City of Angels not resting
Bangkok and from what I saw is a 24/7 city and is back in the news again for protests against the government and the upcoming elections. We were glad that the time we were in Bangkok there were no protests or other signs of unrest but there was lots and lots of traffic. This was not to say that there weren't any pedestrians or bicyclists on the streets but when there was it was a dicey way to get around.But remember they all love their King and the majority of the population has not seen any of the film versions nor have read the book "The King and I".
Here are some photos taken from our hotel window early in the morning.
But there is an upside to all of the protests albeit a minor one but one that has changed the life of some Bangkok residents - street closures. What is so great about street closures well for one it has allowed more bicycling around the city. While we were in Bangkok we spent a fair amount of time sitting in a taxi going nowhere really fast. To be fair we did not try the metro system but that was mostly due to the system not going where we wanted to go and our tour group insisting on using taxis.
In a city where more than half of the daily commuters rely on private transport to and from work, Bangkok traffic has become the lightest in years after the closure of seven main intersections. Since the closure of main intersections in the inner city, except at Government Complex on Chaeng Wattana Road, Bangkok residents have learned to look at their city with a new perspective. The capital... click for article
http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/391816/copenhagen-of-the-east
How did Bangkok get its name?
Though the correct name for this city is: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit and is listed as the world's longest location name by the Guinness Book of Records. Translated to English the name goes like this: "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".
Krung Thep is the abbreviated version of the ceremonial full name, which is shown below. กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลก ภพนพรัตน์ ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์ มหาสถาน อมรพิมาน อวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะ วิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์.
Bangkok (translating as 'village of wild plums') was the original site for the capital city and was located west of the Chao Phraya river (in modern day Thonburi). In 1782, King Rama I decided to move to a more defensible site and moved across the river to found his new capital, Krung Thep. For whatever reason, foreigners have never bothered to use the name change and the old name of Bangkok has stuck. In recent years, Krung Thep/Bangkok has expanded at such a fast rate that it now sprawls over a huge mass of land on both the sides of the Chao Phraya and has engulfed the once independent Thonburi. So given the length of it, it's not hard to see why it's shortened in everyday use. The full name itself is never actually used, though it can be seen on a few signs around Bangkok as part of a tourist campaign. Another version, Krung Thep Mahanakhon, is quite common in official documents, car number plates and the like. Despite the length of it, an impressive number of Thai people are still able to recite the entire name off by heart as our local guide did for us. They wouldn't necessarily understand what it means though, as many of the words are archaic and no longer used in modern Thai.
