Besides its key logistical role, the capital offered its own attractions.
The TAT promoted the country as ‘Exotic Thailand’, a place of traditional
culture, gracious people and, increasingly, a place of pageantry connected
with Thai royalty. As for Bangkok, the city had long been touted as an
alluring blend of the ancient and the modern, with its temples juxtaposed
with modern shopping centres and other cosmopolitan features. As one
French tourist handbook remarked, without being too explicit: ‘Bangkok
is all things to all men’ (Papineau 1980: 337).