With a population of seven million people, Thailand's capital, Bangkok, is a thriving, bustling city. You can get from the airport to the city in less than an hour by boat on the 25-knot catamaran, or step into taxis or mini-buses that take you right to the door of your hotel via the new expressway.

The mighty Chao Phraya River or 'River of Kings' is a busy thoroughfare with rice barges tied to each other snaking along, dodging little ferries carrying saffron-robed monks. There are longtail boats zipping past, powered by car engines mounted high on their sterns, cruise ships returning downstream and water taxis carrying dinner guests and shoppers on their way to a lavish shopping complex or riverside restaurant.   

While the river is an important traffic route, the heart of Bangkok is Ratanakosin where the city was first established by King Rama I in 1782.

Allow time to visit the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, part of a square mile of palaces, temples and pavilions shimmering in gold leaf, porcelain and glass. Near the Royal Plaza where the Thai royal family live in the Chitralada Palace is also the Dusit Zoo.

A must is a trip to Wat Benchamabophit or the Marble Temple, regarded as one of the country's most beautiful buildings. This temple is distinguished by rich ornaments and an unusual layout comprising gilded chedi, four corner pavilions and a circular cloister. It's not far from the Grand Palace and is often overlooked by visitors.

Temple of Dawn or Wat Arun, is one of the city's major landmarks with a 79-metre tall pagoda, Phra Prang, offering great views for those fit enough to climb it. If you have time, most of the other 400 Buddhist temples with their soaring roofs, oriental splendour and gilded spires have something unique to offer. In many are masterpieces of sculpture, such as the three metre solid gold Buddha weighing 5.5 tons at Wat Traimit, or magnificent examples of painting and decorative arts.

The National Museum, formerly a palace, and Jim Thompson's House, which is actually seven antique houses joined together exhibiting the 'Silk King's' antique and archaeological collection, contain some spectacular treasures. Vimanmek Palace is believed to be the world's largest teak building with more than 30 rooms and royal apartments.

Renowned as a shopping paradise, especially for silk and gems, Bangkok has many gem cutting factories which will happily provide guided tours and even pick you up from your hotel. Remember to look for Tourist Authority accreditation if you are tempted to buy, since unless you are an expert it's hard to know a bargain.

Real bargains are best found at the weekend markets at Chatachuk Park, acknowledged in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's biggest market with hectares of everything from antiques to Siamese fighting fish.

History

First of all, Bangkok was not really founded by Rama I. It had been a settled area for several hundred years already and it had even been well-known to European merchants who commonly stopped over at Bangkok on their way to Ayutthaya.

Second, the sharp demarcation between Thonburi and Bangkok is not justified. While European merchants stuck to the name of Bangkok for their place of stopover, the community left and right of the Chao Phaya River was known to the Siamese as the town of Thonburi, having been elevated from the village status of Bangkok.

Thonburi was chosen by King Taksin as his capital. And while it is true that King Taksin had erected his palace and all major buildings on the right bank of the Chao Phaya River, the city of Thonburi encompassed settled areas on both banks.

King Taksin’s rationale had been to have the river flowing through the capital as he feared another Burmese attack after Ayutthaya had been leveled by Burmese armies in 1767; in the case of a new attack he wanted to have an easy escape option. This option was maintained by having the river flowing through, not just alongside the capital. His idea was that he could embark his people and troops rather unnoticed and then make a getaway on the Chao Phaya. His destination would have been his old stronghold of Chantaburi on the east coast, close to what is now Cambodia.

On the other hand, when Chao Phaya Chakri became King of Siam, the Burmese threat was by far not as eminent any more; Siam was again a strong power, on equal footing with the Burmese. Rama I didn’t think in terms of easy escape routes anymore, but in terms of strong defense. He had no intention of vacating his capital, should the Burmese march on it - he wanted to defend it by all means. For this purpose, however, a river flowing through the capital was a disadvantage as it could have served as an hard to secure entry point. Therefore, he decided to neglect the western, larger side of what had been Thonburi, instead concentrating everything important on the eastern side. This included, of course, first of all his own palace.

To make space for his palace where it is still located, a large settlement on the eastern side of Thonburi had to be razed. At the end of the 18th century, the present palace area had chiefly been occupied by Chinese inhabitants . Chao Phaya Chakri had the whole Chinese community transferred some three kilometers downstream, to an area then known as Sampheng. The Chinese still live in that area, and Sampheng Lane now is a famous Chinese shopping area (after it had been a red-light district for many decades).

