Bangkok Chinatown - Yaowarat
Brief Tour
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Chinatown by night
(picture taken from www.earth2marsh.com/ images/thailand/)
Chinatown is in the old trading area around Yaowarat Road and Charoen Krung
Road (New Road). The Chinatown/Pahurat area and its back streets are
bounded on the north and south by Luang Road and the Chao Praya River, on
the East and West by Krung Kasem Rd and Klong Ong Ang.
The area is always lively, and market stalls abound. It has been the main
centre for trading by the Chinese since they were moved from their old site
some 200 years ago to make way for the Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha
complex.
Some of the famed sights which can be found in Chinatown and its vicinity
include:
- Wat Traimit (Golden Buddha), well-known for its five ton golden
Buddha.
- Wat Chakarawat, an amalgam of buildings dating from the Ayutthaya
period and thus predating Chinatown.
- Wat Pathuma Kongkha
- The thieves market, great to go buy just about anything to fix your
house or car, as well as second-hand household items and electronics.
- Wat Monkhonkamalawat, the Mahayana temple where local Chinese
frequent
- Wat Kanikaphon, built by a former brothel owner to atone for her past.
History
Chinese immigrants have made Bangkok their home even before the start of
the Rattanakosin period.
Chinatown itself, however, is a showcase of old Bangkok. It was founded in
the late 18th century (1872) when King Rama I, the first Chakri Dynasty king,
decided to move his capital from the Thonburi side of the river to
Rattanakosin Island on the east bank. The Chinese merchants, at that time
a small trading colony who lived there were made to vacate the area
intended for the Grand Palace, and moved to the present location of
Chinatown.
Chinese Migration to Thailand
The Thai expression, "to travel with just a mat and a pot” aptly describes
how the conditions under which many Chinese migrated to Thailand. The
Chinese arrived in Thailand with few belongings, enduring many hardships,
only to be spurred on by the hope of eventually settling down in Thailand
and living a prosperous life.
Statistics on the number of Chinese who entered Thailand between 1918
and 1933 shows that the largest number of emigrants in any single year
was 15,460 (in 1927), and the lowest was 1,800 in 1932.
Most Chinese emigrants came from southern China by steamship, and they
belonged to a variety of ethnic groups, the main ones being Teochew,
Hainanese, Khek, Hakka and Cantonese. Each ethnic group specialised in
a particular field of work.
The Hokkiens were good sailors. Since their port city was farther than
others, they were adept in making long journeys by sea. They were mainly
merchants, and most settled down in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and
Singapore. Most were rice merchants, and continued in the trade.
The Teochews are the largest ethnic Chinese group in Thailand. They came
from the port city of Swatow, via the Gulf of Siam and arrived in Chon Buri
and Samut Prakan, subsequently dispersing all over the country.
The Hainanese used to work for foreigners; some on ships, others in hotels.
They were particularly successful in the service industry, which is probably
why most hotel owners in Thailand today are of Hainanese descent.
The Cantonese were proficient in machinery-related work, which explains
why most machine and metal-casting shops are Cantonese-owned. The
Kheks, on the other hand, were good at growing tobacco and shoe-making.
Many Chinese who came to Thailand with little more than a mat and a pot
in the 1800s worked and saved hard and eventually found success here.
Some are now prominent businessmen and leaders in industry.
But most of them first started out humbly as coolies, or worse, as rickshaw
pullers, which earned them the disparaging name Jek Laak Rot or Rickshaw
Chinks among the local population. The rickshaw coolies had the worst
standard of living, and were only slightly better than beggars and vagrants.
Their dirty, haggard appearance was such that people referred to them as
manut phaahana-human beasts of burden.
The Chinese also had to grapple with discrimination and the stigma of being
treated as second-class citizens. It was through sheer determination, hard
work, the virtue of thrift and the steadfast adherence to their beliefs that
many were able to eventually establish themselves. One such personality
was 王睦良, the plastics tycoon. Click here to read about his profile and
success story.
In the past, the strength of Thailand's Chinese communities stemmed from
close ties with Mainland China. Chinese immigrants saw Thailand as a
temporary abode and planned to return to their homeland after retirement.
But after World War II, Thailand limited the number of Chinese immigrants to
only 200 a year, and restrained Chinese language teaching from the 5Os to
the 70s because of the fear of communism.
This had a tremendous impact on the Thai Chinese community. Those who
decided to stay put in Thailand could no longer regard themselves as
immigrants but as a part of Thai society. As a result, they began to
assimilate themselves into Thai society. Some married Thai wives and sent
their children to Thai schools. Today, only Chinese immigrants older than 60
still use Chinese as their first language. Their children usually speak Chinese
with their parents but switch to Thai when talking to others of their own
generation. Most third-generation Chinese-Thais cannot speak or understand
their grandparents' language at all.
Cultural Identity of Bangkok’s Chinatown
The distinct culture of Chinatown manifests itself in the form of tall, narrow
shop-houses, which serve as both business and living quarters.
Behind the façade of modern buildings are many small streets and alleys full
of shophouses selling all types of goods. One can find everything from herb
dealers selling rhino horns to jewelry stores with armed guards standing by.
The upper floor of these shophouses doubles up as living quarters for the
Chinese who run businesses below.
Today, many shop-houses have been turned into offices and warehouses
with the workers sharing the space with the stored goods. As more of the
young leave Chinatown for better prospects and higher education, the
traditional businesses are slowly disappearing and many shophouses are
turning into wholesale shops selling products from manufacturers outside the
community.
Despite the subtle shift in the cultural landscape, one aspect of Bangkok's
Chinatown that has endured over generations is its geographical structure.
The vast area known as Chinatown belongs to many owners, with no one
holding a big plot of land. This prevents developers from embarking on
large-scale projects that would drastically change the physical landscape.
This is perhaps one of the main reasons why Bangkok’s Chinatown has still
managed to maintain its distinct identity despite forces which threaten to
change it.
Most Chinatown street names relate to the history of the community. For
example, they are names of important sites, people, prominent products or
occupations or past incidents in the community. But many of them are now
being replaced by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration with new official
names. The salient example is that Soi Sampheng, Chinatown's most famous
row of wholesale vendors, has been renamed Soi Vanit I.
Sources:
The Chao Phraya: River of Kings, by Harold Stephens
http://www.thai-d.com/siam-china/walk/chinatown-attract.htm
http://asiarecipe.com/thaiciin.html
http://www.huaren.org/diaspora/asia/thailand/doc/0196-02.html
http://web.ku.ac.th/AmazingThailand/Bordin/destinations/ChinaTown.htm
Additional Resources:
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/proj/oca/ulcat/thailand.htm
中文大學圖書館館藏 CUHK Library Collection
Collection on "overseas Chinese studies"
Subject Area - Chinese in Thailand
| Compiled by Willie Hsu |