50 Fun Facts About Bangkok

Roughly what share of Thailand's entire population lives in the Bangkok urban area?

Over 18 million people live in the urban area and 9.1 million in the city proper, making Bangkok an extreme primate city that dwarfs every other Thai town.

Bangkok's full ceremonial name, the longest place name per Guinness, has how many letters?

Many Thais can recite it thanks to a 1989 song by rock band Asanee–Wasan whose lyrics consist entirely of the name repeated.

The short Thai name Krung Thep is usually translated into English as what?

That is why the city is sometimes compared with Los Angeles; another nickname, the Big Mango, is a nod to New York's Big Apple.

Bangkok stands in the delta of which river?

The river empties into the Gulf of Thailand about 25 km south of the centre, its course through the city altered by shortcut canals.

Because most people once lived on or beside its canals, 19th-century Bangkok earned which nickname?

The canals, or khlongs, were the main transport network until roads arrived; many are now filled in but the Saen Saep boats still carry 28,000 people a day.

Which king founded the Rattanakosin Kingdom in 1782 by moving the capital across the river?

The City Pillar erected on 21 April 1782 marks the official founding; his predecessor Taksin had ruled from across the water.

After Ayutthaya fell in 1767, King Taksin set up his capital at which west-bank town?

Thonburi and Phra Nakhon provinces were merged in 1971 to create the modern Bangkok Metropolitan Administration the following year.

Which foreign power was expelled from Siam after a siege at Bangkok in 1688?

The town was then a customs outpost with forts on both banks near the river mouth.

Siam abolished absolute monarchy and adopted constitutional rule in which year?

Bangkok became the stage for power struggles between the military and political elite that continue in periodic coups and street protests.

Which two kings, Rama IV and Rama V, oversaw the arrival of railways and modern utilities in 19th-century Bangkok?

Chulalongkorn also moved the royal household to the new Dusit Palace, and his brother Prince Naris painted the design behind the city seal.

Bangkok's city seal shows which Hindu god riding the divine white elephant Erawan?

He holds his vajra thunderbolt; the city's tree is Ficus benjamina and its aquatic animal is the giant barb.

Bangkok is divided into how many districts, or khet?

Most lie east of the river; the city's governor is directly elected, unlike in other provinces.

Sappaya-Sapasathan in Bangkok is described as the world's largest what?

Government House and the Supreme, Administrative and Constitutional Courts are all in the city too.

The king, his court and the royal government were based inside the Grand Palace until which year?

More than eight million people visit each year; the palace still hosts state ceremonies, though the king actually lives at Dusit Palace.

The Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace's temple is actually carved from which material?

The 66-centimetre image is Thailand's sacred palladium and is dressed by the king in gold robes that change with the seasons.

Before reaching Bangkok, the Emerald Buddha spent 214 years in which city, capital of Laos?

King Setthathirath took it there in 1564; legend says it first surfaced in Chiang Rai in 1434 when lightning split a stucco-covered chedi.

How many sets of gold seasonal robes adorn the Emerald Buddha in rotation?

The founding king made the summer and rainy-season sets and Rama III the cool-season one; the king presides over the changing ceremonies.

Wat Arun, on the west bank, takes its name from a Hindu deity associated with what?

Aruna is charioteer of the sun god Surya; King Taksin is said to have vowed to restore the temple after passing it at dawn.

Wat Arun's distinctive central prang was raised during the reigns of which kings?

Rama II planned to lift the pagoda to 70 metres; the temple was once called Wat Makok, after an olive-like fruit that may also lie behind the name Bangkok.

Wat Pho, south of the Grand Palace, is famous for a reclining Buddha roughly how long?

It is one of the largest single Buddha images anywhere and the temple holds Thailand's biggest collection of Buddha figures.

Wat Pho is regarded as the birthplace of which practice, still taught there today?

The temple is considered Thailand's first university and houses a school of Thai medicine.

Chatuchak Weekend Market, Thailand's largest, has roughly how many stalls?

Nicknamed JJ Market, it draws more than 200,000 visitors every weekend across 27 sections selling everything from pets to antiques.

Khaosan Road, the famous backpacker street, has a name that translates as what?

The 410-metre street was built in 1892 under Rama V and was once a rice market; writer Susan Orlean called it 'the place to disappear'.

Which airport replaced Don Mueang as Bangkok's main international gateway when it opened in 2006?

Its 563,000-square-metre terminal was the largest ever built in one phase, and Don Mueang reopened for low-cost carriers in 2012.

