Intriguing ethnic enclaves
By: Text and photos Yvonne Bohwongprasert
Published: 7/05/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Horizons
Pulsating with energy and life, Bangkok’s Chinatown rarely sleeps. One of the oldest parts of the city, it takes its name from that of its main artery, Yaowarat, a road which winds through Samphanthawong district, its contours bearing an uncanny resemblance to that of a dragon’s body.
Typically thronged with shoppers and diners until late at night, it is one of the largest and most prosperous ethnic-Chinese communities in Thailand. A rabbit warren of sois and even narrower alleys called trok, it is packed with small businesses and streetside stalls and boasts what is probably the greatest concentration of gold shops in all of Southeast Asia. Wholesaler merchants deal in everything from bags, toys and flip-flops to household appliances, herbs and traditional supplies and decorative items for Chinese festivals.
Part of its allure is the fact that it has largely escaped the attention of high-rise developers and still boasts many century-old shophouses. In a rundown old cafe’, whose walls look like they haven’t had a lick of paint since the day the place opened for business, one can sip weak jasmine tea or freshly brewed o-liang coffee under a grimy ceiling fan and eavesdrop as elderly men of Chinese ancestry gossip away the afternoon. On the same street one might find a traditional barber’s shop where cut-throat razors and other primitive-looking tools are still in use.
Yaowarat also boasts several large Mahayana Buddhist temples, popular with pilgrims, and a host of colourful shrines dedicated to various Chinese deities.
After dusk, the area is thronged with diners since it boasts some of the best hawker food and the most expensive gourmet Chinese restaurants in the whole city. The variety on offer is truly amazing.
A short walk away is Phahurat, Bangkok’s Little India, a community of predominantly Punjabi extraction, Hindus and Sikhs who set up homes and businesses along a road laid in 1898 and named after Somdej Chaofah Phahurat Maneemai, a son of King Rama V.
The busy, open-air market along Chakkraphet Road is a rich tapestry of Indian restaurants, traditional fabric shops and retailers flogging everything from incense and the latest Bollywood movies to spices and pulses imported from the Sub-continent.
Here, too, is Sri Guru Singh Sabha, a beautiful, six-storey Sikh temple which was completed in 1932. Soi Pratu Lek Yai, near the recently opened India Emporium shopping mall, is a great place to check out the sights and sounds of this close-knit neighbourhood.
Chalermphrakiat Arch, the symbolic entrance to
Chinatown, is a popular congregation point for
people celebrating the lunar new year.
Bangkok Bank opened its very first branch
in Soi Mangkorn, a narrow lane in Chinatown
that is also the site of Tang Toh Kang,
a 130-year-old gold shop which houses the
only private museum in the city dedicated
to the art of goldsmithing.
A wide variety of food is sold from
stalls along Yaowarat, with vendors
often at their busiest after 9pm.
Sae Lao Jin Seng, one of the longest established
bakeries in Chinatown, specialises in desserts for
traditional Chinese wedding ceremonies.
Shrine to Guan Yim, revered as the
goddess of mercy, at the Thian Fah
Foundation which was established by
Chinese immigrants in 1902 to offer
free medical treatment to poor people.
A stone’s throw from the Charoen Krung/ Yaowarat
junction is Wat Trai Mit. Busloads of tourists flock
here to pay their respects to a Buddha image made
from five and a half tons of gold and thought to
date back to the Sukhothai period
Erected in 1932, the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Temple
is both a place of worship and a sanctuary for the
destitute; free meals are served here every day
The interior of Aea Sae, a traditional coffee shop
which has been doing brisk business for 70 years
now and a row of gold shops in the heart of Yaowarat.
A fabric vendor at Phahurat Plaza gets comfortable
while waiting for her next customer. Indian
accessories are also available
*Bron: Bangkok Post / www.bangkokpost.com *