Bangkok Guide – Welcome
Welcome to our / your Bangkok Travel Guide. We hope that you find it useful, interesting and entertaining, if not we hope that you can add something useful, interesting or entertaining to it.
About Bangkok
Bangkok, called Krungthep in Thai, is the capital of Thailand. It is the centre of politics, economy, education, culture, and transportation. It is a modern city with many historical, and contemporary attractions, while still retaining retaining some of it’s Oriental charm. Apart from enjoying the attractions Bangkok has to offer many people leave with fond memories of its mostly friendly people and wonderful vibrant culture. Bangkok is also one of the safest Capital cities in the world.
Bangkok Geography
Bangkok is located in central Thailand on the low-flat plains of the Chao Phraya River. The river flows down the centre of Thailand so has always been important. The map location is at latitude 130 45′ and longitude 1000 28′ . It is a tropical land with long hours of sunshine, high temperature and humidity.
Bangkok History
Bangkok was originally established on a flood plain of the Chao Phraya River in 1782 as the new capital of Thailand by King Rama I of the Chakri Dynasty . The location was chosen as it provided as a natural defence from enemies and, in a land that suffers drought annually, an abundance of water. Since it’s birth as a city, Bangkok grew steadily in size and importance. Initially only 4.14 square kilometers, it is now one of the worlds great cities, comprising 50 districts with a total area of 1568.737 square kilometers.
Bangkok Climate
The climate is influenced by seasonal monsoon. There are three main seasons; Rainy (May-October), Cool (November-January) and Hot (February-April). Temperatures range from around 20 – 40 degrees celcius.
Bangkok Administration
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is the sole organization at the local authority level responsible for the well-being of Bangkok residents, with some fadditional inancial support from the central government. The Governor is the chief of the city administration, elected every four years. The Governor then appoints four deputy governors as executive administrators.
Bangkok Economy
Bangkok is the commercial centre of Thailand, and the wider area of Southeast Asia. There are two main sectors providing the lions share of revenue in the Thai economy. Firstly, agriculture has always been important to Thailand. While the crops are obviously not grown in Bangkok, it is where they are mostly traded locally and internationally. The agriculture sector is still expanding with the use of modern farming techniques and technolgy, and successful trials of new crops. In the mid-1980s, agriculture accounted for about 25 percent of GDP, and agricultural commodities accounted annually for over 60 percent of the value of all exports. Secondly, Tourism has become a major source of revenue. Numbers have been increasing over the years and this trend looks set to continue for the forseeable future.
Bangkok Population
During 1782 – 1900, when Bangkok was initially being established, it grew rather slowly. By 1900 the population was around 600,000 and the city covered about 18 square kilometers. After the Second World War, the city saw rapid growth both in population and size . The population in Bangkok rose from 1.6 million in 1958 to 5.4 million in 1986 and 5.6 million in 1999. Now the resident population of Bangkok is close to 7 million, with an additional 3 million commuters joining the throng on weekdays. Most residents in Bangkok are native Thais, but around 25% of the city’s inhabitants are Chinese or of Chinese descents as well as small but not insignificant populations of Indians, Arabs, Malays and Europeans.
Most visitors find Thai people to be very welcoming and friendly, and it’s monicker as the “Land of Smiles” is not afforded without reason.
I would agree that Bangkok is a very safe city in some respects such as crime, but one should still be aware of their surroundings. When it comes to traffic though I would say Bangkok and or Thailand as a whole has a dismall rating when it comes to accidents.
I tell friends all the time that Thailand is a very safe place and I’ve never been worried about anything happening to me even when strolling around Bangkok late at night…but just the act of crossing the street can get you killed fast if you don’t pay attention. Even when you do pay attention you often find yourself dodging motcycle taxis on the sidewalk.