This old heart beats

A lovely patch of peace beyond the bustle of Phetkasam Road in Bangkok's Phasi Charoen district, the community of Klong Bang Luang retains such old-world charm that MR Kukrit Pramoj chose it as the setting for Mae Ploy's birth in his classic novel "Si Paendin" ("Four Reigns").

Amid the old wooden shophouses and Ayutthaya-era temples between Phetkasem Sois 20 and 28, you can get an idea of how things looked in the 17th century when Thonburi was Siam's capital.

The community is named for the canal on which it sits, Klong Bang Luang. It feeds into the Chao Phraya River at Wichai Prasit Fort, where King Taksin the Great had his Wang Derm Palace and naval base.

The canal's official name is Klong Bangkok Yai, but because of the palace people began referring to it as Klong Bang Luang - luang meaning "royal". The waterway was once a major route, lined with the homes of aristocrats.

One of those belonged to the Raksamruad family, but by the time Admiral Yodchai Raksamruad took possession a few years ago, it was in a sorry state. He invited artist Chumpol Akkapantanon to come and see if he could help.

"He'd seen on television what I did for the Phranakorn-Nornlen boutique hotel and thought I might be the best person to renovate the house and make its history come alive again," Chumpol says.

The hotel was revamped with care for the environment and lets guests enjoy the old way of life. You can actually hear the birds sing.

Chumpol also helped develop Bangkok Art Avenue on Klong Lod and the Art Mall next to Silpakorn University's Sanam Chan campus. Both projects were designed to put art back in the community context.

The 70-square-metre, L-shaped Raksamruad house has a panya, or hip roof, and within the compound an Ayutthaya-era chedi. Clearly it needed to be preserved. Chumpol and three friends decided to buy it for Bt1.8 million and then spent another Bt3 million on renovations.

"This is a Bangkok gem," he says, and the surrounding community is a time capsule kept open for the modern world to see.

"There are valuable murals and stucco works at Wat Kampaeng. We buy PAD thai and hoy tod and coconut ice cream from vendors in boats ..."

Chumpol, getting hungry, is thinking of stir-fried noodles and mussel pancakes.

"After school, groups of boys jump off the bridge and swim in the canal, and it's full of pla sawai," he says, referring to catfish.

"These scenes haven't been invented to draw tourists - this is the actual lifestyle here."

His house was finished last September and given the name Baan Silapin - Artists' House.

Upstairs is a gallery, downstairs a studio where people can learn to draw and make woodcuts and jewellery. There's also a coffee corner with crafts and souvenirs for sale.

Baan Silapin is another breath of life for the old community, where wooden walkways still stitch the shophouses together.

Pornthip Phienkerdsuk, who's lived in Klong Bang Luang for 50 years, sells tin toys from her home and shows visitors her collection of brass and polychrome tableware, much of it a century old.

"I don't think about how much I earn - it's very little anyway," says Auntie Pornthip. "I'm just happy when people come and say how friendly the people are here and how much they look forward to coming back."

Artist Supasit Wongrom-ngern, who helped Chumpol fix up Baan Silapin, decided to move to the community too. He rents a shophouse where he has a studio and gives lessons in painting and making woodcuts the traditional way, using only natural pigments.

Nataya Peng-suay runs the D Lerd coffeeshop - the name means "excellent" - which is decorated in vintage style with her tin wall-advertisements for soft drinks and radios.

"Living here is like being somewhere remote upcountry," she says. "Everyone you meet is friendly, and everything about the community is sincerely traditional, which is such a treat when people everywhere else are living in the fast lane."

Next door, her friends Ming and Elle have the River of Alphabets bookshop, where you'll find titles unavailable in the big stores. And they have no problem with people just browsing for hours.

Across the bridge, some of the Klong Bang Luang old-timers are plying the same businesses they've had for generations. There's a noodle shop with a charcoal stove, a grocery shop and a barbershop.

The proprietor at Paa Lek, calling himself Suksan, offers delectable mango and sticky rice with coconut cream that he says his parents sold from a boat for 70 years.

Grandpa Chulapong Kanchanapanyakom runs Lung Sia, a shop selling traditional coffee. He used to serve it from a boat too, but that was four decades ago. He roasts the blended arabica and robustra beans with invariably strong results.

Those who wonder if Klong Bang Luang might become another tourist-choked floating market, much to its detriment, can rest assured.

"People here have pretty much decided that the community shouldn't rush into tourism," says Chumpol.

"We should think about how to preserve the old ways while keeping the economy sustainable. If we want hordes of tourists, we have to prepare for the undesirable side effects, like garbage, noise and the loss of our serenity.

"What we're against is bad tourism, but we do need good, sustainable tourism."

Already, Chumpol says, the residents are annoyed with the constant roar of long-tail boats as they shuttle foreign tourists up and down the canal.

"It goes on all day long, about 100 trips a day. Our houses might look exotic to the tourists, but they're being ruined by the constant waves."

The locals once petitioned the Marine Department to do something about the din, but the boat operators ignored the complaints. Chumpol says he and his neighbours plan to appeal next to environmental watchdogs.

Meanwhile he's building a "Green Boat" with a quieter engine, to see if that helps.

He's also writing a history of Klong Bang Luang that he plans to publish in Thai, English, French, Chinese and Japanese.

"We don't mind the tourist boats if the noise problem is fixed," he says. "I'm hoping Klong Bang Luang will be a model for sustainable canal communities."

Have a look

You can reach Klong Bang Luang by car via Phetkasem Soi 28 and park at Wat Kuhasawan or via Phetkasem Soi 20 and park at Wat Kampang.

If you're not driving, go to the end of Charansanitwong Soi 3 and cross the bridge. Klong Bang Luang is on the left.

Baan Silapin is open daily from 9 to 6.

Call (02) 868 5279 or visit www.KlongBangLuang.com.