Even Stephen Fry, the Quite Intelligent host of QI, knows that the real name of Bangkok isn't Bangkok at all, but Krung Thep. But he's only half right. Or maybe, to be more accurate, 1/32 right. Its everyday name is กรุงเทพ (pronounced approximately "Krung Thep"), but its official name, as seen on any Bangkok car registration, is กรุงเทพมหานคร ("Krung Thep Maha Nakhon"):

Bangkok car registration

More formally it should be written กรุงเทพมหานครฯ , and that squiggle ฯ at the end of the name is important because it stands for "etc.". And what the entire phrase stands for is this, its full ceremonial name: กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยามหาดิลก ภพนพรัตน์ ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์ มหาสถาน อมรพิมาน อวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะ วิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์.

Note: if your browser doesn't have a Unicode font including the Thai alphabet, you may see squares insted of the Thai text above. (This isn't the place to explain how to fix the problem, but you might need to note that this page is Unicode encoded in UTF-8, so if you find advice aimed at reading pre-Unicode Thai websites, with references to installing fonts with names like DBThaiText, it doesn't apply here.

Historically, the city has had various ceremonial names, and even some Thais will recite a different version if you ask them. (In fact, many Thais can only sing it, since they learned the words from a 1989 song by Asani-Wasan.) However, this is the current authoritative name, as displayed outside Bangkok's City Hall:

The full name of Bangkok

and this tablet beside the name explains its history:

History of the name of Bangkok

(Phrabat Somdet Phra Poramenthara Maha Mongkut Phra Chomklaochaoyuhua may be more familiar to most readers under his shorter name, King Rama IV.)

You can also see the name by the river in front of Wat Arun (map) ( Google Earth) , where it's nearly impossible to get a good photograph:

The full name of Bangkok on the waterfront at Wat Arun

and on this popular T-shirt:

So what does it mean, and how do you say it? Most Thai people, even if they know the name, probably can't tell you what it means, because it owes more to Sanskrit and Pali than native Thai. Here's a breakdown of the parts:

Or, if you believe the tablet, it's the city that is very large like the city of angels, houses the sacred Emerald Buddha, has prosperity and stable beauty, is abundant with the pleasant nine gems, has numerous royal grand palaces and is a fairy abode created on the earth by Thao Sakka Thewarat Witsanukam for the incarnated divinities.