Rough Guides - The Rough Guide to Bangkok (Travel Guide eBook)

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Contents

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Introduction to

Bangkok

The headlong pace and flawed modernity of Bangkok match few peoples visions of the capital of exotic Siam. Spiked with scores of high-rise buildings of concrete and glass, its a vast flatness that holds an estimated population of nearly fifteen million, and feels even bigger. But under the shadow of the skyscrapers youll find a heady mix of chaos and refinement, of frenetic markets and hushed golden temples, of early-morning alms-giving ceremonies and ultra-hip designer bars.

Bangkok is a relatively young capital, established in 1782 after the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya, its predecessor. A temporary base was set up on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, in what is now Thonburi, before work started on the more defensible east bank, where the first king of the new dynasty, Rama I, built his fabulously ornate palace within a protective ring of canals. Around the temples and palaces of this royal island, there spread an amphibious city of shops and houses built on bamboo rafts moored on the river and canals.

Ever since its foundation, but with breakneck acceleration in recent years, Bangkok has attracted internal migration from all over Thailand, pushing the citys boundaries ever outwards in an explosion of modernization that has seen the canals on the east side of the river concreted over and left the city without an obvious centre. The capital now sprawls over 330 square kilometres and, with a population forty times that of the second city, Chiang Mai, and four-fifths of the nations automobiles, its far and away the countrys dominant metropolis. In the make-up of its population, however, Thailands capital supports world trends over half of its inhabitants are under thirty, a fact that helps to consolidate Bangkoks position as one of the liveliest and most fashionable cities in Asia.

Rat or raja?

Theres no standard system of transliterating Thai script into Roman, so youre sure to find that the Thai words in this book dont always match the versions youll see elsewhere. Maps and street signs are the biggest sources of confusion, so weve generally gone for the transliteration thats most common on the spot; where its a toss-up between two equally popular versions, weve used the one that helps best with pronunciation. However, sometimes youll need to do a bit of lateral thinking, bearing in mind that a classic variant for the town of Ayutthaya is Ayudhia, while among street names, Thanon Rajavithi could come out as Thanon Ratwithi and its not unheard of to find one spelling posted at one end of a road, with another at the opposite end. See the Language section of this book for an introduction to Thai.

What to see

Rama I named his royal island Ratanakosin , and this remains the citys spiritual heart, not to mention its culturally most rewarding quarter. No visit to the capital would be complete without seeing the star attractions here if necessary, the dazzling ostentation of Wat Phra Kaeo and the Grand Palace , lively and grandiose Wat Pho and the National Museum s hoard of exquisite works of art can all be crammed into a single action-packed day.

One of the other great pleasures of the city is a ride on its remaining waterways; the majestic Chao Phraya River is served by frequent ferries and longtail boats, and is the backbone of a network of old canals, stilted houses and lovely waterside temples including the striking five-towered Wat Arun that remains fundamentally intact in the west-bank Thonburi district. Inevitably the waterways have earned Bangkok the title of Venice of the East, a tag that seems all too apt when youre wading through flooded streets in the rainy season.

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Bangkok began to assume its modern guise at the end of the nineteenth century, when the forward-looking Rama V relocated the royal family to a neighbourhood north of Ratanakosin called Dusit . Here he commissioned grand European-style boulevards, built the new Chitrlada Palace (still used by the royal family today), had his charming summer palace the teakwood Vimanmek Palace reconstructed nearby, and capped it all with the erection of a sumptuous new temple, Wat Benjamabophit , which was built from Italian marble. When political modernization followed in 1932, Dusit was the obvious choice of home for Thailands new parliament, which now sits in Parliament House.

Bangkoks commercial heart lies to the southeast of Dusit, where sleek glass towers and cool marble malls lend an air of energy and big-city drama to the districts of Silom , Siam Square and Sukhumvit . These areas shelter a few noteworthy tourist sights, too, best of which is Jim Thompsons House , a small, elegant and very personal museum of Thai design. Shopping downtown varies from touristic outlets selling Thai silks and handicrafts to international fashion emporia and boutiques showcasing the countrys home-grown contemporary designs. For livelier scenes, explore the dark alleys of the bazaars in Chinatown or the Indian district, Pahurat , or head out to the enormous, open-air Chatuchak Weekend Market . Similarly, the city offers wildly varied entertainment, ranging from traditional dancing and the orchestrated bedlam of Thai boxing, through cool bars and clubs both downtown and in the backpackers enclave of Banglamphu , to the farang-only sex bars of the notorious Patpong district.

North and west of the city, the unwieldy urban mass of Greater Bangkok peters out into the vast, well-watered central plains, a region that for centuries has grown the bulk of the nations food. The atmospheric ruins of Thailands fourteenth-century capital Ayutthaya lie here, ninety minutes train ride to the north of Bangkok and, together with the ornate palace at nearby Bang Pa-In , make a rewarding excursion from the modern metropolis. Further west, the massive stupa at Nakhon Pathom and the floating markets of Damnoen Saduak are also easily manageable as a day-trip, and combine well with a visit to the historic town of Phetchaburi , famous for its charming old temples. Riverside Amphawa is similarly evocative and makes a perfect escape from the bustle of the city, with its genuine floating markets and traditional canalside neighbourhoods. An overnight stay at Kanchanaburi is also well worth the effort: impressively sited on the River Kwai, it holds several moving World War II memorials, including the notorious Death Railway.

Fact file

• Bangkok ( Krung Thep in Thai) is the capital of Thailand, which was known as Siam until 1939 (and again from 1945 to 1949); some academics feel changing the name back again would better reflect the countrys Thai and non-Thai diversity.
• Buddhism is the national religion , Islam the largest minority religion, but nearly all Thais also practise some form of animism (spirit worship).
• Since 1932 the country has been a constitutional monarchy . At the time of his death in 2016, King Bhumibol, also known as Rama IX (being the ninth ruler of the Chakri dynasty), was the worlds longest-ruling head of state, having been on the throne since 1946. He was succeeded by his son, who became King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X), though at the time of writing the coronation had yet to be held.