The
Bangkok Metropolitan Area ' onMouseout='HidePop("82495")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Royal_Thai_General_System_of_Transcription">RTGS:
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by The Royal Institute of Thailand...
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Lae Parimonthon; Literally: Bangkok and its vicinity), also known as
Greater Bangkok, is the urban conglomeration of
BangkokBangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Mahanakhon , or กรุงเทพฯ Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It came to the forefront of Siam when it was given the...
,
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, which includes 5 adjacent provinces.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Area covers an area of 7,761.50 km² and has an approximate population of 11,971,000 (as of January 1, 2008) , with a population density of 1,301.42 per km².
The
Bangkok Metropolitan Area ' onMouseout='HidePop("82495")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Royal_Thai_General_System_of_Transcription">RTGS:
The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by The Royal Institute of Thailand...
Krung Thep Mahanakhon Lae Parimonthon; Literally: Bangkok and its vicinity), also known as
Greater Bangkok, is the urban conglomeration of
BangkokBangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Mahanakhon , or กรุงเทพฯ Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It came to the forefront of Siam when it was given the...
,
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
, which includes 5 adjacent provinces.
Area and population
The Bangkok Metropolitan Area covers an area of 7,761.50 km² and has an approximate population of 11,971,000 (as of January 1, 2008) , with a population density of 1,301.42 per km². Due to the success of the service and tourism industry in Bangkok, the city has gained in popularity not only among provincial Thais from the rural areas but in many countries in the Indochina region as well as many South Asian countries for work. In the past 20-30 years, there has been a large movement of Indians (Sikhs), Pakistanis, Persians, Burmese, Cambodians, Laotians and many others emigrating to Bangkok. The city is now home to nearly 3-4 million illegal foreigners, a third of which are not of Thai descent. There are large numbers of workers who reside outside the metropolitan area and flux into the city for day time jobs in addition. Therefore, with regards to the population, the registered number of approximately 10 is dwarfed by the 15-20 million in the city during the day. However, during New Year's Break, Songkran Break and other long weekends, the capital often seems deserted of many taxi drivers, side street vendors and other unaccounted forms of informal services in which many illegal residents engage in.
Urban build-up
Many consider Bangkok's built up area limited only within the Bangkok province, however, large communities and centers are currently cropping up throughout the metropolitan area. The rapid growth of suburban development is increasingly connecting these city centers. Much similar to Los Angeles, the city's many urban centers are now turning into cities in themselves and certain Bangkokians no longer enter the city core area due to businesses basing their headquarters at different city centers of the city. The built up area consists primarily of Bangkok province, parts of Samut Prakan province, parts of Nonthaburi province, parts of Pathum Thani province, and the border areas of Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom to the Bangkok province. Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani and Samut Sakhon all have a city center and downtown core as they were once separate cities and due to the large growth of suburbs along the outskirts of Bangkok, have created an extremely large conglomeration of the urban area. Bangkok's freeways are one way for many middle class workers to commute to city centers. However, lower class workers normally work in areas of their residence unless they are employed by companies, they would use the city's extensive bus routes or carpool with tens of workers in the early hours of the morning.
Currently, the city's growth is not stricken to a certain area. The land value of the downtown core in each city is skyrocketing especially in the Bangkok downtown giving rise to a
ManhattanizationManhattanization is a neologism coined to describe the construction of many tall or densely situated buildings which transforms the appearance and character of a city. It was a pejorative word used by critics of the highrise buildings built in San Francisco during the 1960s and 1970s, who claimed...
in city core areas. The outskirts of each city is growing and the boundaries are no longer visible between each province and city center. Due to the speed of this urban sprawl over the past twenty years, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has sought to tackle rising problems of commute times, pollution and deteriorating air quality. Recent administrations have been relatively successful in conserving the air quality, however the city still lacks an effective mass transit network and a clean and resolving plan on implementing environmental practices. This form of urbanization is not only limited to Bangkok but traces can be found in metropolitan areas where there has been a quick surge in population. The
Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan AreaPattaya-Chonburi metropolitan area is a conurbanation in Chonburi Province of Thailand. It comprises Pattaya City, 7 town municipalities, and 23 township municipalities in 6 districts with 1,003,839 registered inhabitants as of 2009...
is a prime example due to the increase in residential high rise living and the rush for commercial office space, in the
Nakhon Ratchasima Metropolitan AreaThe Nakhon Ratchasima Metropolitan Area is the urban sprawl of the city of Nakhon Ratchasima. It covers in Mueang Nakhon Ratchasima district , parts of Kham Thale So district , and parts of Sung Noen district with 767.98 km² of land...
,
Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan AreaThe Greater Hatyai-Songkhla Metropolitan Area is an urban corridor in Southern Thailand's Songkhla Province between two cities--Hat Yai, the commercial center of the province and the region, and Songkhla, the provincial capital. Located 30 km apart, the twin cities are complementary to each other....
and
Chiang Mai Metropolitan AreaThe Chiang Mai Metropolitan Area is the urban sprawl of the twin cities of city of Chiang Mai and town of Lamphun. It has an area of around 2,905.13 km² in 2 Province, 2,302.88 km² in Chiang Mai and 602.25 km² in Lamphun. There are 970,479 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. The population...
.
Provinces
| Province |
Area
km² |
Population
(2008) |
Pop.Density
Inh/km² |
BangkokBangkok is the capital, largest urban area and primary city of Thailand. Known in Thai as Krung Thep Mahanakhon , or กรุงเทพฯ Krung Thep for short, it was a small trading post at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. It came to the forefront of Siam when it was given the...
|
1,568.737 |
6,355,144 |
3,643.88 |
| Nonthaburi Nonthaburi is one of the central provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom.-Geography:...
|
622.30 |
1,060,320 |
1,703.87 |
Samut PrakanSamut Prakan is one of the central provinces of Thailand.Neighboring provinces are in the west and north Bangkok and Chachoengsao to the east....
|
1,004.50 |
1,152,107 |
1,146.95 |
Pathum ThaniPathum Thani is one of the central provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Ayutthaya, Saraburi, Nakhon Nayok, Chachoengsao, Bangkok and Nonthaburi....
|
1,525.90 |
937,224 |
614.21 |
Samut SakhonSamut Sakhon is one of the central provinces of Thailand.Neighboring provinces are Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Nakhon Pathom and Bangkok.- Etymology :...
|
872.30 |
480,998 |
551.34 |
Nakhon PathomNakhon Pathom is one of the central provinces of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are Suphan Buri, Ayutthaya, Nonthaburi, Bangkok, Samut Sakhon, Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi....
|
2,168.30 |
845,769 |
390.06 |
| Total |
7,761.50 |
11,971,000 |
1,312.99 |