Bangkok

"Heheh, you said Bang. Uhhuhuh, you said Kok."

"Bangkok, Oriental setting And the city don't know what the city is getting The creme de la creme of the chess world In a show with everything but Yul Brynner..."

- "One Night in Bangkok", from Chess

Bangkok, Venice of the East / of Asia, City of Angels (no, not that one) is the capital, and the largest, city of Thailand. Also serves as one of the economic centers of Southeast Asia.

The name

Yes, it's been mentioned in many pages, but anyway, Bangkok has the longest city name on Earth. It's:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

Which translates to:

The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city 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 Vishnukam.

Of course, this is only the full, ceremonial name. Foreigners call it, of course, Bangkok, while the Thais abbreviated it to Krung Thep (thus, City of Angels), or more formally, Krung Thep Mahanakhon.

Other tidbits

Since Thailand's economy is mostly centered in Bangkok (16% of country's GDP, 5% of tourism GDP), it can look quite different from other cities, especially with the wealth difference.

Bangkok's also quite infamous for its sex industry, which the song One Night in Bangkok tells about, rightly or wrongly.

Oh, and currently (May 2010) part of the city serves as a battlefield between the National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship, better known as the "Red Shirts" (no, not those) and the government.