Bangkok's first rapid transit system, the elevated BTS, began running in which year?

Trams had served the city from 1888 to 1968; the BTS now has the Sukhumvit, Silom and Gold lines and is nicknamed the Skytrain.

What is Bangkok's motorised auto-rickshaw taxi popularly called?

Nearly 9,000 were registered in 2012; their fares are negotiated, whereas car taxis have needed meters since 1992.

Bangkok's motorcycle-taxi drivers are recognisable by what, required since 2003?

The vest shows the district where they are registered and allowed to pick up passengers.

Which district is Bangkok's Chinatown, famed for its street food?

Chinese New Year and the autumn Vegetarian Festival are celebrated most fervently there.

Vimanmek Mansion in Dusit Palace is famous as the world's largest building made of what?

The Jim Thompson House across town is another showcase of traditional Thai architecture.

Bangkok's only hill, Phu Khao Thong, began as a giant chedi at which temple?

Rama III built it; the Golden Mount Fair accompanies the Loi Krathong festival there each November.

The Songkran festival, celebrated across Bangkok with citywide water fights, falls on which dates?

It marks the traditional Thai New Year; Loi Krathong, usually in November, is the other great festival.

Which two Bangkok stadiums are the main venues for Muay Thai kickboxing?

Football and Muay Thai dominate the spectator scene; Port, Bangkok United and Police Tero are among the local league clubs.

Which two areas of Pathum Wan district hold some of Southeast Asia's largest shopping malls?

Siam Station there was long the only interchange between the city's two elevated train lines.

Bangkok's average elevation above sea level is roughly what?

The city sits on a 15-metre layer of soft 'Bangkok clay', and groundwater pumping caused subsidence of 120 mm a year by 1981.

Which two shrines in the city are cited as showing Hinduism's deep influence on Thai culture?

The Erawan Shrine sits at the Ratchaprasong intersection amid the malls; the Giant Swing stands before Wat Suthat.

What is one of Bangkok's largest central parks, beside the Silom–Sathon business district?

Suanluang Rama IX in the east covers 80 hectares, and the Chatuchak park complex in the north 92 hectares.

Bangkok's five oldest universities are Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Kasetsart, Mahidol and which other?

One Bangkok technology university was the only Thai institution in the world top 400 in 2012–13.

How many years of lobbying preceded the 2008 opening of the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre?

The city also hosts two annual film festivals and all of Thailand's major film studios.

The two national English-language daily newspapers are The Nation and which other?

Bangkok has also dominated Thailand's film industry since its beginnings.

In 2023, how many stops did Bangkok's river express-boat service serve?

It carried nearly 20,000 passengers a day in 2023, while the Khlong Saen Saep boats served 27 stops.

Which two MRT monorail lines opened in Bangkok in 2023 and 2024?

The Blue and Purple lines are the MRT's underground metro; the SRT Airport Rail Link opened in 2010.

Bangkok's population surged from 1.8 million to how many million during the 1960s?

US aid, wartime R&R visits and rural migration drove the boom, and Japanese investment took over after 1973.

The origin of the name Bangkok is unclear; one theory derives it from 'Bang Makok', makok being what?

Another theory reads it as Bang Ko, 'village on an island'; the historic Wat Arun was once called Wat Makok.

Bangkok's first Thai International Gay Pride Festival was held in which year?

It took place on 31 October, the same year the Skytrain opened.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in its current form dates from which year?

It followed the merger of two provinces the year before; King Chulalongkorn had first formalised city administration in 1906.

Unplanned growth left Bangkok notorious for what problem that fouled its air in the 1990s?

By 2024 the city had built ten urban rail lines to relieve it, yet jams remained chronic.

The Grand Palace's founding date, 6 May 1782, marks the order of which dynasty's founder?

The court moved out in the early 20th century; today the palace hosts state ceremonies rather than the royal household.

Who won Bangkok's first gubernatorial election in nine years, held on 22 May 2022?

Bangkok's governor is directly elected to a four-year term, unlike Thailand's other 76 provinces; the vote had lapsed after the 2014 coup.

Which 20 sq km conservation area on an oxbow of the Chao Phraya is known as Bangkok's 'green lung'?

It sits across the river from the southern districts, technically in Samut Prakan province.

Bangkok hosted the inaugural edition of which multi-sport event in 1959?

The city later staged the 2007 Summer Universiade and the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup; Hua Mak was built for the 1998 Asian Games.