'Bangkok': in brief-I

Raana Haider

"From the summit...may be obtained a fine view of the city of Bangkok and its surroundings; though this is hardly a correct statement, for you see very few of the dwelling-houses of the city; here and there a wat, the river with its shipping, the palace of the King, and a waving sea of cocoa-nut and betel-nut palms, is about all that distinctly appears. The general appearance of Bangkok is that of a large primitive village, situated in and mostly concealed by a virgin forest of almost impenetrable density."
   -Frank Vincent, American writer, "The Land of the White Elephant", 1890.
   Krung Thep is the Thai title of 'Great City of Angels' that the rest of the world knows as Bangkok. The country's capital's official and name in full translates into forty-three tongue-twisting syllables of which 'Great City of Angels' is only the first.. The other forty-two appellations include: 'Repository of Divine Gems, Great Land Unconquerable, Grand and Prominent Realm, Royal and Delightful Capital City Full of Nine Noble Gems, Highest Royal Dwelling and Grand Palace, Divine Shelter and Living Place of Reincarnated Spirits.'
   The etymology of 'Bangkok' rises from the founding by King Rama I, in the late eighteenth century of a new royal capital at a village on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River named Bang Makok (Place of Olive Plums). In time, verbal corruption of the place's name resulted in Bangkok. In those years of yore was a walled city encircling a complex of palaces and temples. A network of khlongs canals formed the main avenues and teak houses and shops on stilts formed structures of habitation and commerce. As riverine trade flourished, Bangkok attracted regional maritime trade and increasing migrants from China and India.
   Earlier royal capitals were Sukothai and Ayuthaya. The kingdom at Sukothai (Rising of Happiness) was founded in the thirteenth century. Known in Thai history as the period of the 'Golden Age', an inscription refers to the third Sukothai King Ramkhamhaeng in the following benevolent terms: 'This land of Sukothai is thriving. There is fish in the water and rice in the fields...The King has hung a bell in the opening of the gate over there; if any commoner has a grievance which sickens his belly and grips his heart, he goes and strikes the bell; King Ramkhamhaeng questions the man, examines the case and decides it justly for him.'
   The 'Golden Age' at Sukothai ebbed as time moved into the fourteenth century. The consolidation of power by the kings at Ayuthaya - 'Unassailable' in Sanskrit - led to a new royal capital. King U-Tonge established Ayuthaya in 1350. The city's long reign witnessed thirty-five rulers, five dynasties, four centuries and at its zenith - Ayuthaya bore every trapping of a capital city with a population to match - one million. In comparison, it is popularly remarked that London in its day was a simple village. In 1690, a Londoner Engelbert Campfer reached Ayuthaya. He has left us with the following proclamation: 'Among the Asian nations, the Kingdom of Siam is the greatest. The magnificence of the Ayuthaya Court is incomparable.' As early as 1511, a Portuguese embassy was present at Ayuthaya. The Dutch, the English, The Danes and the French followed in quick succession. A measure of its global stature, a Dutch cathedral symbolises the colonial emporium that stretched from India across to the Indonesian archipelago - commerce built on the harvesting of aromatic spices for European tables.
   It was only in 1949 that the historical name 'Siam' was changed to 'Thailand' - 'Land of the Free'; since it has never been colonised. A constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej reigns today as the longest serving royalty in the world. The King was born in 1927 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and interestingly is the world's only American-born monarch.
   Today, a regional hub, Bangkok offers its many visitors architectural splendour in the form of its numerous temples whose gilded and needle-spired chedi stupas reach for the sky and glimmer under the midday sun. These consummate works are seen best in the magnificent backdrop of orange hues of the setting sun; when the architectural silhouette of the Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) stands serene and majestic along the Chao Phraya River. 'Arun' is derived from 'Aruna' Sanksrit for 'dawn.'
   Sitting on the broad terrace - the 'Barbecue Terrace' - of the Oriental Hotel as the flaming orange sun took its time to set, I traced the shimmer of it's golden reflection on the city's lifeline, the Chao Phraya River - moments capturing serenity of the senses - a quintessential sublime experience for both hotel residents and visitors. We number in the latter category. This water-body known as Thailand's 'River of Kings' remains the energetic city's major thoroughfare - its 'River of Life.' Long and laden barges, some of them tied together are pulled by a motor-boat that finds no match for a power-driven tourist cruiser that splashes by. What appear to be softly-lit Thai temples afloat are boats belonging to the legendary Oriental Hotel that transport customers and visitors from the main pier at Tha Sathon to the destination hotel. The Chao Phraya River Express can transport you - bus-like along stops along the river. With only early morning and early evening runs, we had just missed the boat-ride. A timed water-excursion is slated for our next visit to Bangkok.
   Numerous travellers to the city have left us with their observation of the vital role of the Chao Phraya River to its residents and their lifestyle. It was in 1855 that the British envoy Sir John Bowring remarked: 'The highways of Bangkok are not streets or roads but the river and the canals. Boats are the universal means of conveyance and communication.' In the same vein of thought, Carl Bock in 1883 found that 'The river is by no means a silent highway.' Frank Vincent in his travels through Burma, Thailand and Cambodia in the late nineteenth century captured the sights, sounds and smells of the places he visited. His eye-witness account of Bangkok and its environment: "Bangkok has been aptly styled the 'Venice of the East', for its thoroughfares and highways of traffic are simply interesting canals and branches of the river; and the majority of the houses are either floating, built upon rafts, or upon piles on the side of these waterways." The 'River of Kings' has nurtured over six centuries, three capitals on its banks - Ayuthaya, Thonburi and Bangkok.
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