Bangkok set for official change of name to "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon"

[Hanuman2547]

12 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

But the local people already use the 'new' name and have done forever...........

Different case......

Well they might use Krung Thep but very few use Krung Thep Maha Nakhon in everyday conversations.  It's just too long!

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, Hanuman2547 said:

Well they might use Krung Thep but very few use Krung Thep Maha Nakhon in everyday conversations.  It's just too long!

They do use it on vehicle licence plates, but it is not like the case of Saigon and HCMC. is the point.

[desert dueller]

Great idea ...... but it won't help financially stressed Thais to buy their next meal.

Edited February 17, 2022 by desert dueller

[snowgard]

9 hours ago, Puccini said:

Thai language texts use the acronym กทม, which transliterates as KTM.

Source: https://th.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/กทม.#:~:text=อักษรย่อของ กรุงเทพมหานคร,ของ ศาลาว่าการกรุงเทพมหานคร,,,

 

Therefore, I suggest that people on this forum who have the habit of using BKK, which is really the IATA airport code for Suvarnabhumi airport, should use KTM for Krungthep Maha Nakhon if they do not want to write the full name. I may be doing the same, as I keep forgetting whether the first syllable is Khrung or Krung.

KTM is the airport of Katmandu. I will use still Bangkok or BKK. ????

Let's see who / how much will use the new name in the future. I don't think many.

[StayinThailand2much]

19 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

And BTS will become the KTMNTS ?

Sounds like an international branch of the CCP.

[StayinThailand2much]

7 hours ago, TKDfella said:

Hmmm, the system is that t=ต and th=ท (Thailand=ประเทศไทย)

Interesting. So, if I write on a form 'KTM' instead of 'BKK', Thais will know what I mean?

[Cory1848]

22 hours ago, paul1804 said:

Many of us westerners call it Burma because the people are known as Burmese and due to the fact that the name was changed by a non elected regime. Many senior Burmese do the same as well as younger people that I know living & working abroad. 

Exactly -- at least to some, the name “Myanmar” is affiliated with a repulsive regime. When Mobutu took charge of the DRC, he changed that country’s name to Zaire; when he was gone after 25 years of repressive rule, the incoming administration immediately tossed out the name “Zaire” like it was part of some bad dream.

[metisdead]

An off topic trolling post and the replies have been removed. 

[Ty Hareways]

Thought it might've been changed to Bangcock what with it being recognised as the capital of the worlds best sex tourist destination????????‍♂️

[micmichd]

3 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Sounds like an international branch of the CCP.

As long as Bangkok Bank and the corresponding SWIFT code don't change.... 

[StayinThailand2much]

28 minutes ago, micmichd said:

As long as Bangkok Bank and the corresponding SWIFT code don't change.... 

I wouldn't hold my breath. I can remember Kasikornbank and TMB under their former names Thai Farmers Bank and Thai Military Bank. Everything with English names will eventually be 'Siamised', so Bangkok Bank might very well be officially rebranded as  'Thanakarn Krungthep' in a few years from now... (It's already the Thai name of the bank.)

Edited February 17, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[TKDfella]

4 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Interesting. So, if I write on a form 'KTM' instead of 'BKK', Thais will know what I mean?

Well, as long as foreigners pronounce it correctly, perhaps they will, but will the foreign tongue corrupt it just as it was done with BKK? BKK has a different pronunciation in Thai than that of English. In Thai the two vowels are long, บางกอก Baangkawk whereas English has shortened them to sound like แบ็งก็ก Baengkok. The famous river (bridge) during the war was called Kwai in English but the Thai is Kwae Yai (or Noi). Thai isn't the only language to suffer this. But having said all Thai has problems pronouncing English correctly too.????

Edited February 17, 2022 by TKDfella

[StayinThailand2much]

Just now, TKDfella said:

Thai has problems pronouncing English correctly too. 

Or as Dave Barry wrote about Americans trying to master French...

 

WAITER: Bonjour. Je suspect que vous etes American. (``Good day. I suspect that you are American.'')

YOU: Mais je ne portes pas les Nikes! (``But I am not wearing the sneakers!)

WAITER: Au quais, monsieur pantalons intelligents, prononcez le mot ``Rouen.'' (``OK, Mr. Smarty Pants, pronounce the word `Rouen.' '')

YOU: Woon. (``Woon.'')

WAITER: Si vous etes Francais, je suis l'Homme de la Batte. (``If you are French, I am Batman.'')

[ozimoron]

4 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Interesting. So, if I write on a form 'KTM' instead of 'BKK', Thais will know what I mean?

If you used Thai alphabet then I assume they would.

[BM7591]

On 2/16/2022 at 9:16 AM, wasabi said:

Might help their pride but I can't see this helping tourism.

When it comes to branding, the new name doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue. Hardly a name that will be easily remembered or repeated.

[Puccini]

18 hours ago, micmichd said:

Lol. KTM is already in use, it's the IATA code for Kathmandu Airport. 

I am not suggesting KTM as an airport code.

[Puccini]

18 hours ago, TKDfella said:

Hmmm, the system is that t=ต and th=ท (Thailand=ประเทศไทย)

Yes.

[Puccini]

13 hours ago, snowgard said:

KTM is the airport of Katmandu. I will use still Bangkok or BKK. ????...

I did not suggest KTM as an airport code for any airport in Thailand.

 

I suggested that people who used BKK as an abbreviation for the city name Bangkok may, if they wish to use an abbreviation for the city name Krung Thep Mahanakhon, want to use KMT.

[TKDfella]

12 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Or as Dave Barry wrote about Americans trying to master French...

 

WAITER: Bonjour. Je suspect que vous etes American. (``Good day. I suspect that you are American.'')

YOU: Mais je ne portes pas les Nikes! (``But I am not wearing the sneakers!)

WAITER: Au quais, monsieur pantalons intelligents, prononcez le mot ``Rouen.'' (``OK, Mr. Smarty Pants, pronounce the word `Rouen.' '')

YOU: Woon. (``Woon.'')

WAITER: Si vous etes Francais, je suis l'Homme de la Batte. (``If you are French, I am Batman.'')

Yeah, get your point. French does have vowels that sound very similar to some Thai vowels.

[Marvest]

Maybe it's been said above - I did not read all nine pages of comments...

 

Nothing will really change.  The Thais will continue to call it Krung Thep and foreigners will continue to call it Bangkok.  The move to 'officially' change the name only validates common practice and will lend certainty in legal documents.  I view it mainly as a political move to unite nationally, nationalism if you will.  

 

Many world wide local language names that don't 'match' with foreign names or English phonetic interpretations.   There are numerous examples: Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City, Pekin/Beijing, Japan/Nihon, Berma/Myanmar, Bombay/Mumbai,  Rome/Roma, Germany/Dueche, Torino/Turin - just to name a few.  

 

It will not affect the vast majority of Foreigners.  Foreigners may, and will, continue to use 'Bangkok' as if the official name change did not happen.  The names of hotels, lyrics of songs, maps, and airport codes, will remain the same.  

Chinese will continue to use 曼谷 (màngǔ), and Japanese will continue to use バンコク (bankoku), and so on.

[thaibook]

On 2/17/2022 at 4:40 AM, Dustdevil said:

Well, nobody says Peking or Canton anymore. Those are the old names. Everybody says Beijing and Guangzhou, as they should. What you're talking about is current names with their English translations. For example, nobody says "Oh, I took the train from Roma to München."

Beijing and Guangzhou are merely transliterations of the Chinese, they are not new names.  Simply many people and almost all the media do not dare to continue a traditional spelling or pronunciation if some non-western, non-white body has said it should change.