Bangkok

Bangkok’s official name is 168 letters long, making it the longest place name in the world according to Guinness World Records.

Most Thais simply call it Krung Thep, meaning “City of Angels.” The full ceremonial name translates to something like “the great city of angels, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems.” Good luck fitting that on a postcard.

King Rama I founded Bangkok in 1782 after the Burmese destroyed the old capital of Ayutthaya fifteen years earlier. He moved his court across the Chao Phraya River and built the Grand Palace on swampy ground protected by water on three sides.

The new city faced a bigger threat in the 1800s. France conquered Indochina to the east. Britain took Burma to the west. Thailand sat sandwiched between two hungry empires.

King Chulalongkorn, who ruled from 1868 to 1910, pulled off something remarkable. He modernized Thailand’s army, legal system, and government while playing the British and French against each other. He traveled to Europe, charmed Queen Victoria, and made Thailand look too “civilized” to colonize.

It worked. Thailand remains the only country in Southeast Asia that was never colonized by a European power. The country’s name, adopted in 1939, means “land of the free.”

The Grand Palace complex still dazzles visitors with golden spires and glittering mosaics. Inside sits the Emerald Buddha, Thailand’s most sacred statue, carved from a single piece of jade and dressed in gold.

Walk next door to Wat Pho and meet the Reclining Buddha. This gold-plated giant stretches 46 meters long. Kids can drop coins into 108 bronze bowls along the corridor for good luck.

Cross the river by boat to Wat Arun, the Temple of Dawn, its towers covered in colorful porcelain that sparkles in the sunlight. Order pad thai from a street vendor and try mango sticky rice for dessert.

And if anyone asks where you visited, you can tell them: Krungthepmahanakhon Amonrattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilokphop Noppharatratchathaniburirom Udomratchaniwetmahasathan Amonphimanawatansathit Sakkathattiyawitsanukamprasit.

Or just say Bangkok.