Krung Tep and Bangkok…Same Same.

Something that took me an embarrassingly long time to learn is that Bangkok is not called Bangkok in Thai: it’s actually “Krung Tep Maka Nakhon” or just “Krung Tep.” It means city of angels despite the brunt of many jokes “Bangkok” has born over the years. In fact, this is the abbreviated version of a much longer name which holds the Guinness Book of World Records for longest name of a place. This is a recent video released by the Peace Corps which is too fitting to this post:

 

A peer of mine showed the video to a Thai friend who commented that this man in one of ten people who knows the full name: making the point that it is not common to use the full name, only for ceremonial purposes. King Rama I established the new capitial in 1782, and anointed the city with this name which roughtly translates to this:

“The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital 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 reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”

Clearly the king was fond of his new capital, although apparently foreigners have never caught on to the new name.