全通翻譯/翻譯社

Bangkok: Fun and Culture in the Big Mango

There's no doubt that Bangkok is one of the world's tourist hotspots. Major surveys routinely rank the Thai capital up there with London and Paris in terms of international visitors. A staggering 6.33 million tourists arrived in the City of Angels in the fourth quarter of 2012. Altogether, Bangkok netted close to US$50 billion in tourist revenues.

Though many visitors stop in Bangkok en route to Thailand's beach destinations, a large proportion are equally enticed by the city's hustle and bustle. The opportunity to shop'til you drop is one of the Big Mango's major drawing cards. With its culture of haggling, it's no surprise that Bangkok frequently ranks near the top of the global rankings when it comes to stealing a deal. And, it's not all market madness: From the streets stalls of Patpong to the air-conditioned department stores, there’s something for all levels of consumer. 

Bangkok traditionally contributes a large chunk of Thailand's GDP (nearly 30 percent in 2010). The city was hit hard by the floods of 2011, which greatly affected Thailand's exports, a major driver of growth. However, an initial downturn was tackled, in part, by government measures, including wage hikes and a cut to interest rates. This meant that gloomy forecasts were exceeded, with 5.3 percent GDP growth for 2012 as a whole and 18.9 percent in the final quarter.


曼谷：大芒果風情畫

曼谷無疑是全球旅客的熱門景點之一。就國際旅客數量來看，大型調查時常將泰國首都與倫敦和巴黎並列。二O一二第四季就有高達 633 萬名旅客造訪這座天使之都。曼谷的觀光收入總計接近 500 億美元。

儘管許多旅客只在前往泰國的海邊度假區時路過曼谷，有一大部分旅客同樣受其繁華喧鬧的景象所吸引。讓你血拼到腳軟的機會更是大芒果吸引旅客的重點。因為有著議價文化，曼谷常在全球物超所值排行榜中名列前茅也就不足為奇了。而且，曼谷不只瘋傳統市場：從拍蓬的街販到有空調的百貨公司，各個層級的消費者都能找到想要的東西。

傳統上曼谷對泰國的國內生產毛額貢獻良多（二O一O年接近 30%）。曼谷遭到二O一一年水災的重擊，出口貿易這個泰國經濟成長的主要推手受到嚴重影響。不過，調升工資與降息等政府措施減緩了部分的初期下滑趨勢。這表示悲觀的預測已過去，二O一二整年的國內生產毛額成長了 5.3%，而該年度最後一季成長率更達到 18.9%。

資料來源：biz 互動英語電子報