Today most of the canals
have been filled in to make way for roads, and the city has expanded
far away from the Chao Phraya river, thereby losing its original focal
point and abandoning any semblance of a downtown area.
In the last few decades
the pace of growth has been rapid. First in the 1950s and '60s rows
of functional but drab concrete shophouses began changing the face of
city then, in the 1980s and '90s, came concrete-and-glass high-rises.
Today, Bangkok appears
as a modern, dynamic metropolis bustling with today's business. The
skyline is dominated by thrusting office towers, high-rise condominiums,
luxury hotels, department stores and shopping malls. But this is just
one aspect of Bangkok. Joyfully exuberant, the city embraces latter-day
developments though, surprisingly, modern building does not obliterate
a wealth of monuments to traditional glories.
In the soaring roofs
and tapering gilded spires of the Grand Palace, Temple of the Emerald
Buddha, Temple of Dawn and the rest of Bangkok's more than 400 Buddhist
temples, you are presented with images of awe-inspiring Oriental splendour.
Contained within such monuments are masterpieces of sculpture, painting
and decorative arts attesting to the nation's artistic achievement.
Once you start to explore
Bangkok you begin to realize just how much there is to discover. In
addition to the city's most famous monuments and sights there are numerous
lesser known places of great interest. Wat Ratchabophit, for example,
is a minor gem of a mid 19th-century temple, unusual in its Thai exterior
and quasi-Gothic interior. It is located not far from the Grand Palace,
yet it is often overlooked by visitors. The same is true of museums;
the National Museum is not to be missed, though Wimanmek Mansion and
Jim Thompson's House also contain spectacular treasures.
A stroll round the lanes
of Chinatown, or a boat ride along the canals of Thonburi, again afford
fascinating insights into Bangkok's past. But for an inkling of the
city's quintessential character you can't do better than visit the Erawan
Shrine, dedicated to Brahma and widely regarded as the most potent source
of good luck.
Devotees flock daily
to make offerings and pray for success in all manner of things from
childbirth to winning the lottery, and there is heaps of atmosphere
with the heady scent of incense and jasmine flower garlands, plus gorgeously
costumed classical dancers. Everything is all the more startling for
its incongruous location on the traffic-congested corner of Rajdamri
and Ploenchit roads in the shadow of luxury hotels and shopping malls.
Indeed, the Erawan shrine is Bangkok at its most serendipitous, and
it can tell you more about the city and its people than a whole tour
of the more obvious sights.More
