A Tongue-Twister for Tourists

June 29, 2001 9:03 am EST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai capital has come up with a new attraction for tourists -- signboards of its own name.

The city's full name is Krungthep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathatthiya Witsanukam Prasit. [Say that fast five times]

But this is so long that residents of Bangkok, founded 219 years ago by King Rama I, generally refer to the city by its shorter name of Krungthep, or City of Angels.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said in a statement the government had proposed four sites for the large billboards, including near the country's Grand Palace, a prime tourist spot.

"These signs will add color and will be a selling point for Bangkok tourism, as another landmark where both Thai and foreign tourists can come to take pictures," the statement said.

Bangkok's full name means "City of Angels, Great City of Immortals, Magnificent City of the Nine Gems, Seat of the King, City of Royal Palaces, Home of the Gods Incarnate, Erected by Visvakarman at Indra's Behest."

Bangkok, the capital's modern name, means "City of Wild Plums."

[That's plum silly!]

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001

Answers

More Thai news...

Flocking to See the Lucky Lizard

June 28, 2001 9:11 am EST

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Residents of a Thai town are flocking to the home of a bereaved mother to touch and see a five-foot monitor lizard she says is a reincarnation of her 13-year-old son and a bringer of good fortune.

Chamlong Taengniem, whose son Charoen died in a motorcycle crash, told Reuters that the lizard followed her home after her son's June 17 cremation, slept on his mattress in the house and loves his favorite beverage -- fresh milk and drinking yogurt.

Crowds of up to 200 people have been thronging outside the house in Nonthaburi, 20 miles north of the capital Bangkok, offering their respects and showering the creature with gifts.

Some scratch the lizard's back and stomach and hunt for numbers for Thailand's state lottery on its skin.

Chamlong, 51, says that her son turned into the lizard and she and her neighbors say that the creature had not been previously seen in the area.

People in the mainly Buddhist nation believe in reincarnation and that spirits of people can roam around after death and inhabit other people, animals and haunt trees and buildings.

Neighbor Pranom Chamchuen, 64, said she did not believe the lizard was the dead boy at first but changed her mind after seeing its response to hearing the boy's name.

Just like the boy, the lizard is very polite, she added.

"When the reptile wants to use the toilet, it crawls from its bed to a lavatory outside the house," she told the Kao Soda newspaper.

[Well, isn't that special! - Church Lady, SNL]

-- Anonymous, July 01, 2001