Bangkok

Bangkok (Thai กรุงเทพมหานคร กรุงเทพฯ or Krung Thep listen, see below) is the capital of Thailand. This is both a city and a province.

The city covers an area of ​​1.568,7 square kilometers in the delta of the Chao Phraya River in central Thailand and its population is more than 8,000,000, or 12.6% of the Thai population. More than 14 million people (22.2%) live in the metropolitan area of ​​the capital, which makes it a several times larger than any other urban centers megalopolis.

Bangkok roots back to a small trading post created during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the fifteenth century that gained prominence before becoming the site of a former capital (Thonburi in 1768) transferred to the other side of the river Bangkok whose official founding date is April 6 1782 Bangkok is located in the heart of the modernization of Siam in the nineteenth century, when the country was under pressure from European colonizing nations. The city was then the scene of political developments in Thailand in the twentieth century, with the abolition of absolute monarchy, the adoption of a constitution, and sometimes more violent upheavals. The city has experienced tremendous growth since the 1960s and now has a significant impact on the political, economic, cultural, education and the Thai media.

The Asian economic boom of the 1980s and 1990s has led many multinational companies setting up their regional headquarters in Bangkok. The city is an important pole business. It is also a platform for international transport and health, as in the arts, fashion, entertainment and tourism. Bangkok is one of the most visited cities in the world.

Bangkok (today's Thonburi district) was a village on the west bank of the Chao Phraya River. It was occupied by French troops on October 16 16875, King Narai of Ayutthaya theirs formally ceding treaty on 1 December. However, during his agony in June 1688, his successor Phetracha did lay siege to the city, eventually expel them in November (headquarters of Bangkok).

After the destruction by the Burmese capital of Ayutthaya in 1767, General Taksin became king, fell back downstream on this site and decided to found the new capital. Gone mad, he was murdered and replaced by General Chakri, who under the name of Rama I became the first king of the Chakri dynasty new, that still exists today. In 1782, he decided, for reasons of defense, move the capital on the left bank and began fortified constructions, now the Grand Palace. On April 6, 1782 is accepted as foundation date of ville6.

The name of Bangkok has not been used by the Thais since the founding of the capital. Some residents of the most remote provinces of the country have never even heard of that name. For unknown reasons, this change did he seems never been seen by foreigners, persistent, over 200 years later, to incorrectly think that the official name is Bangkok7.

The area of ​​this province is 1 568.7 km2, most of which is taken to be the city of Bangkok, making it one of the largest cities in the world. The area of ​​the city extends it to 7762 km2.

Bangkok is crossed by the Chao Phraya River, which determines two main areas, the right bank (the former Thonburi) more traditional remained, flown many khlongs connected to the river channel that had earned the city the nickname "Venice of Asia "and the left bank, more developped, where almost all the tourist attractions, the business center, the metro network and all modern towers.

Bangkok is located only 2 meters above sea level, causing flooding during the monsoon season. In addition, built on a former swamp, the city would sink 1 or 2 cm an8. The modernization of the city brings a concrete basement and the draining of khlongs. The water coming downstream by the Chao Phraya and other rivers, flows easily through the city, which can no longer absorb the flow of the river during periods of heavy monsoons without flooding.



The development of the town on the left bank was rather empirical and performed without planning program. Key paths were created in the old khlong concreting. The islands thus created were filled secondary pathways called soï. These are very often end in deadlock, some authors9 also argue that the traditional way of developing Bangkok is precisely in these erratic ramifications from principales10 arteries. Bangkok was probably one of the most polluted cities in the noisiest and most congested in the world because of this chaotic traffic. Urbanization by districts and the presence of the former parcel bounded by channels (Khlong) processed mostly in streets explains the difficulty of movement. Indeed, apart from the major boulevards circumscribing neighborhoods, inner streets (soi) do not communicate with each other and often end in deadlock, excluding the possibility of secondary alternative routes, which clogs up the more major routes.