Bangkok Introduction

Bangkok can soothe or ruffle, depending upon your circumstances.

If you're contemplating the sunrise at Wat Arun temple along the Chao Phraya River, you'll marvel at what peace can be found in the midst of such a chaotic metropolis.

But if you're stuck in a typically nasty traffic jam, you'll wonder if any magnificent sight or the warmth of Thai people could possibly be worth the frustration of trying to get from one place to the next.

Bangkok means City of Angels, but a less angelic city may be difficult to find. A collage of urban squalor, gleaming affluence, abject poverty, exotic consumerism and astounding pollution, it's a city that assaults the senses.

Krung Thep (City of Angels) is Thailand's capital and largest city. It's in the central part of the country, on the Chao Phraya River near the Gulf of Thailand (still often called the Gulf of Siam). Bangkok is Thailand's administrative, economic, and cultural center, and a major commercial and transportation center of Southeast Asia.

Greater metropolitan Bangkok extends for more than 32 kilometers (20 miles) in all directions. It includes much of five neighboring provinces (Nakhon Pathom, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, and Samut Songkhram) and covers an area of 7,758 square kilometers (2,995 square miles).

You need not travel far in Bangkok to find the trappings of modern civilization giving way to historical treasures.

The Grand Palace, a fantastic complex with gilded stupas (domelike shrines to Buddha), is a living monument where people go to pay homage to the Buddha and their king.

The National Museum houses Thai art and artifacts from Neolithic times forward.

Performances of traditional religious and court dances take place at the Thai Cultural Center, a polished modern venue.

The Erawan Shrine offers a glimpse of the old rituals manifested in daily life.