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BANGKOK
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BANGKOK , the See also:capital of See also:Siam, on the See also:river Me Nam, about 20 M. from its mouth, in too° 30' E., 13° 45' N. Until See also:modern times the See also:city was built largely on floating pontoons or on piles at the edges of the innumerable canals and See also:water-courses which formed the thoroughfares, but to meet the requirements of modern See also:life, well-planned roads and streets have been constructed in all directions, See also:crossing the old canals at many points and lined with well-built houses, for the most See also:part of See also:brick, in which the greater part of the erstwhile riparian See also:population now resides. The centre of the city is the royal See also:palace (see SIAM), situated in a See also:bend of the river and enclosed by walls. At a See also:radius of nearly a mile is another See also:wall within which lies the closely-packed city proper, and beyond which the See also:town stretches away to the royal parks on the See also:north and to the business See also:quarter, the warehouses, See also:rice-See also:mills, See also:harbour and docks on the See also:south. The whole town covers an See also:area of over to sq. m. Two companies provide Bangkok with a See also:complete See also:system of electric tramways, and the streets are lined with shade-trees and lit by See also:electricity. All over the town are scattered beautiful Buddhist temples, which with their coloured See also:tile See also:roofs and gilded See also:spires give it a See also:peculiar and notable See also:appearance. Many See also:fine buildings are to be seen—the various public offices, the See also:arsenal, the See also:mint, the palaces of various princes and, in addition to these, See also:schools, hospitals, markets and See also:Christian churches of many denominations, chiefly See also:Roman See also:Catholic. There are four railway stations in Bangkok,the termini of the lines which connect the provinces with the capital. The See also:climate of Bangkok has without doubt recently changed. It has become hotter and less humid. Though a minimum temperature below 6o° F. is still recorded in See also:January and See also:December, a maximum of over too° is reached during the hot See also:weather months and at the beginning of the rains, whereas up to the See also:year 1900 a maximum of 93° was considered unusually high. The cause of this See also:change is not known, but it is attributed to extensive drainage and removal of vegetation in the immediate neighbourhood of the town. The See also:annual rainfall amounts to rather over 50 in. A four-mile reach of the Me Nam, immediately below the city proper, forms the See also:port of Bangkok. From 250 to 400 yds. broad and of See also:good See also:depth right up to the See also:banks, the river offers every convenience for the berthing and loading of See also:ships, though a See also:bar at its mouth, which prevents the passage of vessels See also:drawing more than 12 ft., necessitates in the See also:case of large ships a partial loading and unloading from lighters outside. The banks of the port are closely lined with the offices, warehouses and wharves of commercial houses, with See also:timber yards and innumerable rice-mills, while the See also:custom See also:house, the harbour See also:master's See also:office and many of the See also:foreign legations and consulates are also situated here. Of the 750 steamships which cleared the port in 1904, three out of every seven were See also:German, two were See also:Norwegian and one was See also:British, but in 1905 two new companies, one British and the other See also:Japanese, arranged for See also:regular services to Bangkok, thereby altering these proportions. It is notable that the heavy See also:trade with See also:Singapore shows a tendency to decrease in favour of See also:direct trade with See also:Europe. A See also:fleet of small steamers, schooners and junks, carries on trade with the towns and districts on the See also:east and See also:west coasts of the Gulf of Siam. The trade of Bangkok is almost entirely in the hands of Europeans and See also:Chinese. The See also:principal exports are rice and See also:teak, and the principal imports, See also:cotton and See also:silk goods and See also:gold-See also:leaf. The value of trade, which more than doubled between the years 1900 and 1907, amounted in the latter year to £5,600,000 imports and £7,100,000 exports. Of the See also:total trade, 75% is with the British See also:empire. Many of the best known See also:mercantile firms and banks of the Far East have-See also:BANGOR branches in Bangkok. The unit of currency is the tical (see SIAM). The See also:government of Bangkok is entrusted to the See also:minister of the capital, a member of the See also:cabinet. Under this minister are the See also:police, sanitary, harbour master's and See also:revenue offices. The police force is an efficient and well-organized See also:body of 3000 men headed by a See also:European See also:commissioner of police. The sanitary See also:department consists of a See also:board of See also:health, a bacteriological laboratory and an engineer's office, all managed with See also:expert European assistance. Under the See also:act of 1905, the want of which was See also:long See also:felt, the port and the city water-ways are controlled by the harbour master. See also:Local revenues are collected by the revenue office. The See also:ordinary See also:law courts are under the See also:control of the See also:ministry of See also:justice, but in accordance with the extra-territorial rights enjoyed by foreign See also:powers in Siam, each consulate has attached to it a See also:court, having See also:jurisdiction in all cases in which a subject of the See also:power represented by such consulate is See also:defendant. The population, which is estimated at 450,000, is mixed. Mingling with Siamese and Chinese, who See also:form the See also:major part, may be seen persons of almost every See also:race to be found between Bombay and See also:Japan, while Europeans of different nationalities number over See also:i000. The See also:death-See also:rate is high, especially among See also:children, owing to the prevalence of See also:cholera, smallpox and fevers during the dry weather. Sanitation, however, is improving and much good has resulted from the See also:boring of numerous artesian See also:wells which yield good water.
Before 1769 Bangkok was nothing but an agricultural See also:village with a fort on the river See also:bank. In that year, however, it was seized by the See also:warrior, Paya Tak, as a convenient point from which to attack the Burmese See also:army then in occupation of Siam, and upon his becoming See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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