Bangkok's Chinatown

2/9/2015

This one square kilometer of land has been the main center of trade between China and Thailand for several centuries. The first Chinese traders arrived in Bangkok in the 16 th century, pre-dating the founding of the Thai Capitol. They operated maritime "junk" trade between China and Siam (the older name for Thailand). Originally located a bit west of its present location, the Chinese community was asked to move to where it is now (one of the oldest areas of Bangkok) by King Rama I in 1782 so that he could begin construction of the Grand Palace. Today, Chinatown is packed with shops and market stalls selling such items as stationary, textiles, souvenirs, food, electronics, etc, along with a dense concentration of gold shops. The main road through Bangkok's Chinatown, Yaowarat road, was constructed in 1902 and is said to resemble a dragon's curvy body (considered a good luck sign).

Many of the small, closely packed, shops are like a combination of Haymarket Square in Boston, the old RIPS warehouse in Abington, and a page out of the Oriental Trading Company's catalogue (for our teacher friends).

Often, there is barely enough room to get by.

Lottery betting tables are everywhere.

A quick snack of fish is available.

...or of crabs, snails, and some things we did not want to even venture a guess as to what they were.

Of course, if your tastes run more to meat products rather than fish, there is always a succulent pig's head.

We have found chestnut venders in every place we have visited so far on this trip. This is Bangkok's Chinatown version of how to prepare them.

The Golden Buddha temple we wrote about earlier is located in the heart of Chinatown. As part of that complex, there is an excellent exhibition about the history of the emergence of the Chinese community here. This is a scale model of Chinatown.