With an estimated population of over 10 million in a country of only 60 million, Thailand's capital is the urban and cultural heart of the land: where all trends originate, where all roads meet, an exaggeration of every aspect of life in the kingdom. Choked with traffic, polluted, and corrupt, the city is also the financial capital of one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Although it's a city on the rise, with new construction and growing suburbs, the city center still bears the stamp of the 1997 Asian financial crisis in the form of the many unfinished concrete office blocks (and the many defunct loans and insolvent banks that support them). But central Bangkok is all columns of glass and steel, hulking shopping complexes, and hotels. Now linked at the city center by the useful elevated rail line, the BTS skytrain, Bangkok promises a new subway system in 2004. The town is attracting many international firms, and commercial Bangkok is one to watch.
Founded when King Rama I moved the city across the river from Thonburi in 1782, Bangkok is not a particularly ancient capital, but a cool mix of modern and traditional. Stunning temples and mendicant monks share space with cellphone-wielding socialites and Starbucks; luxury condominiums stand stridently just a stone's throw from labyrinthine slums along dirty canals; glittering shopping malls and modern buildings rise in a city whose heart is still the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
What strikes many upon arrival in the Big Mango is the highly developed infrastructure, the fine public transport systems, and high-end shopping and accommodation (some of the best in Asia), the very things that Thailand wanted to present to the world in the recent APEC Summit in October 2003 (enormous banners were hung to cover-up some of the rougher riverside slum areas). Terrible traffic and pollution are the next most common impression. Many are disappointed that the city is less mysterious, less "Asian" than they might have expected. But there are still gems to find in and among the new construction and suburban sprawl, and exploring Bangkok is still a highlight of any trip to Thailand.
Bangkok has a concentration of luxury hotels unrivaled in the region and visitors can find anything from the most basic 123B ($3) cell to a ritzy high-rise suite. Whatever your budget, lodging is affordable and Bangkok is a good place to splurge for far more comforts than the same prices afford you back home. And food? They've got it all in the Thai capital: fine dining on par with any large city as well as great atmospheric local joints.
And it is safe. Visitors should take care to guard valuables from pickpockets as anywhere, but you are unlikely to come against the kind of anonymous crime so common in the West. You can wander in a day from busy, luxury shopping districts to quiet temple compounds, cacophonous markets to tiny alleyways. Get lost and explore. Even in a city choked by traffic, pollution and acres of concrete, you can find moments of serenity and are sure to experience a warm welcome from kind Thai folks.
Rivaled only by Chiang Mai in the north, Bangkok is a shopper's heaven with anything from name-brand luxury items (and, of course, knock offs) to fine local handicrafts, antiques, silk, and jewels. For nightlife, the proverbial "One Night in Bangkok" still delivers the same old kick.
