Bangkok's official name is krung thep,which means the city of angels in thai. actually 400 years ago bangkok was a small peaceful village situated on the chao phraya river. the village served as a port for shipr sailing up the river to ayutthaya the old capital of siam bangkok was already well known to european merchants the ships became larger and the village grew in size and importance in 1782 king rama i moved the capital to bangkok work began on the grand palace and the temple of the emerald buddha in the 1850s the city was called the venice of the east because it had many canals many of its inhabitants lived in floating houses and bought and sold products on boats today bangkok combines tradition and modernity and it is one of the most cosmopolitan cities on the asian continent according to a recent study bangkok is the top tourist destination in asia with approximately 12 million visitors a year sunny beaches ancient temples an active night life and wonderful food make thailand a great destination for tourists bangkok shares its popularity for tourists with other places in the historic city of chiang mai in the north the famous beach resorts of phuker and many other tropical paradise islands in the south such as koh phi phi