The Bangkok Story, an Historical Guide to the Most Exciting City in the World

By Jonathan Copeland

The Bangkok Story traces the history of Bangkok up to the present day, and describes and places the main buildings in the city in context, to explain to the visitor their meaning and relevance, something that the usual guide books do not cover. There are a lot of places and museums not mentioned in other books. There are directions on how to find them and their opening hours. The book is illustrated with over 400 colour photographs.

"Jonathan Copeland lifts the lid on the planet's most captivating metropolis - every page offers the reader a highly delicious serving that will keep you coming back for more and more!"

Vinder Balbir, owner of Mrs Balbir's Indian Restaurant, Bangkok

"The Bangkok Story tells the story of the most interesting city in the World – brought to life by more than four hundred glorious photographs."

Marc Pettibone, long-time resident of Thailand

"My favourite book about my favourite city"

Stephanie Brookes, Travel Writer

"When I step out the door, The Bangkok Story is my constant companion."

Gavin Gough, freelance travel photographer based in Bangkok

"The Bangkok Story - like the great city itself - is irresistible."

Dr Rob Goodfellow,
author, journalist, researcher and academic

• Language: English
• Publisher: Murni
• Release date: Aug 31, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301893096

Jonathan Copeland

Education Jonathan Copeland was born and went to school in Belfast, Northern Ireland before going to London to study law at University College London. Work He practised law in two major commercial law firms in the City of London for 25 years, first at Linklaters, the largest solicitors' firm in the UK at the time, and then Stephenson Harwood, where he was a Partner. Throughout that time he travelled to Southeast Asia on a yearly basis and developed a passion for Indonesian culture and a strong, not yet fulfilled, desire to understand it. Now Jonathan is now a freelance photographer and writer specialising in travel. He lives mostly in Bali, Thailand and England and travels extensively. Books After retiring from the law he researched and photographed all aspects of Balinese culture. The fruits of that research appear in the best selling book Secrets of Bali, Fresh Light on the Morning of the World by Jonathan Copeland and Ni Wayan Murni, published by Orchid Press in 2010, and in its second print run. It is also an ebook. Secrets of Bali, Fresh Light on the Morning of the World is available in the Ebook Store: https://murnis.com/ebookstore/. Jonathan stays in Rye, East Sussex every year and in 2012 published the ebook: Walking Tour of Rye, the most beautiful town in England. It puts Rye into its historical context and tells stories of pirates and smugglers and a few murders. There are numerous photographs. It is available in the Ebook Store: https://murnis.com/ebookstore/. Following her exhibitions in 2007 and 2009 at the prestigious shows, Arts of Pacific Asia and Tribal Arts & Textiles, in San Francisco and a lecture on Balinese textiles to the Textile Arts Council at the de Young Museum. Ni Wayan Murni and Jonathan Copeland wrote From Tattoos to Textiles, Murni's Guide to Asian Textiles, All You Need to Know…And More. It is available in the Ebook Store: https://murnis.com/ebookstore/. Having spent a considerable time in Bangkok this was followed by The Bangkok Story, an historical guide to the most exciting city in the World. It contains numerous photographs and examines the main and some unusual locations and places them into Thai history. Each chapter deals with a different reign and examines the main events and buildings erected during that reign. It is available in the Ebook Store: https://murnis.com/ebookstore/. To celebrate the 40th anniv...

Book preview

What they said about The Bangkok Story, an historical guide to the most exciting city in the World

Jonathan Copeland lifts the lid on the planet’s most captivating metropolis – every page offers the reader a highly delicious serving that will keep you coming back for more and more!

Vinder Balbir, owner of Mrs Balbir’s Indian Restaurant, Bangkok

"The Bangkok Story tells the story of the most interesting city in the World – brought to life by more than four hundred glorious photographs."

Marc Pettibone, long-time resident of Thailand

My favourite book about my favourite city

Stephanie Brookes, Travel Writer

"When I step out the door, The Bangkok Story is my constant companion."

Gavin Gough, freelance travel photographer based in Bangkok

"The Bangkok Story – like the great city itself – is irresistible."

