Bangkok

The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maharatchawong), in the centre of Bangkok, Thailand. It was built by King Rama I in 1782; the first year that Bangkok became the capital. Today it is used only for state occasions.

Thai monks in the grounds of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand. Adjoining the Palace is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. The entire complex contains over 200 buildings.

The Chao Phraya River, Bangkok, Thailand. Once called the Venice of the East, Bangkok's rivers and canals often provide a less congested and more scenic route around the capital than the busy roads.

A woman bathing in the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. There is a great deal of urban life on Bangkok's network of river tributaries and canals; homes, places of trade, and floating markets - boats laden with fruit and vegetables for sale.

One of the many traditional Thai wooden buildings and homes oriented towards water life throughout Bangkok's huge canal system.

A Thai woman performing a traditional dance at the Erawan shrine in the centre of Bangkok, Thailand. The shrine is a large ‘spirit house’, built to house the spirits that lived in a piece of land since used to build a hotel. It is customary to pay respect to spirit houses by leaving flowers, lighting incense, and, in the case of this shrine, dancing.

The floating market, Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok was once a city of canals, but many have been filled in to build roads. The floating market, with its boatloads of flowers and vegetables, is a picturesque reminder of a way of life that is quickly disappearing.

Wat Benchamabophit, a Buddhist temple in Bangkok, Thailand. Even the smallest village in Thailand has a wat, which creates a focus for the people, and a school.

Capital and port of Thailand, on the east bank of the River Chao Phraya, 40 km/24 mi from the Gulf of Thailand; population (2000 est) 6,320,200; the population of the whole metropolitan area, including the industrial centre of Thon Buri across the river, is 10,068,000 (2000 est). It is the economic centre of the country and the hub of the transport system. The port is accessible to smaller ocean-going ships, but much of its trade now passes through outports, such as Samut Prakan. Industries such as the manufacture of automobile parts, computers, and textiles have largely overtaken agricultural output. Banking and tourism are particularly important economically, while other industries include paper, ceramics, cement, silk, tobacco, and rice. The city has been the headquarters of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) since 1955, and hosted the 13th Asian Games in 1998.

History

Life in the city was for long founded on the canals, or klongs, which provided valuable defences as well as means of transport, and Bangkok was known as the ‘Venice of the East’. In the later 19th century, under Rama V, trade was stimulated as the canals and most of the city wall were largely displaced by the building of a network of roads and bridges. The hosting of the 13th Asian Games in 1998 brought about the construction of a large number of new roads, which helped to relieve traffic congestion in the city.

Features Bangkok contains the 18th-century walled Grand Palace (1782) and some 400 Buddhist temples, known as wats, including the Wat Po and the Wat Emerald Buddha. Wat Suthat, built by King Rama III in the 19th century contains a 14th-century Buddha. Bangkok is also the home of a number of universities including Chulalongkorn (1917), Thammasat (1934), Kasetsart (1943), and Mahidol (1969). Traditional buildings, including those on stilts near waterways, are still evident but the urban landscape is now dominated by modern buildings, including skyscrapers. The city it is now served by a major international airport, Don Muang.