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shanghai | Cities in Thailand are called Muangs. They used to look as a fortress, and were prepared for an enemy attack surrounded with a rampart or by a moat. Current Muangs are made up of commercial areas which Hong-Teiws are clustered. Hong-Teiws are buildings that Chinese merchants built, and usually, there is a store in the 1st floor, and living space or a rental apartment in the 2nd and the 3rd floor.
By the way, Bangkok is a familiar name called among foreigners. The formal name of the city is Kruntape-Mahanacorn, and people in Thailand simply call Kruntape. People used to live around the entrance of Bangkok-Yai canal and Bangkok-Noy canal, and old Kruntape was really the "Water Capital." Familiar name, Bangkok, originate in the name of the canal. City population is about 5.9 million. Buses, taxis, and Roto-Tukutuku(a three wheeler motorcycle) are the transportation in Bangkok. Since traffic jam is severe in the city, marine transport is attracting once again. We can avoid heavy traffic using a regular ship service in the Chao Phraya River which meander through the city. People in Thailand tend to have gold as a means of saving. Before the banking system developed, people went to Gold Bank to buy gold as they earned some money. Even now that banks have developed, there are still many people who go to the Gold Bank regularly. |