Locally known as Krung Thep, 'City of Angels', Thailand’s capital, blends the old and the new. It is a modern city of marvelous contrasts, where office towers mingle with glittering palaces and temples and traditional wooden houses sit alongside air-conditioned mansions. It is an exotic, fascinating, and sometimes congested home for over six million people, with a strong sense of tradition and legendary hospitality. Amazingly, in the midst of this hectic, modern city Bangkok manages to preserve its cultural heritage to a unique degree  Travelers find Bangkok an exciting place to visit, as there is lots to see and do both in the city itself and in the nearby resorts and historic sights. The city is noted for its magnificent palaces and beautiful temples, and the organizing committee can arrange exclusive visits for congress attendees to all these historic attractions  Previous major conference events hosted by the city have included the first ASEM gathering, the historic meeting of heads of state of Asia and Europe, a number of important world tourism congresses, and the Asia-Pacific Rotary Convention, with over 10,000 delegates