Bangkok, Thailand

BANGKOK, THAILAND | "กรุงเทพฯ — The City of Angels"

Bangkok is the most sensory-intense city in Asia — a metropolis of 12 million people on the Chao Phraya River delta where the golden spires of the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex, the floating markets of the Chao Phraya's klong canal network, the street food ecosystem of Yaowarat and Silom, and the elevated expressways threading between the glass towers of the financial district create an urban landscape of such density and energy that the city operates as a permanent festival of contradiction. Bangkok was founded as the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom in 1782 by King Rama I on the site of a small trading post, and in 240 years it has grown from a canal city on the western bank of the Chao Phraya into the most visited city on earth — receiving more international tourists annually than any other destination in the world for multiple years running.

The colors are the specific Bangkok palette of gold, heat, and tropical color: the brilliant gold of the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex and the ornamental glass tiles of the Grand Palace wall catching the morning sun, the deep orange of the Buddhist monk robes moving through the street markets at dawn, the brilliant green of the klong canal water in the morning before the heat builds, and the extraordinary neon and LED landscape of the Sukhumvit entertainment district at night when the city's second life begins.