If you are looking for colourful subjects to photograph, take the underground train (MRT) to Hua Lum Pong and begin your tour of colourful China Town at the Golden Buddha temple and just keep walking and clicking. Chinatown which is also known as Yaowarat was started when King Rama I decided in 1782 to establish the capital on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River. The Chinese immigrants who were originally settled in what is now the Grand Palace had to move out to a strip of land two km down the river.
Over the years the settlement grew. Today Chinatown Bangkok or Yaowarat covers a square bounded by Phadung Krung Kasem Canal to the east, the Ong Ang Canal to the west, Luang Road to the north and the Chao Phraya River to the south, an area of about 2 sq km.
The casual visitor to Chinatown would probably only have the time and energy to cover the main street Yaowarat Road where most of the activities are concentrated. The other road of interest is Rachawong Road which is off Yaowarat Road.
If you are coming to Chinatown by road the most convenient way to start your tour of this Bangkok legacy is to take the underground to the Hua Lam Phong underground station located on the eastern bank of the Phadung Krung Kasem Canal.
Across the road from the train station is Traimit Road where the famous Wat Traimit or Temple of the Golden Buddha stands. This wat houses a 3 m high Buddha made of more than 5 tonnes of gold!
The Golden Buddha is now in a new building with the Golden Buddha Museum on the second level and the Yaowarat Heritage Centre on the first level.
Outside the main entrance of Wat Traimit is a traffic island on which stands a huge Chinese arched gate, the Odean Gate, built in 1999 to mark the 72nd birthday of King Bhumipol, the present king. This gate marks the start of Yaowarat Road and the walking tour of the rest of Chinatown.
Yaowarat Road, the main street in Chinatown Bangkok, was built in the reign of King Rama V. The crowded street winds through the bustling heart of Chinatown like a mythical dragon rearing its head at the Odean Gate, an auspicious sign to the residents.
Traveling to Chinatown became more convenient, business picked up rapidly and Yaowarat soon became the city's first commercial district. It still does brisk trade today.
Shop signs in both Thai and Chinese give the visitor a clear indication that he's in Chinatown.
The street is lined with ubiquitous goldsmith shops, sharksfin and birds nest restaurants, shops and vendors selling Chinese herbal medicine, dried mushrooms, salted fish, roast, Chinese calendars, almanacs and of course, lottery tickets. The avid bargain hunter would have a ball a time browsing through the shops and stalls.
Every year during the Chinese New Year, Yaowarat Road is closed to traffic for street festivities, lion dances and food fairs. A member of the royal family graces the occasion to the joy and pride of the Yaowarat community.
About a kilometre down Yaowarat Road turn left into Ratchawong Road another street full of vendors selling everything from stickers, deep-fried tit-bits to roasted chestnuts. Ratchawong Road has two significant historical landmarks in Chinatown Bangkok.
Fifty metres after turning into Rachawong Road you'll encounter a tall Chinese arch to a narrow soi on the left. During the Chinese New Year in 2004, Her Majesty the Queen and the Crown Princess visited Chinatown. On that occasion, this soi, Soi Phalittaphon, was renamed Soi Sun Yat Sen after the father of the Chinese revolution.
Dr Sun visited Chinatown Bangkok in 1908 during his tour of South East Asia to raise money from the overseas Chinese for the revolution.
Walking through this narrow soi, the visitor would have to cope with the crowds of shoppers and the frequent passage of vehicles. The shops and stalls along this packed soi sell a variety of goods and even Christmas trees.
Further along Rachawong Road is an even narrower soi to the right of the road. The soi is so congested that it's barely passable to human traffic. Packed with stalls on either side, it would take a very determined shopper to weave his way through.
It's difficult to imagine that this is the famous Soi Sampheng or Soi Wanit where the Chinese settlers first moved in and started Chinatown Bangkok.
At the end of Rachawong Road is the Rachawong Pier on the Chao Phraya River. If you are coming by boat, this is the pier to alight and start your of Chinatown in reverse. If you have arrived by road, you may wish to leave by boat for a change.
However, you may wish to continue with your tour of Chinatown Bangkok from the Ratchawong junction till the end of Yaowarat Road. Here you'll find Saphan Han an old market community by the Rob Krung canal, the dragon's tail at the end of Yaowarat Road.
Besides the main street Yaowarat Road, there's another side to Chinatown Bangkok. This is Walking Street Chinatown which is parallel to the main street. Walking Street links areas of historical interest and local community life over a 2 km stretch and it shows a different aspect of Chinatown, one that visitors to the main street rarely see.
Another historical walking tour of Chinatown covering a different network of alleys is featured in Chinatown Bangkok sights which covers quaint Chinatown landmarks and old shopping alleys.
A tour of Chinatown Bangkok provides a fascinating insight into a very different way of life. With 10 temples, 20 shrines, old shops, markets and homes, Chinatown is a wealth of cultural treasures which thankfully have been preserved for more than two centuries.
The busy streets are a melting pot of communities engaging in commerce and they're as busy as ever today. The legacy of the early Chinese immigrants and their enterprise lives on.
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