Piers for the past

Bangkok's history first docked in Kadeejeen, an arrival never forgotten

The Kadeejeen Art of Three Piers Festival hosted last weekend by the Association of Siamese Architects had to be an eye-opener for anyone who didn't realise how important this corner of Bangkok has been - and continues to be in the architects' view.

A thriving trade hub at the birth of the new capital, Kadeejeen and its riverside neighbour Klongsarn are as rich in history as they are diverse in culture. It was here, after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767, that King Rama I set out to rebuild a nation.

The district has six communities - Wat Kalaya, Kudeejeen, Wat Prayurawong, Wat Buppharam, Kudee Khao and Roang Kraam - that have been home to Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists, Christians and Muslims since the Thonburi Era.

The riverbank is lined with exquisite temples, shrines and mosques, and the highlight of the annual Three Piers Festival is touring the area.

Beyond the festival site, with its photo exhibitions and stages for cultural performances, tour guides led visitors to Trok Dilokchan and other interesting sights.

"In the past, the word kadeejeen referred to a religious place for foreigners," historian Sudara Suchaxaya of the Lek-Prapai Viriyapant Foundation explained. "Here you'll see Chinese, Portuguese and Muslim communities that have been here since the Thonburi Period."

I joined an expedition that began with a glimpse of the Department of City Police, which was formerly the Thonburi city hall. Cruising along the river we learned more about the decidedly non-urban lifestyle in the district.

We passed wooden houses, the wondrous Temple of the Dawn and, in Klong Bangluang, a one-time royal residence that now serves as the Royal Thai Naval Dockyard.

Orchards and rice fields dominated the landscape in times gone by. The brackish soil is still ideal for growing fruit, and most residents produce enough spare coconuts, guavas, pineapples, bananas and papaya to sell for extra income.

Wat Kalayanamitr was built in 1825, a moving symbol of Chaophraya Nikonbodin's devotion to King Rama III. It recalls Wat Phananchurng in Ayutthaya, except that it is bricks and mortar rather than hardwood. The elaborate gables are festooned with colourful scarps of ceramic bowls and plates, a technique dating to the Third Reign.

Huge, curving pillars and beautiful Chinese-style ceiling murals accentuate the grandeur of the temple's three towering ubosot. All the traditions of craftsmanship flowed downstream from the old capital, explained Chulapassorn Panomvan Na Ayudhaya of Siam Vision.

"Most temples and shrines in the reign of King Rama III have this same delicate architecture and the same huge size."

In a narrow alley we found a glittering array of old wooden shophouses selling local food, beverages, handicrafts and sacrificial offerings like joss sticks, candles, amulets and gold and silver paper. These are intended for the Chinese deities within the local temples.

We stopped at the hallowed Kian An Keng Shrine, also built in Rama III's time. Detailed deep-relief murals drew my gaze, then the sculpted lotus blossoms, and then the guards in the form of lions, there to protect Quan Yin, enshrined within.

The beautiful Santa Cruz Church is a legacy of Thai-Portuguese relations that date back to the 16th century. The original wooden structure was built in 1770, during King Taksin's rule. Cardinal Pallegoix built its successor when the first was damaged in 1835. The side walls glisten with stained-glass etchings of biblical scenes.

Klongsarn has been called Bangkok's "second Yaowarat Road" in reference to its bustle and its Indian and Chinese shopkeepers. The neighbourhood used to be populated by prosperous aristocrats and merchants. Now it's all markets and leather factories. Business booms.

"This area was one of the country's primary trading piers, and it also had a psychiatric hospital and a train station," Sudara noted.

You can still see some lovely old mansions standing alongside European-style mosques and one of the oldest Chinese temples in the community, the Guan Yu Shrine, built in the early Rattanakosin Period by a Hokkien millionaire.

It's an octagonal pavilion under a pagoda roof, decorated with a dragon sculpture that represents the emperor, as well as strength and wisdom. Another carved wooden structure is adorned with multi-hued crabs and portraits of Westerners carrying bars. A mural illustrates the Chinese folk tale "Xuan Zang's Journey to the West" - better known to Thais as the adventures of Phra Tang Sam Jang.

The tour ended at Wat Prayurawongsawas, a royal monastery at the foot of the Memorial Bridge.

In 1828, Dit Bunnag, who held the title Chao Phraya Phra Klang, ceded his coffee plantation so that the temple could be erected there. Inside are a chapel, vihara and the Parindara Pariyattitham sala, a complex inspired by Mount Khao Tao and combining Thai and Western architectural styles. The wat's long iron fence is made of stylised weapons - lances, swords and axes.

HAVE A LOOK

>>> Guided tours of the district can be arranged with Siam Vision at (081) 343 4261 and nutchulapassorn@gmail.com.