Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and has approximately 8.5 million inhabitants.

Bangkok or Khrung Thep (“the City of Angles”) holds a world record that not many people know about. The city has the longest city name. Its full name is:

KRUNG THEP MAHA NAKHON AMON RATANAKOSIN MAHIN TALA AYUTTAYA MAHA DE LOK POP NOP PARAT RATCHATANI BURILUM UDOM RATCHANIVAI MAHA SATARN AMORN PHIMAN AUARDARN SATHIT SAKATAT DI JAR VHISANU GAM PARASIT, which means: "The city of angles, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, 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 Vishnukarn.”

Bangkok is situated 30 kilometers from theBay of Thailandand through the city flows Mae Nam Chao Phraya (the Chao Phraya River) connecting with canals that serve as a significant through fare. On the west side of the river almost all traffic is done on the canals.

The city has quite a good infrastructure. In the city you find both a “sky train” and a metro, as well as more than 50,000 taxi, which carry people around the city inexpensively. Shopping wise, Bangkok has something to suit every taste. In the city’s different shopping areas, you find things from the exclusive to fake goods. One of the most interesting areas to shop is ChinaTownwhere you find every thing under the sky. Do be aware that it takes time to find the right place to shop and many places only sell in bulk, ie. All trades are done by the dozen or in packs of 100 pieces. On the other hand it is cheap. This way you can buy 100 pair of socks forUSD 50, if you are lucky …

There are plenty of markets in Bangkok. Here are some examples:

Pat Pong night market, on Silom Road, a closed off road at night offering anything you can think off.

Suan Lum Night Bazaar, located next to the Lumpini Park, a quiet, peaceful market although with plenty of people and plenty of offers in arts and craft as well as a wide selection of goods such as T-shirts, clothes and souvenirs.

Chatuchak Weekend market, a busy and crowded place on every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) with everything your heart desires. An absolute joy if you are in Bangkok over the weekend.

We do not forget to mention the many tourist attractions when talking about Bangkok. Some of the most visited attractions in Bangkok are:

GrandPalace. This previous royal palace is situated by the river and is visited every day by a big amount of tourists and native Thais. In the part of the palace which is open to the public, you find a number of buildings built by the various kings though the current dynasty. The architecture is primarily Buddhist and utterly magnificent! It is difficult to let your eyes rest in one particular place as there is so much to look at.

In the part of the palace where you find the temple, you see Thailand’s holiest Buddha image, “The Emerald Buddha”, an approximately 60 cm high Buddha figure made of one piece of antic jade. The Buddha figure has three different sets of “clothes” (clothing made in gold and gems, which it wears according to weather; summer, winter, and rainy season. The “clothing” may only be changed by the king or one of the royal family members and this receives much attention from the Thais. Please note that inside the GrandPalace, no photography is allowed and you need to be smartly dressed. The Thais are very strict with respect to the dress code in the Grand Palace and as a minimum you must wear:

Men: Full length trousers, a shirt or T-shirt (avoid too much print) with sleeves, covering the shoulders, and shoes, which as a minimum have a strap around the heals.

Women: Same as the men; however, may wear a skirt. The skirt should not be shorter than just below the knee. A wrap-around skirt is NOT allowed if 1) it does NOT have a strap to tie it and 2) has frills either at the bottom or on the side.

These rules may sound very strict but please bear in mind that you are visiting Thailand’s most sacred Buddha idol. Also you wouldn’t visit theQueen or King or another prominent personin a track suit, would you?

Wat Po: Not far from the Grand Palace, you find one of the other highly visited temple areas in Bangkok. This temple area is called Wat Po. This is a smaller temple area compared to the Grand Palace, but holds many beautiful buildings. In one of the buildings you find Thailand’s third biggest, reclining Buddha figure. It is very famous as it is a golden Buddha figure. The figure is just under 46 meters wide and 15 meters high, and it is incredibly beautiful!

Wat Po is also famous for being home to Thailand’s first public university and you still find schools and educational institutions on the premises, among other things a massage college, where they train people in the traditional Thai massage and foot massage.It is said, that if you do not have a massage diploma from Wat Po, you haven’t learnt to massage properly!

On the premises you will also find four large cheddies rising towards the sky. Each of these chedies is 37 meters high and built by the first four kings in the current dynasty.

In addition to these two beautiful temples, there are plenty of other attractions in Bangkok. A trip you shouldn’t miss if you are just a little interested in sports, is the Lumpini Thai boxing arena, where the country’s best Thai boxers fight for title and honor! It is on the pricy side to get in, but believe us, it is worth the money! You find boxing several times a week – but typically Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

If you don’t have much time but would like to see all of Bangkok in 5 minutes, it is doable! Go to the Sky Hotel or Baiyok II Tower, where you can take the lift to the 18th floor. Here you find the reception for Thailand’s highest hotel (level 1-17 is parking). In the reception you can buy a ticket for the lift which goes to the top of the building. Here you find a look-out and an observation deck, one floor higher up you find an outdoor area with a revolving roof deck around the tower and if you stand on this, you can see ALL of Bangkok. In addition to this you eat well in the Sky Restaurant where they have a large buffet with every thing that takes your fancy. Very appropriate when you sit and eat 250 meters above the ground…

Food wise you can find everything in Bangkok. No matter what time it is, you don’t have to go far to get a cheap meal. Remember one thing when you go around Bangkok: HAVE PLENTY OF TIME! Things take time in the capital and sometime you need plenty of patience when you are out and about!

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Bangkok

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