Krung Thep - More to a name than meets the eye! by M0B1US
Pronounced 'grung-tayp' which roughly translates to 'City of Angels', this is what the Thais call their capital...Thais themselves will never call it 'Bangkok' and indeed, many Thais in the more remote provinces may never have even heard it being called Bangkok!
So why do we still call it Bangkok?
Bangkok, or 'village of wild plums' was the original site for the capital city and was located west of the river in what is now Thonburi - In 1782, King Rama I decided to have his capital at a more defensible site and moved across the river and called his new capital Krung Thep.
So, for whatever reason, foreigners are now over two hundred years out of date (roughly the length of time the USA has been independent!) and have been calling it Bangkok ever since!
Recently Krung Thep/Bangkok has expanded over such a large area that it has engulfed the location of the original Bangkok and you could argue that you can be justified in using 'Bangkok' after all...;-)
Krung Thep (highlighted in red on my picture) is actually an abbreviated version of the full ceremonial name:
'Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit'
This is actually in the Guiness Book of Records as the longest place name in the world In romanised text! It translates as:
'The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) 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 Vishnukarn.'Now you can see why the Thais just stick with 'The City of Angels' given its length. It is also apt because pollutionwise, it has an awful lot in common with that other great City of Angels - Los Angeles...
The full name is never actually used for obvious reasons, although an impressive number of Thai people can recite the entire name off by heart!
I'd wonder what kind of superlatives King Rama I would use to describe his city if he saw it now...?
;-)
