Market Friday: searching for the oldest Chinese house in Bangkok,ตามหาบ้านที่เก่าแก่ที่สุดในกรุงเทพฯ

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(Edited)

This is my entry for #marketfriday created by @dswigle. This was a follow up from my last week’s trip to Warehouse30. Since I was about the historical area of old Bangkok, I decided to search for the oldest Chinese house in Bangkok. I heard about this old house and saw some photos a long time ago. This was quite a long walk on a hot summer afternoon.

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Looking back at Warehouse30 in this narrow lane with a fusion style restaurant at the corner, I continued walking straight ahead towards the Sheraton Hotel by the river.

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Before reaching the hotel, there’s the famous Portuguese Embassy with old wooden gate and wall mural where youngsters came for their selfies. The mixture of new and old neo-colonial architecture of buildings in this area attracts youngsters looking for their historical culture.

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I think it has become a new trend for young artistic people to have their selfies with old buildings on their FB, whether they are really interested or could understand the socio-economic or political background of that period is quite uncertain.

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Opposite the Portuguese embassy is a display of big brass statues mostly of animals, French and Italian style fountains and statues for creating classic Western garden design.

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I was amazed that many big pieces I used to see on display were all gone. I wondered who would buy these heavy giant statues and these people must have very large gardens!

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A few steps further, a beautifully renovated Western style house stands to reflect the height of good old days of wealth and commerce in Siam. This house used to be the European headquarter of a logging company. There were lots of Westerners’ houses in this area where goods and produce were transported on merchants’ ships anchoring along the river bank. This house is called House No.One to signify this as the the beginning of having formal address system for houses in Siam.

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Some reader may recognise the River City Shopping complex and pier where Steemfest4 had their river cruise dinner last November. How time slipped through my fingers like water! I still remembered taking @gamer00 and @daabi2006 on a tuk-tuk from the Temple of Golden Mount to take an express boat to a small pier nearby River City Pier. We were rushing like crazy as we wouldn’t want to miss the river cruise.

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I followed this road for ten minutes till I spotted a sign for ‘Trok San Chao Rong Kueak’ on the right. This is a narrow long lane along rows of old houses built over a hundred years ago. At the end of this lane should be the old Chinese shrine called San Chao Rong Kueak which is over a hundred years old. So, I thought the oldest Chinese house should be around the Chinese shrine; there was no sign pointing towards my destination.

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This narrow lane has become a famous tourist attraction among Thai teenagers who would flock here during the weekends for their selfies with old buildings. The local community, Talad Noi (small market), has somehow benefited from the new trend of cultural tourism. There were efforts to renovate the area with new paints, wall paintings and graffiti, and art exhibition. Some local people have turned their old spare-parts warehouses into chic coffee shops while others offer fast food cooked according to their family recipes.

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During normal time, lots of tourists would be walking along this narrow lane, taking pictures of their houses and intruding on their daily life’s activities. I do wonder how they feel about this encroachment on their privacy. Groups of old Chinese locals stopped their conversations when I walked by the front of their houses. This was like having strangers walking by in front of living rooms all day. I didn’t know whether I was really welcomed by those local people who didn’t benefit from invasive cultural tourism.

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I finally found the old Chinese shrine by the river front. But the gate was closed due to the coronavirus lockdown. A local gave me the direction to the oldest house. They must have done this hundreds of times for happy go lucky tourists.

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Finally I found the oldest Chinese house in Bangkok of over 250 years old. I was supposed to treat myself to a nice coffee inside this house. But the lockdown made the owners closed their house to the public. The design of this house reminded me of old Chinese films. I would have to visit this place again soon.

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สัปดาห์ก่อนเราไปเดินเล่นแถวถนนเจริญกรุง แล้วก็เดินต่อไปตามหาบ้านคหบดีจีนที่เด่าแก่ที่สุดในสยาม จากถนนเจริญกรุง 30 เราเดินต่อไปตามถนนจนถึงสถานฑูตโปรตุเกตที่อยู่ริมแม่นํ้า วันนั้นมีช่างภาพวัยรุ่นมาถ่ายรูปกันหลายคน ตรงข้ามมีร้านขายรูปปั้นหล่อด้วยทองเหลืองชนาดใหญ่หลายสิบแบบ ทั้งรูปปั้นสัตว์ น้ำพุแบบอิตาเลียน รูปปั้นสำหรับประดับสวน เราสังเกตเห็นว่ารูปปั้นมีจำนวนน้อยกว่าเดิมมาก แสดงว่ามีคนมาซื้อไปแต่งบ้านและสวนมากพอสมควร พวกเขาต้องมีสวนขนาดใหญ่และบ้านแบบมหึมาทีเดียว

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แถวนั้นมีตึกเก่าแก่ที่ได้รับการบูรณะ ให้สวยดูดีเหมือนสมัยก่อน แถวนั้นเป็นถิ่นของชาวต่างชาติที่มาค้าขายในสยาม เพราะอยู่ใกล้แม่นํ้าและท่าเรือ และติดถนนสายแรกในสยาม ปัจจุบันทางซ้ายมือเป็นริเวอร์ซิตี้แหล่งช็อปปิ้ง ที่มีตลาดขายของเก่า และถัดไปคือโรงแรมเชอราตัน เราเดินต่อไปอีกสิบนาทีเลยที่จอดรถของโรงแรม จะเห็นป้ายบอกว่า ตรอกศาลเจ้าโรงเกลือ ซึ่งเป็นที่ตั้งของศาลเจ้าพ่อฮ้อนหว่องกุง ที่คนจีนในชุมชนอัญเชิญมาจากจีนเมื่อร้อยกว่าปีแล้ว

