Bangkok
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
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