceremonies. Most
budget
travellers head
for the
Banglamphu
district, which
is just a short
walk from the
dazzling
Grand Place
and
Wat Phra
Kaeo and the
very worthwhile
National
Museum . For
livelier scenes,
explore the dark
alleys of
Chinatown's
bazaars or
head for the
water: the great
Chao Phraya
River is the
backbone of a
network of
canals and a
useful way of
crossing the
city.
Bangkok is a
relatively young
capital,
established in
1782 after the
Burmese sacked
Ayutthaya, the
former capital.
A temporary base
was set up on
the western bank
of the Chao
Phraya, in what
is now Thonburi,
before work
started on the
more defensible
east bank. The
first king of
the new dynasty,
Rama I, built
his palace at
Ratanakosin
, within a
defensive ring
of two (later
expanded to
three) canals,
and this remains
the city's
spiritual heart.
Initially, the
city was largely
amphibious: only
the temples and
royal palaces
were built on
dry land, while
ordinary
residences
floated on thick
bamboo rafts on
the river and
canals, and even
shops and
warehouses were
moored to the
river bank. In
the late
nineteenth
century, Rama IV
and Rama V
modernized their
capital along
European lines,
building roads
and constructing
a new royal
residence in
Dusit, north of
Ratanakosin.
Since World
War II, and
especially from
the mid-1960s
onwards, Bangkok
has seen an
explosion of
modernization,
leaving the city
without an
obvious centre.
Most of the
canals have been
filled in, to be
replaced by
endless rows of
concrete
shophouses,
sprawling over a
built-up area of
330 square
kilometres. The
benefits of the
economic boom of
the 1980s and
early 1990s were
concentrated in
Bangkok, which
attracted mass
migration from
all over
Thailand and
made the capital
ever more
dominant:
Bangkokians now
own four-fifths
of the nation's
cars and the
population is
forty times that
of the second
city, Chiang Mai
