Bangkok is one of the most dominant primate cities in the world. It is 35 times as large as the second largest city of Chiang Mai., which is located in northern Thailand. Bangkok is the transportation and communication center of the country, as all railroad tracks, roads and airplane routes center on it. Bangkok is also the heart of the financial, commercial, educational, industrial and administrative activity within Thailand. Most importantly, Bangkok is the symbolic focus of the government, Monarchy and religion.
Bangkok has a disproportionate share of the nations political, administrative,
cultural, commercial and industrial institutions. However, the rest of the
country is much stronger agriculturally, providing the food demands of the
growing city. Bangkok has been unwilling to decentralize control in the
past and as a result, there is a huge difference in welfare levels between
Bangkok and the other regions, leading to instability and disunity. This
has been caused by, and in turn causing, many people to move into the city,
thinking that life will be better there for them. Many of these people end
up in slums, and the women turn to prostitution. A large part of the money
that they earn is sent to their parents and children left behind in the
village.
Until the reign of King Rama V, provinces in the Northern, Northeastern and Southern Thailand were tributaries rather than components of Siam. Rama V developed several programs to improve accessibility to these areas and to strengthen their economic ties within the nation. As a result of these programs, although the provinces are now under direct control of the government, Bangkok is highly accessible to the provinces, and rapid urbanization has occurred.
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