Bangkok: City with a Really Long Name

Today in our Thai language class at a local university, we learned that the name for Bangkok is not, in fact, Bangkok. The Name is actually Krung Thep, meaning City of Angels. Oh wait. Actually, it’s not.

Turns out that the official city name is longer: Krung Thep Maha Nakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udom Ratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Phiman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanu Kamprasit (or, in Thai, กรุ�?�?�?�?มหา�?�?ร อมรรั�?�?�?กสิ�?�?ร�? มหิ�?�?รายุ�?ยามหา�?ิลก ภ�?�?�?รั�?�?�? รา�?�?า�?ี�?ุรีรมย�? อุ�?มรา�?�?ิ�?วศ�?�? มหาส�?า�? อมร�?ิมา�? อว�?ารส�?ิ�? สักกะ�?ั�?�?ิยะ วิษ�?ุกรรม�?ระสิ�?�?ิ�?).

Yeah…that’s the name. No kidding. To top it off, every syllable has a tone. We’re still struggling to say the full name of the city, which we think means “City of Angels who like really, really long city names so that they can hold a world record and throw a bone to every poor sap who happens to be learning the national language and also paying by the hour to do so”.

For now, we’ll be pronouncing the name as Bangkok.

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