National Capital Thailand
BANGKOK
Bangkok, city , capital, and chief port of Thailand . it is the only cosmopolitan city in a country of small town and villages and is thailand`s
cultural and commercial centre.
Bangkok is located on the delta of the Chao Phraya River, about 25 miles (40 km ) from the Gulf of Thailand .It was formerly divided
into two municipalities- Krung Thep on the east bank and thon Buri on the west – connected by several bridges .In 1971 the two were
united as a city – province with a single municipal government . In 1972 the city and the two surrounding province, called Krung
Maha Nakhon (Bangkok metropolis). The metropolis is a bustling , crowded city , with temples, factories, shops, and homes
juxtaposed along its roads and canals.it is also a major tourist destination , noted for bountiful cultural attractions and a nightlife that
includes a flourishing trade.
TRADITIONAL AREAS
the governmental and commercial districts of the city occupy traditional sites . Government offices were originally housed in the walled compound of the 18th -century
Grand palace , but by the late 19th century they occupied surrounding palaces and mansions . the bureaucracy then spread outward into neearby colnioal – style or
thai -style office buildings and home along ratchadamnoen road , Multistoried buildings have been erected to meet the ever – increasing demand for space, and the traitional
government compounds have become overbuilt. A number of the national assembly hall constitute the military area.
The population`s outstanding demographic charactersitic- its youth and the low proportionof non- this -are explainedby the high rate of natural increase and by the
restrictive foreign immigfration quotas adpoted after world war ll . Roughly two- fifths of the residents are under 20 years of age.
The bith rate has declined sine the introdution of a birth control pargrom . At the same time ,
the net in – mingration if young adulats , particularly females, has increeased greadtly , so that more than a quarter of the resident
population of the city is made up of migrannt Thais from all party of the country.
Most of the city`s population are ethnic thais . The chinese are by far the largest minority , but there are sizable communities of other
asians, North Americans, and Europeans . Despite their small size , the foreign communities tend to live in certain areas.
The chinese concentrate in the commercial area of sam peng , Indias gather arounkd mosques in the wang burapha section , and
the western and japanese communities reside in the affluent , modern eastern section of the city .
Transportation
bangkoks transportation system was originally based on water travel. the citys maze of canals connected with the river earned it the name “venice of the east .”
The advent of the autombile, however , brought drastic changes. The number of vehicles in the city (including three-wheeled taxis, private cars, and buses -colur-coded
according , and a shortage of road space developed. The pronlem was met first by filling in most of the smaller and a number of the larger cancals. This proved to be
more than an aesthetic loss , however , because the waterway sytem had served to drain the waterlogged delta ; flooding of the lower -lying parts of the city thus
become increasingly frequent. Furthermore, the measure did not solve the problem of lack of space. Traffic become so congested that movement was increasingly difficult .
To help ameliorate these problem, an authority was established in the 1970s to oversee bus transpotation in the city , and in 1999 the city opened skytrain, an elevated rail system.
Lines of communication radiate outward from the city. Roads run north to laos and Chiang Mai,east to kampuchea , and south to Malaysia. Railways run to the borders of laos annd malaysia ,
to chiang mai in the north, and to Ubon Ratchathani and the Kampuchean border in the east.Bangkok International Airport is one of the busiest in Southeast Asia.