History of Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and is by far its largest city, with an estimated population of over 10 million people. In just over 200 years, the city has grown from a small collection of villages scattered among canals and rice paddies alongside the Chao Phraya River, to an enormous sprawl of a capital. Extending upward and outward to become Thailand’s dominant city, Bangkok mirrors the long, continuing reign of the Chakri dynasty that founded it.

Birth of Bangkok

The seeds of Bangkok as Thailand’s capital city were sown back in 1767, when invading Burmese armies razed the old capital of Ayutthaya, tearing down temples and taking most of the population that had survived, including the Royal family, as slaves. Out of this chaos, a Thai general named Phraya Thaksin founded a new capital at Thonburi on the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, opposite modern Bangkok, proclaiming himself king and immediately setting about recapturing much of the surrounding country.

Following his military takeover, Thaksin became more and more excessive in his behavior, and was finally ousted in a coup that transferred power to another general, Chao Phraya Chakri. Chakri kicked off the modern history of Bangkok by transferring the capital from Thonburi to the eastern bank of the river, founding Bangkok itself in 1782 on the fortified island of Ratanakosin. Another thing Chakri did was to give Bangkok a royal name, one that happened to include the title Krung Thep (City of Angels).

Expansion under the Chaki dynasty

Under Chakri and his successors, Bangkok continued to expand, particularly because of trade. New communities such as Yaowarat, which consisted of mainly Chinese traders, and Pahurat, the Indian quarter, were established, extending outward from Ratanakosin.

The third king in the Chakri dynasty, Phra Nang Klao, developed a new system of royal titles, naming himself Rama III and his predecessors Rama I and Rama II. Rama IV, also known as Mongkut, was a brilliant leader who skillfully negotiated treaties with foreign powers that prevented the colonisation of Thailand. Under his reign, Bangkok benefited from his trade policies with an expanded port and for the first time, paved streets.

Rama V (also known as Chulalongkorn or ‘The Great King’) took to the throne in 1868, and continued his father’s reforms, moving the Royal Palace to Dusit, and building Bangkok’s first railway system. With the turn of the 20th century, Bangkok began to grow even more, with former rural market areas turning into residential areas. In an effort to promote growth and development in Thonburi, Memorial Bridge was constructed in 1932 to connect it to Bangkok. Other efforts at modernisation included filling in canals to make more land area and roadways.
 

WWII to the Vietnam War

Thailand’s current king, Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), took to the throne in 1946, and the first few decades of his reign were marked by the rise of communism in Indochina, leading to growing American military aid and a continuing succession of military dictators. The Vietnam War brought about growth in Thailand with all the money that streamed in. WWII and Thailand’s ‘alliance’ with Japan caused problems, particularly toward the end of the war, with Bangkok being bombed by the Allies.

A modern city

Bangkok’s population and modernisation has grown dramatically since the 1960s, with some saying that the city has grown faster than is sustainable. Others feel that the loss of many cultural sections of Bangkok has been a high price to pay in the name of modernisation, especially since areas with markets and inhabitants have disappeared to make way for shopping centers. The 1997 Asian economic meltdown’s legacy is still apparent, with scores of unfinished condominiums and office towers that are dotted around the city.