Page 100 - Thai Heritage from Space_ebook

Bangkok...Restored on the Basis of

His Majesty’s Vision

His Majesty the King wishes Bangkok to be a livable city. He has endeavored to become familiar with the nature
of life and the topography of this long developing city as well as to care for its environment. With his perseverance,
His Majesty the King has discovered the fundamental factors which fit a typical Thai urban centre. Due to his management
talent and divine grace for his subjects, His Majesty has created his own strategic plans and provided explanations
to responsible organizations to implement plans to serve the needs of the local people in order to achieve valuable
outcomes.

Bangkok flood crisis solved through Thai globalization
In 2011, five heavy storms attacked many parts of Thailand and caused several heavy rain falls, which resulted
in huge floods in the central region: the upper and lower parts of the Chao Phraya basin, Bangkok, and its vicinity as
they are the draining areas to the Gulf of Thailand. This severe flood precipitated enormous economic loss to Thailand
(up to 1.4 trillion baht).
As a consequence of the royal flood protection plan, Bangkok and the surrounding areas covering an area of 650
square kilometers were able to survive the flood crisis, particularly certain areas in Bangkok and the Nong Ngu Hao Kaem
Ling (Monkey-Cheek). The satellite image of October 6, 2011 revealed that only the flooding protection areas and parts
of Nong Ngu Hao were flooded. The highest flood level from October 10 to November 4 generated flooding in the areas
around Suvarnabhumi Airport to the Bangna-Trat Road. The area south of the road; however, was not flooded since
the royal project “Saphan Nam” could quickly drain the water from Nong Ngu Hao into the sea.

Bangkok…a historic city
Bangkok is the capital of Thailand and the center of the country’s prosperity. It is located on the bank of the Chao
Phraya River near the Gulf of Thailand, with the Palace as its center. It is surrounded by residential dwellings and
agricultural farmlands in accordance with the unique traditional organization of Thai cities. The city includes Krung
Thonburi built in 1767 at the Bang Kok Fort on the western bank (Klong Lad Bang Kok) of the Chao Phraya River and
Bangkok Metropolis constructed in 1782 on the eastern bank of the river.
“Krung Thonburi” and “Bangkok Metropolis” have been known as a trading port called “Bang Kok” since
the Ayutthaya Period, and it is still called “Bangkok” today.

Bangkok has been awarded the World’s Best Tourist Spot
Bangkok is renowned as one of the most popular cities among tourists. It has won the award of World’s Best
Tourism City for four consecutive years by Travel + Leisure Magazine – the most popular tourism magazine in the U.S.
In 2011, there were 19,098,323 tourists to Thailand and more than 10 million visit Bangkok annually. These figures
have confirmed that, to foreigners, Bangkok is a nice place to visit. This record is in accordance with His Majesty the
th
King’s wish, which reads “…at my 84 birthday celebrations, there will be a heavenly city to live in called Bangkok ….”

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