Chinatown Bangkok – Yaowarat, the Chinese Legacy by Lydia Pinter
Chinatown in Bangkok began when King Rama I decided in
1782 to establish the new capital of Bangkok on the eastern shore
Chao Phraya River. Chinese immigrants were
Originally settled in the area that is now the Great Hall had
to go to a strip of land about a mile downstream.
Over the years the settlement grew. Today, Chinatown
Bangkok or Yaowarat covers a square bounded by Phadung
Krung Kasem, east of the Canal, the Ong Ang Canal
west, Luang Road in the north and the Chao Phraya River to
south, an area of ââabout 2 square kilometers.
Chinatown The casual visitor is likely to only have the
time and energy to cover the main street Yaowarat Road
where most activities are concentrated. The other way
of interest is Rachawong road that is off Yaowarat Road.
If you come to Chinatown for the most convenient way
way to start your tour of this legacy is to take Bangkok
metro station located in Hua Lam Pong eastern
Bank Krung Kasem Canal Phadung. Nearby is the Hua
Lam Phong railway station for trains that travel to all
part of Thailand .
Across the road from the train station is where Traimit road
the famous Wat Traimit
or Golden Buddha Temple is located. This Wat is home to a 3 m
high Buddha made of more than 5 tons of gold!
In the same compound as Wat Traimit is the Saphanthawong
A museum dedicated to the community of early
Chinese immigrants in Bangkok.
Outside the main entrance of Wat Traimit is an island of traffic
which means a huge archway in China, the Odeon Gate,
Built in 1999 to commemorate the birthday of King Bhumipol 72, the
current king. This gate marks the start of Yaowarat Road and
the walking tour for the rest of Chinatown.
Yaowarat Road, Chinatown's main street of Bangkok,
built in the reign of King Rama V. Winds crowded street
through the bustling heart of Chinatown as a mythical dragon
looking up at the door of Odeon. Signs in Thai
and the Chinese give the visitor a clear indication that it is in
Chinatown.
The street is full of fins everywhere jewelry stores, sharks
and birds nest restaurants, shops and Chinese sellers
medicinal herbs, dried mushrooms, salted fish, roast duck,
Chinese calendars, almanacs and of course, lottery tickets. The
avid bargain hunter that I have a ball browsing time
through the shops and stalls.
Every year during Chinese New Year is Yaowarat Road
Street closed to traffic for the holidays, lion dances and food fairs.
A member of the royal family attends to the occasion, every year
much to the joy and pride of the community Yaowarat.
Most of the larger hotels in Chinatown are over
Yaowarat Road. The highlight however, is the Great
China Ratchawong Princess in marriage, right in the heart
Chinatown, overlooking the old city and the Chao Phraya.
About a kilometer of road turn left at Yaowarat
Ratchawong way street full of other vendors
everything from stickers, fried appetizers with toast
chestnuts. Ratchawong Road has two important milestones in the
Chinatown.
Fifty yards after turning onto the street you Rachawong
meet a high arc to a narrow soi China on the left.
During the Lunar New Year in 2004, this soi, soi Phalittaphon,
renamed Soi Sun Yat Sen,
after the father of the revolution who visited China
Bangkok's Chinatown in 1908, during his tour through Southeast
Asia to raise money for overseas Chinese
revolution.
Walk through this narrow soi, the visitor would
cope with the crowds of shoppers and the frequent passage of
vehicles. The shops and stalls along this soi sell a full range of
variety of products and even Christmas trees.
Further along Rachawong Road is an even closer to the soi
right. The SOI is so congested that it is barely passable to human health
traffic. Filled with stalls on either side, it would take a great
particular buyer to weave his way through.
It's hard to imagine that this is the famous Soi Soi Sampheng Wanit or where the
original Chinese settlers moved in and began Chinatown
in 1782.
At the end of the road is the Pier Rachawong Rachawong in
Chao Phraya River. If you come by boat, this is the spring
to descend and begin to reverse Chinatown. If you have
arrived by road, you may want to leave by boat for a change.
A tour of Bangkok's Chinatown offers a fascinating insight
in a very different way of life. The busy streets are a fusion
pot of communities engaging in trade and commerce in all
level - a legacy of the early Chinese immigrants and their
of the company.
