Bangkok began in 1782 as a settlement on the bank of the Chao Phraya, and this area soon became the center of the city's government and religious institutions. Government officials at first lived just to the east of the city and across the river in Thon Buri. The commercial center, predominantly Chinese, was immediately south of the island along the east bank of the river. A small European community began even farther south and attracted increasing commercial development. The city subsequently grew in all directions, but in general its layout radiated outward from a royal and religious core through a government or bureaucratic ring to a mixed Chinese and European outer ring.
Most of the city's arteries were waterways, and people traveled more by boat than by horse-drawn or motorized carriage. Almost all major streets were either flanked with canals on both sides or were boulevards with canals running down the middle. By the 1970s most of the canals were gone and replaced by multilane roads. With the decline of the canal system that once so distinguished the city, Bangkok's famous floating market has had to move from the city to the western suburbs. The market features vendors selling their wares from boats in the early-morning hours.
