Thai fact

"Metropolitan Bangkok is an enormous sprawling city of approximately 10 million people that has expanded rapidly over the past forty years. All other Thai cities are minnows in comparison. It accounts for more than half of the national total of telephones and cars - and this is why the city's traffic jams are so notorious.

Bangkok is the original name for the area, and means 'The Village of Wild Plums.' When it became the capital it was given a new name, Krung Thep. This is a shortened version of the official title for the city which is:

The City Of Celestial Beings, the Great City, the Residence of the Emerald Buddha, the Impregnable City of Indra, The Grand Capital of the World Endowed with Nine Precious Gems, the Happy City Abounding in Enormous Royal Palaces that Resemble the Heavenly Abode where the Reincarnated Gods Reside, a City Given by Indra and Built by Vishnukarm."

Wowza.