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ชุมชนที่นี่เป็นที่รู้จักกันว่า ชุมชนตลาดน้อยที่มีชุมชนจีนมาอยู่อาศัย ตั้งแต่สมัยต้นกรุงรัตนโกสินทร์ ตอนนี้มีการส่งเสริมดารท่องเที่ยวเชิงวัฒนธรรม ทำให้ชุมชนตลาดน้อยกลายเป็นจุดสนใจ ของนักท่องเที่ยวรุ่นใหม่ที่ชอบถ่ายรูปกับตึกเก่าๆ พากันมาเดินตามตรอก เพื่อถ่ายรูปเซลฟี่ไปลงในสื่อโซเชียล ชุมชนจึงได้รับการดูแลในระดับหนึ่ง มีการทาสีกำแพงให้สดใส มีการเขียนภาพฝาผนัง และจัดแสดงภาพถ่ายของชุมชน บางบ้านเปิดเป็นร้านกาแฟ บางบ้านขายอาหารจานด่วนตำรับโบราณ

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เราเดินไปสุดทางก็เจอศาลเจ้าโบราณ แต่เขาปิดประตูไม่ให้เข้า คงเป็นเพราะเป็นช่วงล็อกดาวน์ เราถามทางไปบ้านโบราณ ชาวจีนที่นั่นก็บอกทางเรา เดินเลี้ยวขวาไปอีกนิดเดียวก็เจอบ้านที่มีประตูไม้บานใหญ่ทาสีแดง บ้านนี้ชื่อ บ้านโซ่งเฮงไถ่ เป็นของเจ้าสัวสอน หรือหลวงอภัยวานิช ตอนนั้นบ้านปิด ไม่เปิดบริการร้านกาแฟภายในบ้าน เราจึงได้แต่ถ่ายรูปจากประตูหน้าบ้าน เราเดินจนอยากกินไอศกรีม ก็เดินออกไปหาร้านแถวนั้น ทุกอย่างปิดกันหมด โชคดีเจอรถขายไอศกรีมผ่านมาพอดี

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That was quite a long day for me so I was looking for an ice cream shop. I could not find any ice cream. Luckily, an ice cream on wheel turned up so I hailed him. Surprisingly, this man made all the ice cream himself everyday. He told me that he made this lot a bit sweeter than normal because of the hot weather. His home made ice cream was very good and cheap, about twenty cents. Evidently he had his regular customers who chased after him on motor bike.

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Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Cheers.



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22 comments
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That was a very cool area and I don't know if I passed by or not on one of my walks but I never heard of the old house. Awesome tour!

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Thank you very much! So glad you enjoy this short tour. You’ll have to come back and walk around Chinatown and New Road again.

Have a nice day!

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Lots of man made beauty...:-)

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There were many alley cats hiding among pot plants and chairs. I couldn’t take their photos! Next time, perhaps.

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Bangkok is very colourful. So many things everywhere!

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(Edited)

Yep! Too many places to see! I have not even seen half of them. Hahaha. I should become a tourist!

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I will be back tomorrow to put in some words that mean more than just a spacefiller. I was disappointed Friday and Saturday to find the site mostly down as I tried to get #MarketFriday done. I promise to be back tomorrow and as a note, I have read them all but, after two of the comment being eaten, I decided if it ate this, I would be okay, but, I didn't want you to think I forgot you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to join the challenge! I appreciate the love and support you are giving to #MarketFriday! Without you and people like yourself, I wouldn't be able to have such a successful challenge! I know that at this time, it is harder to find something to fit the challenge. On a good day, it takes a lot of time and effort to be part of, so it means a lot to me that you participate. I hope you know that there is great latitude in what Market means. It can be typical of where you shop for food, or it can be a unique place that you visit. Thank you again for being a part of all this and I hope that you will, indeed, have a great day and week ahead! If you or any of your friends are in doubt about how to participate, this should clear it all up!

Fridays are all about the #MarketFriday Challenge! Looking to take part in it? Here is how:

How to Participate:

Go to the market! Any market will do! Food, clothing, plant, or animal, if you wish. You can go to the zoo, an art auction, and restaurants. Anywhere or anything that you pay money for any kind of service.
Take pictures! Be creative! It’s fun!
Tell us a little bit about the market, what brought you here?
Post the picture.(s)
Don’t forget to use the MarketFriday Community #196308 to post from or hashtag it! #MarketFriday by @dswigle If you hashtag it, drop the link to your post here so I can easily find them.

As always, please remember! #MarketFriday loves you!

Upped and reposted

!tip .20

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Hi! Don’t worry! I kept losing my post yesterday too! Had to rewrite my post a few time.

Hope you have a restful time!
Cheers.

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I tried #MarketFriday before but I think mine went unnoticed. I tagged it right, I think. I'm living in South Korea, and it has some really neat and colorful markets that I wanted to share with the community. There are lots of neat outside markets that aren't in the U.S. that I think people would really enjoy. I just don't know how to be a part.

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I went and checked your posts and I think this is the one you are talking about. Is this it? https://hive.blog/hive-148441/@gungho/korean-ice-cream-shop

If it is, there would be no way for me to know it was for #MarketFriday. There is no hashtag or anything identifying it. You used Gems to post it and #palnet #creativecoin #travel #korea #gems Let me know so I can help you get sorted.

We leave no man/woman behind!

#MarketFriday loves you!

!tip

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Are you still wandering out and about even during this pandemic? Is your area free from virus yet? I hope everything goes on well for you and people there.
Good luck, keep flourishing.

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Congratulations, your post has been added to Pinmapple! 🎉🥳🍍

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Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest #894.

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This is good news. Thank you very much indeed.

Cheers.

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