Krung Thep

I'm in the capital of Thailand, which we all know is Bangkok. Right?

In Thai it is known as Krung Thep, which roughly translates to "City of Angels". That's an abbreviation of the full name, the longest place name in the world according to Guinness:

กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลก ภพนพรัตน์ ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์ มหาสถาน อมรพิมาน อวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะ วิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

The English transliteration:

"Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasi"

As long as the name is, Bangkok isn't even part of it! The name means:

"The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) 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 Vishnukarn."

I'll stick with Bangkok: "village of wild plums".

At one time Bangkok was the capital city and was located west of the Chao Phraya river. King Rama I decided to build a more defensible capital across the river in 1782. Apparently we in the western world didn't get the memo about the move and the name change.

But let's not be too harsh on ourselves. Even locals can't be expected to understand the full name since many of the words are archaic and no longer used in modern Thai.

Thais are easy-going people who generally avoid conflict, which may explain why they haven't bothered to correct the rest of the world. Or, as detective Sonchai Jitpleecheep, says in "Bangkok 8", John Burdett's delightfully decadent thriller: "Krung Thep means City of Angels, but we are happy to call it Bangkok if it helps to separate a farang from his money."

"Farang" is derived from the word for French, "farangseht". It's a generic term for western tourists, and can be anything from an insult to a term of endearment, depending on the situation.