Dr Rob Goodfellow, author, journalist, researcher and academic

Prologue

I’ve spent over thirty-five years visting Bangkok and spending extended periods of time there. Recently I have spent even longer. It always struck me as strange that there were books on history and places to go but no books that placed the buildings in historical context so as to give them meaning and relevance. There might be a brief mention of Rama III or Rama IV, but I suspect that to most visitors, and certainly to me, whether it was Rama III or Rama IV would have no significance whatsoever and half the interest went out the window. So I gave myself the task of trying to remedy the situation and it was a revelation, and a very interesting revelation.

As I sit here in 2013, pecking away at the keyboard, Bangkok has been voted the World’s best city for four consecutive years in a survey carried out by Travel+Leisure magazine. The scoring is based on the following main criteria: tourist attractions, culture and tradition, food and shopping facilities, friendliness of the people, value and satisfaction. And according to the Global Destination Cities Index Forecast 2013, Bangkok is set to become the most visited international city on the planet, expecting 15.98 million international visitors in 2013, and overtaking London, which took the top spot in 2012. And to complete the hat trick, a third accolade has awarded Bangkok the World Book Capital for 2013, which has encouraged the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to rent an historic building in Ratchadamnoen Klang to create a new City Library, which will be open twenty-four hours a day.

It is hard to believe that Bangkok, the most exciting and most visited city in the World, is only slightly over 200 years old – London and Paris are almost 2,000 years old. That made my task of putting buildings in an historical context slightly less daunting, but still a challenge.

Rama I – now I’ve started mentioning a person, without even a proper introduction – you’ll just have to get into the book to find out who he was – named the city Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit. The Guinness World of Records says that it is the longest name of any capital city in the World with forty-three syllables and means The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam.

That says it all. The older name is less of a mouthful: Bangkok. It comes from two words: bang which is Thai for a village on a river bank and kok, which is a shortened version of makok, the name for a species of wild olive.

Bangkok is also the World’s hottest city, not just from the continual partying, and there’s a lot of that, but according to the World Meteorological Organisation. There are three seasons: hot, hot and damn hot. The damn hot temperature often rises to above 40c during the day and night-time temperatures are not much lower, especially around Songkran in April, the Thai New Year.

The city may be hot, or cool, depending on your temperament, but what makes it one of the most loved cities in the World is its people. They are kind, helpful and tolerant, and in my case extremely tolerant. The tolerance may come from Buddhism, their religion, but wherever it comes from, I’m very grateful and thank them for allowing me to visit so many fascinating places and photograph so freely.

The photographs are available in higher resolution and for download on my photography web site: www.jonathaninbali.com.

Bangkok is a big place and I’ve had to be selective. I know there are gaps waiting to be filled. I hope that I’ve been able to make the places that you already know and love more interesting and provided an incentive to visit those that you don’t know. My thanks go especially to Achan Bob McCarthy, a long time resident of Thailand, for his patience in answering my many questions about Bangkok. He has been an invaluable source, but clearly any mistakes are my own. I plan to update the book from time to time and would welcome any corrections and suggestions.

Jonathan Copeland

Bangkok

[e-mail]

Chapter 1

Ayutthaya (1350-1767)

Bangkok was founded in 1782. The former Thai capital for 417 years was Ayutthaya, founded in 1350, about an hour up the Chao Phraya River, until the Burmese totally destroyed it in April 1767 in the most destructive of numerous attacks. The king was killed, many were taken captive and the population was scattered.

Image No. 1

Ayutthaya.

It was a shattering blow, and the Thais are still emotional about it. It was a lovely, flourishing city conducting two-way trade with China and India. The directors of the East India Company compared it to London. When the Portuguese, the first Westerners, arrived in 1511, following their takeover of Malacca in the Malay Peninsula, there were a million people living in Ayutthaya. After the Burmese attack, there were barely 10,000.

Image No. 2

Aisawan Thiphya pavilion with four porches and a spired roof in the middle of the lake at the Bang Pa-In Palace, Ayutthaya.

King Prasat Thong built Bang Pa-In Palace, also known as the Summer Palace, in 1632. It was abandoned when the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya in 1767.

Image No. 3

Chulalongkorn developed Bang Pa-In with European-style buildings.

In the 1850s Mongkut restored part of the site. What you see today is the work of Chulalongkorn, who developed the grounds with European-style buildings in 1872-1889. Aisawan Thiphya is the only Thai-style building in the place.

