Bangkok in search of a slogan

A population of 10 million, ancient temples, modern skyscrapers, squalid slums, expensive boutiques, traffic to drive anyone crazy - that sums up Bangkok in a sentence. But the city is running a competition to find a slogan for the Thai capital, and such a characterisation has no chance of making the grade.
The authorities are looking for something more flattering. "We want to show how unique our city is," says Mingkuan Kittiwannakorn, who works in the education department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) and was a member of the jury for the preliminary selection.
"We want to make the inhabitants proud and the visitors curious," she says. So no slums, no exhaust emissions, no noodles and no sticky rice. Other Thai provinces have made use of the latter in slogans chosen years ago. They include Nakhon Ratchasima, described as the Bastion of the Brave, but also as Home of Korat Fried Noodles.Chon Buri also chose a culinary theme. It is proud of its weaving and buffalo races, but is also the home of Khao Larm, a kind of sweet rice.
"We are looking for something that values the best of our cultural treasures," says Mingkuan, in a reference to the ancient royal palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. "The slogan must be a symbol for the entire city," she says. Slogans like "World-class city with historic highlights", or "Renowned metropolis with cultural charm" would be closer to the jury's ideas, and this is the tone of the five that have made the final for city residents to choose from.
Mingkuan reports that there were almost 10,000 ideas. The winning slogan will be chosen live on television in August and secure for its inventor a prize of 500,000 baht, equivalent to around 16,600 dollars, as well as a mention in the city's official records.
Not that Bangkok has ever been at a loss for words. The city's real name takes up several lines, even in the abbreviated form as follows: "The city of the angels, the great city, the eternal jewel, unconquerable, decorated with new jewels, with a huge royal palace that resembles the heavenly residence of God risen..."
Bangkok is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon. Residents refer to it simply as Krung Thep, "City of the Angels." A true Thai would never talk about Bangkok, which means something like "the village in the plum orchard". Bangkok was originally the name of a village on the opposite side of the Chao Phraya River that was the seat of power for a few years in the 18th century.
The foundation stone for Krung Thep was laid in 1782. Since then, the city has grown into a monster of 10 million and the unchallenged number one among Thailand's cities. But why does it need a slogan? "When sports teams participate in domestic competitions, they always introduce their home towns using a characteristic sentence - with the sole exception of Bangkok," says Mingkuan.
Somehow Bangkok, which is both a city and a province, missed out when most slogans were dreamed up during the 1980s. All the other 75 provinces have theirs. "Moreover, the city can also advertise itself to visitors with a slogan," Mingkuan adds. This is no bad idea, as last year's bloody unrest led to the number of visitors going down by almost 24 per cent to 4.8 million.
The rest of Thailand is benefiting from the trend. Tourists are not staying away from the country, just from the capital. Almost 16 million foreigners visited Thailand last year, nearly 2 million more than in 2009.
Bangkok has no reason to be bashful. The US magazine Travel and Leisure recently voted it the best urban destination in the world, ahead of Florence, Rome and New York. The magazine pointed to the sights, the culture and art, the restaurants and the shopping, the people and the prices.