The Capital of Thailand Is...

Recently, I received a gift called "The Book of Ignorance" from my sister and brother-in-law, who thought it was hilarious to give this to a PhD. Ha Ha. It's actually a really fun read that is a rather humiliating book of re-education for people who think they know it all. It is amazing how much misinformation we've collected in our lives, like I always thought Henry VIII had six wives. Nope. I also thought that George Washington was the first president. Not.

An interesting question that is relevant to the China - Thailand controversy is "What is the name of the capital city of Thailand?" Well, if you are like me you'd think "Bangkok". WRONG. It's "Krung Thep" (pronounced Grung Tape). Only ignorant foreigners (like yours truly) call it Bangkok, which hasn't been used in Thailand for more than two hundred years. Bangkok was the name of a small fishing village that used to exist before King Rama I moved his capital there in 1782. He renamed it the (in English) "Great City of Angels, the supreme repository of divine jewels, the great land unconquerable, the grand and prominent realm, the royal and delightful capital city of nine noble gems, the highest royal dwelling and grand palace, the divine shelter and living place of the reincarnated spirits". In Thai, the first part, Great City of Angels, is "Krungthep". The rest is too long to write on maps, pronounce and all that other stuff.

Krungthep is the only true city in Thailand, and is 40 times larger than the next largest village.

If you like this kind of stuff, here's a link to the book.


Ladies, I've posted a spa night picture on the bottom of the blog page. We all look amazingly attractive. Check it out!