Image No. 4

Sages’ Lookout (Ho Withun Thasana): painted lighthouse-style lookout tower for viewing the countryside at Bang Pa-In.

Chapter 2

Thonburi (1767-1782)

Taksin founded a new capital in Thonburi on the west side of the Chao Phraya River and was crowned king. Attracted to the temple of Wat Arun he built his palace next to it in 1767. He was called Taksin because his name was Sin and he was the governor of Tak province.

Wat Arun

Image No. 5

Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn.

Wat Arun, the Temple of the Dawn, is the highest religious structure in Bangkok. It has become a symbol of the city and occupies a commanding position on the river on the Thonburi side. Old French maps printed in the reign of King Narai (1656-1688) show the existence of Wat Arun.

It was originally called Wat Makok and it is said that it looked so beautiful in the morning light that after the fall of Ayutthaya Taksin decided to establish his capital there. He renamed the temple Wat Chaeng and housed the Emerald Buddha inside and determined to restore the temple.

Rama I renovated the temple and moved his capital across the river and in 1785 brought the Emerald Buddha from Wat Arun to Wat Phra Kaeo inside the Grand Palace. Rama II built the tall Khmer-style spires, prang, and his son Rama III completed the work. Rama IV (Mongkut) carried out further renovations and named it Wat Arun Ratchawararam. The temple is called the Temple of the Dawn because the first rays of the sun hit at dawn.

The structure shows cultural fusion: Khmer, Indian and Chinese. The main central prang is Khmer and symbolises Mount Meru, the cosmic mountain where the gods reside – it is 81 metres (266 feet) high and has three terraces with four steep staircases, one on each side. The prang is decorated with seashells and millions of pieces of broken Chinese porcelain, donated by local people, which glitter in the light, and make it so distinctive. Over the second terrace are four statues of the Hindu god Indra riding Erawan, the three-headed elephant. There are a number of Chinese stone guards at the entrance to the terrace.

There are smaller prang at the corners dedicated to Phra Phai, the wind god. The towers are supported by rows of monkeys and demons taken from the Indian Ramayana epic.

The main Buddha image was cast in the reign of Rama II. Rama II’s ashes are interred in the base. His statue is outside.

Each year, in October or November, the king (or a member of the royal family representing him) travels down the river to Wat Arun in a procession of royal barges to give new robes to the monks after the three-month Lent period. It is the royal Kathin festival.

Wat Arun is featured on the ten baht coin.

How to get there

Go to Saphan Taksin station on the Skytrain, walk to Sathorn pier, take the boat to Tha Tien pier, No 8, and then transfer to the cross-river ferry.

Taksin recovered all the territories the Burmese had taken and added the kingdom of Lanna, driving the Burmese from Chiang Mai, in the north. He extended the kingdom into Cambodia and Laos.

Image No. 6

Taksin encouraged Chinese immigrants from southern China. They brought their gods with them.

Taksin welcomed Chinese immigrants from southern China. They were a cheap source of labour and he was partly Teochew himself. His father was Chinese and his mother Siamese. In 1769 he sent an army into Cambodia and annexed Battambang and Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is.

Image No. 7

The Chinese immigrants brought not only their gods, but also business acumen.

By 1779 Taksin was devoting himself mainly to religious matters, praying, fasting, and meditating.

Image No. 8

The Chinese immigrants brought not only their gods and business acumen, but also their food.

General Sanka led a bloodless revolution in 1781. The rebels seized Taksin and invited his favourite general Chao Phraya Chakri to become king, which he did on 6 April 1782. He is now known as Rama I, the first of the Chakri dynasty.

Image No. 9

The Chinese immigrants brought not only their gods, business acumen, and food, but also their celebrations.

Taksin was imprisoned and put to death in the royal manner, so that no blood was spilt: nicely tied up in a velvet sack and struck on the neck with a sandalwood club. Rama I approved a royal cremation for him in 1784.

Chapter 3

Rama I (1782-1809)

Rama I, a successful general, whose mother was the beautiful daughter of a rich Chinese family in Ayutthaya, was 32 years old when he became king and was destined to rule for twenty-seven years, the first of the Chakri dynasty, which still rules today. There was a provisional coronation and a barge procession on the Chao Phraya River on 10 June 1782.

Image No. 10

Chao Phraya River.

