2 - Bangkok

Summary

Background

Ever since its designation as capital in 1782, Bangkok has prospered more than any of Thailand's other cities. It is the seat of the monarchy, the country's administrative centre, its centre of wealth, its principal port, home to the largest non-agricultural labour market, as well as the centre of internal and international trade. Bangkok is also the country's most populous city. In 1850, the population of Bangkok was estimated to be between 50,000 and 100,000 and since that time it has remained Thailand's primate city.

Bangkok is located favourably in the fertile lower Chao Phraya River delta in the country's Central Plain, an area that has long been the country's rice bowl with transport made easy and relatively inexpensive by a network of canals connecting with the Chao Phraya.

As the country's capital, Bangkok was the tribute collection centre from various places, as well as a centre for exports and international trade. Even before the signing of the Bowring Treaty with Great Britain in 1855, Bangkok was an important port not just in Thailand but also in the Asian region, receiving goods from India, the Malay Peninsula, and elsewhere for re-exporting to China. Trade was largely monopolized by the royal government, with China as the kingdom's major trading partner. Growth in both internal and international trade led to the expansion of Bangkok's economy. Revenues from international trade were especially important as they constituted one of the major sources of income of the kingdom.

International trade helped to open Siam to western and, through Singapore, Chinese influences. In 1820, Portugal set up a consulate in Bangkok and built a warehouse on the Thonburi side of the Chao Phraya River to store goods shipped from England. Westerners like the Portuguese were mainly employed in shipping, and as the port grew, Bangkok became a major employer of Chinese immigrants involved in shipping-related activities. Increasingly, the Chinese came to play major roles in various sectors of Bangkok's economy, as skilled and unskilled labour, concessionaires, tax collectors, entrepreneurs, and property owners. They acted as middlemen and merchants forging links between Bangkok and other economic centres in Asia and other parts of the globe. In time, more than half of Bangkok's population were Chinese.