Thai Government Explains Official Name Change for Bangkok
2022-02-25
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1Thailand's government recently provided new guidance on how the official name of the capital, Bangkok, would be used internationally.
2The guidance, however, caused some confusion.
3Some people thought it meant that English speakers would need to start calling Bangkok by its longer, local name, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon.
4But Thailand's Royal Society recently explained that the new guidance did not mean that people should stop calling the capital Bangkok.
5The Royal Society is responsible for creating academic and language guidelines for the country.
6In its recent guidance, the agency said the capital would now be officially known internationally as "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok)."
7This was a change from the old guidance, which described the capital as "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon; Bangkok."
8As people tried to understand the meaning of the new guidance, many saw the use of parentheses around Bangkok as a sign that the short form may no longer be welcomed like before.
9The short name for the capital means "great city of angels" in Thai.
10When speaking, most Thais shorten that name to Krung Thep.
11Some language experts wondered if the new guidance would lead to difficulties for people not aware of the capital's longer, official name.
12As the issue gained attention in Thailand, the Royal Society released a statement on Facebook explaining that its new guidance simply represented a stylistic change.
13"Writing the capital city's official name with the Roman alphabet can be done both as Krung Thep Maha Nakon and Bangkok," the statement said.
14What some people may not know is that even the term used by Thais to describe the capital is a shortened version of the official name.
15That name, which has roots in the Pali and Sanskrit languages, stretches 168 letters.
16It is more of a phrase to describe the city than a traditional name.
17The Guinness World Records organization lists Bangkok's extremely long official name as the world's longest place name.
18I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Thailand's government recently provided new guidance on how the official name of the capital, Bangkok, would be used internationally. 2The guidance, however, caused some confusion. Some people thought it meant that English speakers would need to start calling Bangkok by its longer, local name, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon. 3But Thailand's Royal Society recently explained that the new guidance did not mean that people should stop calling the capital Bangkok. The Royal Society is responsible for creating academic and language guidelines for the country. 4In its recent guidance, the agency said the capital would now be officially known internationally as "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok)." This was a change from the old guidance, which described the capital as "Krung Thep Maha Nakhon; Bangkok." 5As people tried to understand the meaning of the new guidance, many saw the use of parentheses around Bangkok as a sign that the short form may no longer be welcomed like before. 6The short name for the capital means "great city of angels" in Thai. When speaking, most Thais shorten that name to Krung Thep. 7Some language experts wondered if the new guidance would lead to difficulties for people not aware of the capital's longer, official name. As the issue gained attention in Thailand, the Royal Society released a statement on Facebook explaining that its new guidance simply represented a stylistic change. 8"Writing the capital city's official name with the Roman alphabet can be done both as Krung Thep Maha Nakon and Bangkok," the statement said. 9What some people may not know is that even the term used by Thais to describe the capital is a shortened version of the official name. That name, which has roots in the Pali and Sanskrit languages, stretches 168 letters. It is more of a phrase to describe the city than a traditional name. 10The Guinness World Records organization lists Bangkok's extremely long official name as the world's longest place name. 11I'm Bryan Lynn. 12The Associated Press reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 13We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. 14___________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16confusion - n. a state in which people do not understand what is happening or what they should do 17parentheses - n. two curved lines that are used around extra information or information that should be considered separate 18stylistic - adj. relating to a particular style of doing something