Work on the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha was by and large completed in 1785. The new capital, now more or less just covering the area on the eastern side of the Chao Phaya was inaugurated under the new name "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amorn Rattanakosindra Mahindrayutthaya Mahadilokpop Noparattana Radchhani Burirom Udom Rachnivet Mahastan Amorn Pimarn Avatarn Satit Sakatuttiya Vishnukarm Prasit." In English: "City of Angels, Great City and Residence of the Emerald Buddha, Impregnable City of God Indra, Grand Capital of the World, Endowed with Nine Precious Gems, Abounding in Enormous Royal Palaces which Resemble the Heavenly Abode where Reigns the Reincarnated God, a City given by Indra and Built by Vishnukarm". For convenience, it is the custom to abbreviate the name to Krung Thep. And for their further convenience, Westerners continue to call the place just Bangkok.

Parts of the City

By and large, Bangkok is a one-city metropolis which has grown radially from a small center, the original Bangkok fishing village which later became the Rattanakosin part of the capital (the area of the Grand Palace and the immediate surrounding). The further away one gets from this area in any direction, the more thinned out and the less urban the infrastructure.

This is in sharp contrast to, for example, Metro Manila which rather is several cities grown into one but with several downtown areas at a considerable distance from each other (up to 10 kilometers).

While Bangkok, too, has specific districts dedicated to specific functions, these districts all are part of inner Bangkok. There is the old center on the Rattanakosin island formed by the Chao Phaya River and the Banglamphu Klong; adjacent to it in the southeast is Chinatown, mainly a trade area; to the southeast adjacent to Chinatown is the New Road / Silom Road area which is the modern financial center of Thailand; to the north adjacent to the Silom Road area is the Siam Square area which is the capital’s prime shopping district; and northwest of the Siam Square area, or northeast of the Rattanakosin district, is the part of town with most of the edifices of the national government.

Downtown

Aside from the Grand Palace with its large walled compound, the main landmark of the area is the Democracy Monument on Ratchadamnoen Klang, an eight- to ten-lane road. Near to the Democracy Monument is the Khao San Road area, preferred by Western budget travelers for its large number of low-price guest houses. The northern downtown is were most edifices of the national government are located.

Chinatown

As a shopping area, especially for foreign visitors, Chinatown is widely overrated. While there are some bargains available, the selection and more so the quality of consumer goods is inadequate by Western standards. Most of the items to be found are not only cheap but also rather cheapish. For those who have never seen a Chinatown, it’s worthwhile to go there once for a stroll.

There seems to be much more traffic congestion in Chinatown than in the actual downtown a few kilometers to the north, and the smell of the area is one of car exhausts and sometimes open sewers.

Silom Road Area

The Silom Road area is the most convenient area to stay for those visitors to Bangkok who have a number of bank dealings to proceed as Silom Road is where most large Thai banks have their headquarters. (Some Silom bankers might no longer recommend the Oriental.) Aside from banks, gem traders as well as the priciest antique shops are in the Silom Road area, as well as Patpong, infamous for live sex shows.

While the Silom Road area is convenient in as far as the distances to the headquarters of banks are short, a definite disadvantage is the incredible air pollution found there. This author has found it worst on New Road which has heavy traffic of diesel buses which emit a black smoke, and racing two-stroke engine motorcycles which emit a rather blue smoke - a cocktail always good for migraine.

Five-star hotels in other parts of town, though not located as close to the bank headquarters, often have a surrounding which is less polluted (but not exactly fresh country air).

Sukhumvit Road Area

One of the better Sukhumvit Road area hotels, the Ambassador, is interesting beyond what it offers in rooms. The parking lot actually is a small zoo with many exotic birds in large cages, among them parrots and even some name-sakes of this book. Furthermore, the hotel has an international fast-food mall with an excellent selection of low priced dishes from all over the world - a prime choice for those who want to eat well but budget their money. Nightlife in the Sukhumvit area is said to be less hard-core than at Patpong off Silom Road.

Siam Square Area

In general, tourists should give much more consideration to buying modern consumer products in Bangkok than is the case so far. Clothes and footwear are much, much cheaper than for example in Hong Kong. For high quality clothes, the Siam Square area has a number of excellent department stores, and for bottom price clothes, there is Pratunam Market.

It must be noted that Thai shopkeepers and sales staff are much more civilized than those of Hong Kong - with respect to manners as well as the aim to give a customer a fair deal. While there are black sheep among Thai shopkeepers, it’s not like in Hong Kong’s Tsim Tsa Tsui where most shopkeepers attempt to overcharge unscrupulously the first moment a customer believes any of the promises they make.

For those unfamiliar with Bangkok or even the Orient, shopping at the department stores around the Siam Square is not only pleasant but safe as well. There is no danger of being cheated at Siam Square department stores as they have fixed prices and cater mainly to locals.

For more information on Bangkok, go to:

• Bangkok International Airport