Rama I moved the capital from Thonburi on the west bank, where it had been for fifteen years after the fall of Ayutthaya, across the river to an old Chinese trading settlement, which was less vulnerable to attack. He did his best to reproduce the glory that was Ayutthaya, the ‘Venice of the East’, which had so enthused Western visitors in the past. Moving the capital gave the impression, which would have suited him, that the Thonburi period was an unimportant interlude between Ayutthaya and Bangkok. Looking back to Ayutthaya may have been an attempt to enhance his position.

Image No. 11

Sampeng is one of the oldest Chinatowns in the World.

Rama I began by asking the Chinese – there were about 5,000 of them – to move a mile down river to Sampeng and it became and still is Chinatown, one of the oldest in the World.

Image No. 12

Leng Buai Ia Shrine, Chinatown, the oldest Chinese shrine in Thailand.

There were already Chinese living there. The Teochew Leng Buai Ia Shrine, located in a courtyard amongst a network of narrow alleys off Yaowarat Road, is the oldest Chinese shrine in Thailand. A plaque contains a Chinese inscription stating that it was built in 1658.

Constructed in a classic Chinese architectural style the shrine has a roof made of glazed coloured tiles, adorned with two ceramic dragons. The two main entrance columns at the shrine are also entwined by ceramic dragons. The shrine contains an altar dedicated to Leng Buai Ia and his wife.

The first thing Rama I had to do was erect the foundation pillar, the City Pillar, which nearly every town in Siam had.

Lak Muang – the City Pillar

Image No. 13

City Pillar.

Rama I erected the Lak Muang or City Pillar, a 15-foot tall laburnum log, on Sunday 21 April 1782 at 6.45 am, just days after becoming king. It was an auspicious time for an auspicious event: the first building in the new capital.

Image No. 14

Classical Thai dancers perform for the city spirit daily.

The wooden, lacquered, gilded pillar houses the city’s spirit deity, which brings good luck and fertility, and the city’s horoscope is inside. The concept originates from India and stone versions can be found in Cambodia.

Image No. 15

City Pillar.

The old City Pillar was replaced by a new one in the reign of Mongkut. The shrine was restored in 1986. Road distances are measured from the City Pillar.

Image No. 16

Prayers are always accompanied by incense.

Every day crowds of people come, give offerings of flowers, fruit and incense and pray before it. They ask for favours, to get pregnant, to win the lottery or success in a business deal. The best time for favours is before 11 am as the city spirit goes to heaven at 11 am for the rest of the day.

Image No. 17

There are a number of shrines within the City Pillar complex.

Classical Thai dancers perform for the city spirit between 10 am and 11 am and continue to entertain the public until 3.30 pm (4 pm on Sundays), daily.

How to get there

Go to Saphan Taksin station on the Skytrain, walk to Sathorn pier, take the boat to Tha Chang pier, No 9, walk up Na Phralan ahead of you along the white wall of the Grand Palace on your right and Sanam Luang on your left and the City Pillar is ahead of you across the street.

Rama I then got 10,000 Cambodian and 5,000 Laotian prisoners of war to build the Grand Palace on the island known as Rattanakosin, which is about one square mile. It is self-sufficient. Not only was the layout similar to Ayutthaya, but bricks and rubble were brought down the river from the ruins of Ayutthaya and used for building materials in the construction of palace buildings, temples and monasteries.

The Grand Palace

Image No. 18

The Grand Palace.

The king’s palace, comprised of glittering spires, brightly coloured tiled roofs and extraordinary statues, is an unforgettable sight, seen at its majestic best from the river. It took three years to build, the king himself living on site in a small wooden house, supervising the workforce. There were three days of celebrations when it was finished in 1785.

Image No. 19

Grand Palace Guardian.

The plan of the Grand Palace is based loosely on a mandala, with the king residing in or near the centre, the place of Mount Meru, the sacred, cosmic, mountain home of the gods. Gates are at the four cardinal points, north, south, east and west.

Image No. 20

Grand Palace Fusion.

The colourful fusion of Thai, Khmer and Chinese styles of architecture and sculpture produces a heady, visual overload, which reinforces the monarch’s sacred, absolute nature.

Image No. 21

Grand Palace.

Mythical creatures abound. Singhas, guardian lions at the entrance of