Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Thonburi was capital of Thailand for only fifteen years, from 1767 until 1782, and
Taksin was its only king. When Rama
I
came to the throne he was very much aware that
the canal moat would not provide an effective barrier against a determined invasion by the
Burmese. The area contained within the waterways was also too small for what was now
a growing city. The king turned his thoughts to the land on the eastern bank of the river.
There were numerous settlements and temples but they were scattered amongst the farm-
lands, orchards and marshy countryside. Directly opposite Thonburi the riverbank was
occupied mainly by Chinese merchants and their godowns and the land was reasonably
clear and dry, for the French fortifications had been extensive, and Taksin had already dug
canals behind the merchant community for drainage and transportation. Enlarging these
canals would form a protective moat and create an island. Predatory Burmese in the west
would be kept at bay by the river, while to the east lay a broad expanse of impassable delta
land known as the Sea of Mud. Heavy fortifications could be built along the river to dis-
courage a sea-born invasion. Rama
I
could see that a city of similar grandeur to Ayutthaya
would be able to rise from such a secure setting. The Chinese merchants were offered an
area of land not far from their original settlement, and do not appear to have offered any
resistance to the move. With a new capital city to be constructed on their doorstep they
were probably delighted.
At the auspicious time and date of 6:45 a.m. on the 21
st
April 1782, the stakes were
driven into the soil of Bangkok for the City Pillar, marking the official founding of the new
city. Rama
I
gave his new capital a grand ceremonial name: Krung Thep Maha Nakhon
Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Buri-
rom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsa-
nukam Prasit. The longest place-name in the world, it translates as: “The City of Angels,
the Great City, the Eternal Jewel City, the Impregnable City of God Indra, the Grand Cap-
ital of the World Endowed with Nine Precious Gems, the Happy City, Abounding in an
Enormous Royal Palace that Resembles the Heavenly Abode where Reigns the Reincarn-
ated God, a City given by Indra and Built by Vishnukarma”.
Foreigners, perhaps unsurprisingly, continued to use the name they had always known
and which appeared on all their maps. Eventually Bangkok was registered as the official
English language name. Thais call their capital Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, or more usually
just Krung Thep, which translates loosely as “City of the Angels”.
