Greater Bangkok now covers an area of 7,761.50 km² and is home to some 12 million residents. Ratanakosin remains the spiritual center of the city, graced by the dazzling splendor of the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew and nearby Wat Pho.
Modern downtown Bangkok stretches southeast of Ratanakosin and looks very much like many other Southeast Asian capitals, with gleaming skyscrapers, deluxe apartment projects and lots of snarled traffic. The core of the new city encompasses the Sathorn and Silom districts and Sukhumvit Road, which includes upmarket shopping plazas and leafy public parks. These major downtown neighborhoods are connected by the BTS Skytrain and the MRT subway systems. These gradually expanding public transportation networks, with their bright, snaking trains carrying excited tourists and weary commuters alike, have not only helped relieve the city’s notorious traffic congestion and pollution, but given this City of Angels a modern, 21st century feel.