This is my first full day in Bangkok during this visit. So please don’t expect a quick ramp-up of clever Bangkok Blog posts. Long flights and a lot of work to do will probably slow the inner journalist in me.
I thought I would start this series of Bangkok Blog posts with something that has always baffled me about Thailand. Why are names so long here?
Most names are long and un-pronounceable. Like take the proper name of Bangkok, for example when spelled using English words:
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit
Translated to English, the Thai capital’s proper name is:
The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarma.
Who names a city like this? The Thais did.
Or how about famous Thai temple names, like these:
Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan
Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram
Wat Mahathat Yuwaratrangsarit
Wat Phichayayatikaram
Wat Borommawong Itsarawararam
Or how about this university name? Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University. (This one is nuts.)
But it’s not only place, temple and institution names that are long and unpronounceable, but also people’s names like these:
Maha Bhumibol Adulyadej Borommanatbophit. (The last King of Thailand.)
Maha Vajiralongkorn (The current king.)
Butpiya Bangtonglang
Nithinan Thanaweerawacharakul
Pakornkit Thanawarinkul
Surassa Fhaumnuaypol, also known as Anna, has an explanation on her website as to why Thai names are so long and hard to pronounce, even for some Thais.
She suggests that unlike in the west where there are lots of Smiths and Joneses, Thai last names tend to be unique on a family by family basis. That means as generations grow and intermix, names get longer and even harder to pronounce. Anna’s explanation and site are very good. And, by the way, people call Ms. Surassa Anna, because almost everyone in Thailand has a nickname that gets used all the time. Anna is a very unusual nickname. Most are weirder, like Frog, Pig or Prawn. Nicknames can be very weird as I explained in this post back in February 2008.
If you can say Bangkok’s proper ceremonial name as fast as the lady in the following video, then all I can say is more power to you.
So that’s it for this first Bangkok Blog entry. Hopefully I will have more interesting and easier to pronounce stuff to discuss during this visit.
I always liked hearing the translation of the full name of Bangkok. Its less of a name (as we think of it) and more of a mini history/legend, which I think is very cool.
I had never thought of it that way. But it’s kind of cool to describe the history of a place in a name. I think Canadian Indigenous people kind of do that in their place names as well.
I like it. It’s impressive in that it seems to bestow upon the city, or institution or family, a vision of something precious and special, as well as a sense of optimism. (However, it’s not that I’d find it easy to repeat these names on a daily basis.)
I agree. Having a name that explains who you are and where you came from seems to make sense, even if you need 168 letters to accomplish this.