Bangkok (Miniguides) Book

INTRODUCTION The headlong pace and flawed modernity of Bangkok match few people?s visions of the capital of exotic Siam. Spiked with scores of high-rise buildings of concrete and glass, it?s a vast flatness which holds a population of at least nine million, and feels even bigger. But under the shadow of the skyscrapers you?ll find a heady mix of chaos and refinement, of frenetic markets and hushed golden temples, of early-morning almsgiving ceremonies and ultra-hip designer boutiques. Bangkok is a relatively young capital, established in 1782 after the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya, the former capital. 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 defensive ring of canals. He named this "royal island" Ratanakosin, and it remains the city?s spiritual heart, not to mention its culturally most rewarding quarter. No visit to the capital would be complete without seeing Ratanakosin?s star attractions ? if necessary, the dazzling ostentation of Wat Phra Kaeo and the Grand Palace, the grandiose decay of Wat Po and the National Museum?s hoard of exquisite works of art can all be crammed into a single action-packed day. Around the temples and palaces of the royal island spread an amphibious city of shops and houses built on bamboo rafts moored on the river and canals. Even though many of the canals have since been built over, one of the 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 canals and floating markets 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 you?re wading through flooded streets in the rainy season. 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, constructing grand European-style boulevards, a new palace, Chitrlada (still used by the royal family today), and Wat Benjamabophit, popularly known as the "Marble Temple" because of its sumptuous use of Italian marble. When political modernization followed in 1932, Dusit was the obvious choice of home for Thailand?s new parliament, which now sits in Parliament House. Since Rama V?s reign, Bangkok has attracted mass migration from all over Thailand, pushing the city?s boundaries ever eastwards in an explosion of modernization that has blown away earlier attempts at orderly planning 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, is far and away the country?s most dominant city. Bangkokians own four-fifths of the nation?s automobiles, and there?s precious little chance to escape from the pollution in green space: the city has only 0.4 square metres of public parkland per inhabitant, the lowest figure in the world, compared, for example, to London?s 30.4 square metres per person. Modern Bangkok is not without its beauty however, the sleek glass towers and cool marble malls lending an air of energy and big-city drama to the eastern districts of Silom, Siam Square and Sukhumvit, which together form the hub of one of the liveliest and most fashionable cities in Asia. These areas shelter a few noteworthy tourist sights, too, best of which is Jim Thompson?s House, a small, personal museum of Thai design. Shopping downtown varies from touristic outlets selling silks, handicrafts and counterfeit watches, to international fashion emporia and home-grown, street-wise boutiques. 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 hip bars and clubs playing the latest imported sounds, 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 nation?s food. The atmospheric ruins of Thailand?s fourteenth-century capital Ayutthaya lie here, ninety minutes? train ride from 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 traditional floating markets of Damnoen Saduak are also easily manageable as a day-trip, and combine well with a visit to the less touristed town of Phetchaburi, famous for its charming, historic temples. An overnight stay at Kanchanaburi is also well worth the effort: impressively sited on the River Kwai, it holds several moving World War II sites, including the notorious Death Railway.Read More