Bangkok’s full ceremonial name, Krung Thep Mahanakhon, runs to 169 letters and is recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest place name in the world, though residents almost universally shorten it to Krung Thep, “City of Angels,” in daily use. The city itself was founded in 1782 as the new capital of Siam, deliberately built along a bend in the Chao Phraya River, chosen partly for its defensive advantages against naval attack.
Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, rises directly from the riverbank with a central spire encrusted in colourful porcelain fragments, originally imported as ballast in ships trading with China, a decorative technique born from practical recycling rather than planned extravagance. Nearby, Wat Phra Kaew houses the Emerald Buddha, actually carved from jade, one of the most sacred objects in Thai Buddhism, dressed in seasonal robes changed personally by the King three times a year.
A City That Runs on Its Waterways
Before roads dominated the city, Bangkok was known as the “Venice of the East,” its network of canals, khlongs, once served as the primary means of transport and trade throughout the city. Many canals were later filled in to build roads as Bangkok modernised, but floating markets along the remaining waterways, and the still-vital Chao Phraya Express Boat service, preserve a working link to that earlier, river-oriented version of the city.
Bangkok’s street food culture is so integral to daily life that in 2017, CNN Travel ranked it the best street food city in the world, a title the city has earned through sheer density and consistency of vendors rather than any single famous dish.
Painting Gold Against River Light
The gilded spires of Bangkok’s temples against the Chao Phraya’s reflected light give a watercolourist rich colour and texture to work with. We’ve captured that riverside glow in our own Bangkok Watercolor Print, painted first by hand and printed to order on archival paper, a small piece of Thailand for a wall at home.
Built around a river bend and still shaped by its waterways today, Bangkok remains a city where the water, even paved over, was never entirely forgotten.