Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [37]
During the reign of Rama I, many Chinese began to move up in status and wealth. They controlled many of Bangkok’s shops and businesses, and because of increased trading ties with China, were responsible for an immense expansion in Thailand’s market economy. Visiting Europeans during the 1820s were astonished by the number of Chinese trading ships in the Chao Phraya River, and some assumed that the Chinese formed the majority of Bangkok’s population.
The newfound wealth of certain Chinese trading families created one of Thailand’s first elite classes that was not directly related to royalty. Known as jâo sǔa, these ‘merchant lords’ eventually obtained additional status by accepting official posts and royal titles, as well as offering their daughters to the royal family. At one point, Rama V took a Chinese consort. Today it is believed that more than half of the people in Bangkok can claim some Chinese ancestry. The current Thai king is also believed to have partial Chinese ancestry.
During the reign of Rama III, the Thai capital began to absorb many elements of Chinese food, design, fashion and literature. This growing ubiquity of Chinese culture, coupled with the tendency of the Chinese men to marry Thai women and assimilate into Thai culture had, by the beginning of the 20th century, resulted in relatively little difference between the Chinese and their Siamese counterparts.
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The Thais may bestow Thai royal spirits with similar guardian qualities. The spirit of Rama V, who ruled over Siam from 1868 to 1910 and who is particularly venerated for having successfully resisted colonialism, is thought to remain active and powerful in Bangkok today. Every Tuesday evening thousands of Bangkokians throng a bronze equestrian statue of Rama V standing opposite Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall, offering candles, pink roses, incense and liquor to the royal demigod.
Other Religions
Thai royal ceremony remains almost exclusively the domain of one of the most ancient religious traditions still functioning in the kingdom, Brahmanism. White-robed, topknotted priests of Indian descent keep alive an arcane collection of rituals that, it is generally believed, must be performed at regular intervals to sustain the three pillars of Thai nationhood: sovereignty, religion and the monarchy. Such rituals are performed regularly at a complex of shrines near Wat Suthat in the centre of the city. Devasathan (Abode of Gods) contains shrines to Shiva and Ganesha and thus hosts priestly ceremonies in the Shaiva tradition, while the smaller Sathan Phra Narai (Abode of Vishnu) is reserved for Vaishnava ritual.
Green-hued onion domes looming over rooftops belong to mosques and mark the immediate neighbourhood as Muslim, while brightly painted and ornately carved cement spires indicate a Hindu temple. Wander down congested Th Chakraphet in the Phahurat district to find Sri Gurusingh Sabha, a Sikh temple where visitors are very welcome. A handful of steepled Christian churches, including a few historic ones, have been built over the centuries and can be found near the banks of Mae Nam Chao Phraya. In Chinatown large, round doorways topped with heavily inscribed Chinese characters and flanked by red paper lanterns mark the location of săhn jôw, Chinese temples dedicated to the worship of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian deities.
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GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) administers the capital, which is segmented into 50 districts covering 1569 sq km. Since 1985 metropolitan Bangkok has boasted the country’s only elected governors (provincial governors are appointed), and perhaps the most charismatic of these was former army major general, Chamlong Srimuang.
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