Thailand's capital and gateway city is Bangkok which was founded in 1782 by King Rama I (Phra Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke). The capital is located at the geographic centre of the country and on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, "River of Kings", which rises in the hills of the North and flows through the flat central plains on its way to the sea in the Gulf of Thailand.

Actually, Bangkok is made up of two words, namely ; "Bang" and "Kok", signifying a "village" or "district" on the river and a "wild olive-like fruit" respectively, thus, it means the "village of olives" which was formerly just a small fishing village. Usually Thai people call their capital by its short form "Krung Thep" which means "City of Angels".