History of Bangkok
Encyclopedia
Before the 1780s the vicinity of Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
consisted of small principalities which existed without official status. Bangkok began as a small trading community on the west bank of the Chao Phraya
Chao Phraya River
The Chao Phraya is a major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It runs through Bangkok, the capital city, and then empties into the Gulf of Thailand.-Etymology:...
River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
,1350 to 1767. It is believed that the town's name derived from either Bang Makok, bang being the Central Thai name for towns or villages situated on the bank of a river, and makok being the Thai name of either Spondias
Spondias
Spondias is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. The genus consists of 17 described species, 7 of which are native to the Neotropics and about 10 are native to tropical Asia...
pinnata (L.f.) Kurz or Elaeocarpus
Elaeocarpus
Elaeocarpus is a genus of tropical and subtropical evergreen trees and shrubs. The approximately 350 species are distributed from Madagascar in the west through India, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, southern China, and Japan, through Australia to New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii in the east. The islands of...
hygrophilus Kurz (both plants producing olive-like fruits), or Bang Koh, koh meaning "island," a reference to the area's landscape which was carved by rivers and canals. The Globe, an East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
merchantman bearing a letter from King James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, arrived in "the Road
Roadstead
A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...
of Syam" on August 15, 1612. Adam Denton's account mentions that he and his companions journeyed "up the river some twenty miles to a town called Bancope, where we were well received, and further 100 miles to the city...."
After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese Kingdom in 1767, the newly declared King Taksin
Taksin
Taksin ; was the only King of the Thonburi Kingdom...
established a new capital in the area of then-Bangkok, which became known as Thonburi
Thonburi
Thon Buri is an area of modern Bangkok. It was capital of Thailand from 1767 to 1782, during the reign of King Taksin, after the previous capital Ayutthaya was sacked by the Burmese. It is located on the opposite bank of Chao Phraya River to Bangkok...
. When Taksin's reign ended in 1782, King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke
Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chakri Borommanat Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke , posthumously titled "the Great", or Rama I , was the founder and the first monarch of the reigning House of Chakri of Siam . He ascended the throne in 1782, after defeating a rebellion which had deposed King...
reconstructed the capital on the east bank of the river and gave the city a ceremonial name which became shortened to its current official name, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (which means "city of angels").
On April 21, 1782 Bangkok became the capital of Thailand and the seat of the Thai government.
Since the 1780s then much of Bangkok's history has been dominated by the constant renovation of the old temples, palaces, and monuments in the city, as in Thailand it is the divine responsibility of the king to maintain the Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
religion.
The early to middle nineteenth century saw a gradual increase of foreigners into Bangkok, missionaries and traders who came from many Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. By 1860 many traders had formed economic alliances and treaties with Bangkok.
King Mongkut (1851-1868), and later on his son King Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
(1868-1910) brought about much development and modernization in Bangkok and Thailand. The city's first paved street was completed under Mongkut's rule and in 1863, his son proceeded to construct new city roads, developing a railway line connect to the north of Bangkok as well creating a tramway.
20th century
By 1900, rural market zones in Bangkok began developing into residential districts. The Memorial BridgeMemorial Bridge, Bangkok
The Memorial Bridge is a bridge over the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, in Thailand, connecting the districts Phra Nakhon and Thonburi.The bridge was opened on 6 April 1932, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Chakri Dynasty...
was constructed in 1932 to connect Thonburi to Bangkok which was believed to promote economic growth and modernization
Modernization
In the social sciences, modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by...
in a period when infrastructure was developing considerably. During the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
period of the 1960s increased FDI
FDI
-Medical:* FDI World Dental Federation, Fédération dentaire internationale. The World Dental Federation also have an , also known as the FDI.* first dorsal interosseous, one of the four dorsal interossei muscles of the hand -Finance:* FDi magazine, a UK-based publication that covers foreign direct...
investment flowed into Thailand, improving the Don Mueang airport and its highways.
Since the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
modernization and population pressure with now over 8 million people in Bangkok, traffic congestion and pollution has become a significant problem in Bangkok.