Government reveals minor tweak in Thai capital’s name

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022
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The government on Wednesday clarified that the change in Bangkok’s name to Krung Thep Maha Nakhon is only a minor tweak for official purposes and does not affect usage in daily life.

Government deputy spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek said that there was only a change in punctuation in the previous official name “Krung Thep Maha Nakhon; Bangkok กทม”, to “Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (Bangkok) กทม”, and this was only for official purposes.

Ratchada said the Royal Society has said that people could use both “Krung Thep Maha Nakhon“ or ”Bangkok”, clarifying on its Facebook page that both names are acceptable when referring to the Thai capital.

The Royal Society explained in the Facebook post that the committee of international geographic names has corrected the names of countries, territories, administrative districts, and capitals.

The committee comprises experts in linguistics and Foreign Ministry representatives, who correct spellings and transliteration for the government sector to use as the standard.