"Amazing Thailand" a Bangkok Travel Page by honeyblue

Thailand, Prathet Thai ("Land of the Free")

Bangkok, also known as Krungthep (pronounced as grung-tayp ), meaning, City of Angels, was founded by King Rama II in 1872.

The full ceremonial name of Bangkok is:
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

This placed them in the Guinness book of records for the longest place name in the world.

Statistics :
Area : 514,000 sq kms
Population : about 60 million (where 6 milliion is from Bangkok alone)

Temperature :
Average temperature is 29 C,
ranging from 35 C in April
to 17 C in December

Geography :
Lies in the heart of Southeast Asia, roughly equidistant between India and China.

Neighbouring Countries:
1) Myanmar - west and north
2) Lao P.D.R. - north and northeast,
3) Cambodia - southeast
4) Malaysia - south.

People:
80% Thai
10% Chinese
3% Malay

Religion:
95% Buddhism
4% Muslim
1% Others

Government:
Democratic Constitutional Monarchy

Prime Minister:
Thaksin Shinawatra

Administration:
76 provinces, each subdivided into: amphoe (district),
tambon (sub-disrict) and
muban (village)

National Flag:
The red, white, and blue stripes symbolize the nation, Buddhism, and the monarchy, respectively.

Time:
GMT + 7 hours

Bangkok is a lot like the Philippines in more ways than one.
1. Of all the Asians, the Thais appear to be the Filipinos' closest look-alike in terms of skin color & facial features.
2. Hot weather (Bangkok is more humid)
3. Traffic and Pollution - traffic in Bangkok is due to voluminous number of vehicles on the road while traffic in PI is a combination of that and as well as some UNdisciplined drivers. In terms of commuters, Thais follow rules in terms of where to wait for the buses to stop. Same thing with their PUVs -they stop on designated unloading and loading areas only.
4. Tuktuk:Thailand as Pedicabs:Philippines
5. Streetlife - vendors found on the streets selling a variety of local or exotic foods.