Today is Chakri Day. Two hundred and thirty three years ago, Chaophraya Chakri — later King Rama I, or King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke the Great — founded Bangkok as the country's new capital and established the Chakri dynasty, the glory of which is lasting to this day.
To the public, the first monarch of the Kingdom is remembered in the form of the monument built at the foot of Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke Bridge. The imposing statue has presided over one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Bangkok since April 6, 1932. King Rama VII ordered the monument and the bridge — the second that connects Bangkok with Thon Buri — to celebrate the capital's 150th anniversary. The statue was designed by Prince Naris and sculpted by Silpa Bhirasri, renowned Italian artist and founder of Silpakorn University.
In the shadow of the monument that marks the birth of Bangkok, the area around Saphan Buddha, as the bridge is known in Thai, is a community with unique appeal. Pak Khlong Talad, the city's largest flower market, is a colourful, fragrant magnet for tourists and locals, who stroll along footpaths lined with hundreds of shops.
The area at the foot of the bridge also hosts Saphan Buddha market, a throbbing night market teeming with cheap clothes. The night bazaar is popular among local teenagers who turn up to shop for second-hand fashion, to get tattoos or simply to hang out by the bridge. A mix of old-school charm, new-world vibes and historical gravity give the area a strange yet intense pull.
The Saphan Buddha area is one used to transformation, from a humble fish market to a busy trading community and, recently, to a riverside shopping arcade.
The bustling Talad Saphan Buddha at night.
Opened in December, the Yodpiman River Walk was built next to the original fresh market, heralding a new phase of the community. In a few years, the Hua Lamphong-Bangkae MRT line, which is now under construction, will provide easy access to the area, with Sanam Chai station planned at one end of the flower market.
"This area will experience more transformation because investors realise the potential of riverside areas, beginning with Asiatique," said Sudara Suchaxaya, editor-in-chief of the Muang Boran Journal, a magazine on history and archaeology.
Sudara voiced concerns over the future of the people of the traditional community who live by the river. She believes that one day, the market as we know it today could disappear. The landlord that runs the Yodpiman mall has made an offer for the flower market to move inside the building, which received a negative response, as vendors feared that rent would increase, thus causing prices of flowers to rise.
"There are more than one way to develop a traditional community. We don't have to turn everything into a Sukhumvit-style mall."
The authorities have promoted the Saphan Buddha area as a cultural space by urging visitors to check out the art museums in the nearby Suan Kularb School, Poh Chang Art School and Museum Siam, which are within walking distance.
There are also several other attractions, old and new, in the Saphan Buddha area.
Yodpiman River Walk.
Pak Khlong Talad
The best-known and largest flower market in the country was once filled with the unpleasant smell of fish.
That was over a century ago. Since the early Rattanakosin period, Pak Khlong Talad was a large fish market where products from Samut Sakhon province arrived in Bangkok. The market was relocated to a spot near Hua Lamphong Railway Station during the reign of King Rama V. The odorous air has since been replaced with the scent of fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers brought in by boats from orchards on the outskirts of Thon Buri and Nonthaburi provinces.
The area became a large market for the Ministry of Interior's Market Organization when Field Marshall Plaek Pibulsonggram ordered other markets near the Grand Palace and Tha Tian to relocate to Pak Khlong Talad. The florists arrived soon after, and the area grew to become one of the largest flower markets in the country.
Chaiyuth, the owner of a tea leaf shop in the area, has lived here for over six decades.
"At first the flower market was located within the Yodpiman market, a traditional fresh market by the river," he said. "Now the flowers have spread out to occupy parts of the streets."
"It was once a close-knit community where people know one another," said Chaiyuth, adding that children used to play football in the street, which was exponentially less crowded.
But since the flower market's expansion, the community ties have loosened, Chaiyuth said.
And when the new MRT line running from Hua Lamphong to Bang Kae is complete, the area will experience yet another major shift in both landscape and atmosphere.
Talad Saphan Buddha
No one is really sure when Talad Saphan Buddha began, but local residents remember mass arrivals of street vendors 20 years ago. Some of them came after the outdoor market at Sanam Luang was moved to Chatuchak Market, others arrived after city police started to crack down on street vendors.
But the talad, which began as a form of trespassing, became a permanent, bustling fixture during the economic crisis of 1997, when people took available space to open shops.
Nestled under the King Rama I Monument, the night market, which starts at around 8pm and runs past midnight, is a hangout spot for youths. It has a more local feel than Chatuchak, and everything is cheaper and less glamorous. Goods are eclectic, unwieldy, the floor plan unorganised — clothes, T-shirts, accessories, second-hand trainers. There are tattoo shops, guitar shops and kiosks where artists draw portraits.
But the market has a unique appeal — and view — thanks to the illuminated bridge that provides a place for teenagers to hang out. From time to time, rumours that the market will be cleared away emerge. But for now, business remains brisk.
Yodpiman River Walk
If anyone told you a few years ago that soon you'd be able to sip lattes or wine at Pak Khlong Talad market, you might have thought that person was drunk.
That unlikely scene, however, has become a reality after the Yodpiman River Walk opened in December.
The two-storey shopping arcade was built in colonial style, and stands side-by-side with a traditional wet market, offering visitors a juxtaposition of two worlds. This is a mall lined with restaurants, food trucks (or tuk tuks) and stylish cafes. Yodpiman — the name of which is the same as the old wet market — is a neat addition to the riverside arcade boom that started with Asiatique. And more is slated to open next year.
The real draw here is the river walk and an open deck that offers visitors one of the most stunning views of the river Bangkok has to offer.
On the left side is the green steel of Saphan Buddha Bridge, with the spectacular Temple of Dawn on the right, or Thon Buri, side.
