The word Bangkok is the icon of Bangkok.

I agree in part, however, what does the word "Bangkok" cunjure up in the minds of many people outside of Thailand? Unfortunately for Thailand it's often a negative. It's a Thai problem. Let them fix it.

Just an aside, but it is indicative of how much is known abroad about Bangkok. I read in a UK newspaper a couple of days ago that a senior police officer who is waging a war against prostitution in Glasgow doesn't want the city to be known as "the Bangkok of the Northern Hemisphere". Somebody should inform this worldly-wise campaigner that there already is a place that is known as the Bangkok of the Northern Hemisphere. Its called Bangkok!

hahahahaha - not very educated our British Bobbies now-a-days. If you can tie your shoe laces and write your name (and hit the right hiring quota) then you're in. 

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/lates...w39s.4421889.jp

Please read to the end.

And bangkok doesn't need an icon..It is an icon.

Like a friend of mine said: For whatever you may think hearing the word Bangkok, it is always surrounded by something mystical.

Simply, Bangkok or Thailand for that matter doesn't have a single outstanding piece of architecture that is ambitious in scale and significantly unique. Part of the culture of doing everything just like they saw someone else do it. It is a shame however, because Thailand definitely has a particular style and culture that would be very easy to translate into a magnificent building the world would recognize and celebrate.

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/lates...w39s.4421889.jp

Please read to the end.

And bangkok doesn't need an icon..It is an icon.

Like a friend of mine said: For whatever you may think hearing the word Bangkok, it is always surrounded by something mystical.

It's a shame that for most of it the reality falls way short of the myth.

But that may go someway towards answering another question that plagues me from time to time. Bangkok's official name is Krung Thep Mahanakorn etc etc shortened to just plain Krung Thep by most, if not all, Thais. When a Thai is talking to a Thai they say Krung Thep but when talking to a westerner they say Bangkok. Other countries change their city names, Bombay to Mumbai as an example, and it is changed for all uses. But Thailand preserves Bangkok even on the English language translations on road signs. Maybe they are afraid that if they change the name they will lose the mystical connotations.

And bangkok doesn't need an icon..It is an icon.

Yes but what springs to peoples minds when they hear the name Bangkok. Unfortunately, as other posters have highlighted, it is too often the sex trade. That's why I was posing the question should TAT adopt a unified cultural icon to attempt to erase the streotypical image.

For me its a girl shooting ping-pong balls from her doodah. Whenever I used to land at Don Muang airport, I used to to conjure this image for some reason.... Whatever.

London has the Houses of Parliament, Paris has the Eiffel tower, New York has the Statue of Liberty, Sydney has it’s Opera House and Kuala Lumpur has the Petronas Towers.

Bangkok has Wat Phra Keao and the floating market.

What does Singapore have? Jakarta, Manila, Tokio...?

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/lates...w39s.4421889.jp

Please read to the end.

And bangkok doesn't need an icon..It is an icon.

Like a friend of mine said: For whatever you may think hearing the word Bangkok, it is always surrounded by something mystical.

It's a shame that for most of it the reality falls way short of the myth.

But that may go someway towards answering another question that plagues me from time to time. Bangkok's official name is Krung Thep Mahanakorn etc etc shortened to just plain Krung Thep by most, if not all, Thais. When a Thai is talking to a Thai they say Krung Thep but when talking to a westerner they say Bangkok. Other countries change their city names, Bombay to Mumbai as an example, and it is changed for all uses. But Thailand preserves Bangkok even on the English language translations on road signs. Maybe they are afraid that if they change the name they will lose the mystical connotations.

And bangkok doesn't need an icon..It is an icon.

Yes but what springs to peoples minds when they hear the name Bangkok. Unfortunately, as other posters have highlighted, it is too often the sex trade. That's why I was posing the question should TAT adopt a unified cultural icon to attempt to erase the streotypical image.

I know what springs to mind, and have to agree, sadly. But I very much doubt if a name change could erase that, or what you describe as a unified cultural icon. You would have to change everything, hire new taxi drivers, and...well you know.

Bangkok stands for much more, for a lot of westerners it is the "Asian entrance". Beijing doesn't have that image around it`s name for example.

Bangkok stands for much more, for a lot of westerners it is the "Asian entrance".

same like Hong Kong or Singapore

If you go there for sex,…….. you will see the city is full of ....sex, bars, and nightlifes

If you go there for foods, ……you will see the city is full of......more foods and markets

If you go there for temples, architectures, culture, and thai people, ……you will then see these too

Who cares what other people are thinking from far away about Bangkok or Thailand in general, or what the foriegn presses have in their reports. The only thing that matter when traveling to other places is…… what do you want to get out or experiences from the place in the first place, despite the so called “the city worldwide image or reputation”

And also

The real question is …….does the city MUST have the recognizable single icon “the WOW factor” - according to the western standard - in order to make it worthwhile as the place to visit?

And also a question of……how can we make the icon from....... the good gesture and friendliness that is well known around the world of the thai people,…..and among other things that make up the fabric of the city of Bangkok?

Oh..ohh...my lord !!

im with you teacup. i just dont get it.

Me either. How come they're not topless?

For me its a girl shooting ping-pong balls from her doodah. Whenever I used to land at Don Muang airport, I used to to conjure this image for some reason.... Whatever.

Not necessarily Thailand specific.

The Soi Dog...Icon of ก.ท.ม.

Yeah,its usually the tuk-tuk.

In the future I think it will be nutters wearing yellow bandannas creating havoc in the streets, or maybe tanks rolling in, hmmm now where did I see that?

Pattaya resident with his girlfriends mother.

Pattaya resident with his girlfriends mother.

you mean girlfriends father.