Pedestrians bustle by the temple daily without noticing the village nearby. The old neighborhood still survives, though corralled by high walls and the signs of modern times. Concrete staircases lead above the chaotic traffic toward the smog-filled sky. And if distracted pedestrians pause and look from the sky-train platform, they will spot a school on the horizon that whispers an untold story about Thai education. One only has to step a little closer and listen.

Embraced by Royal patronage

Wat Pathum Wanaram is a vital temple for the Chakri Dynasty. The temple grounds are used for many royal ceremonies, and its main chedi (religious monument) houses the ashes of a family member. The Royal Family has invested in the temple, which now offers dharma lessons and daily meditation practice.

The local villagers are thoroughly entwined around this temple's history, which is reflected by the images of farmers plowing fields that decorate some temple doors and window shutters. This community has lived at this site for more than 180 years, while struggling to adapt to a changing world while burdened by the weight of poverty. Education at their humble school has been their primary hope.

Recently, the community's learning opportunities were raised to a higher level by the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. As the story goes, one day, she curiously explored the area around the Sra Pathum Palace on foot and accidentally stumbled across the village. She was touched by the poverty that she saw and decided to do something on behalf of the residents.

Planting a village

The original residents of this village, known as Lan Chang (the name of a 14th century Laotian Kingdom), were relocated to this site as Laotian war captives in the 1820s. This migration was punishment for a rebellion waged by Prince Anuwong (Anu), who was captured by Thai forces. The Laotian neighborhood that survived in dilapidated sheds and shacks subsisted on rice farming, and the only transportation route to their remote area was Klong Saen Saeb, which roughly parallels Phetchaburi Road.

The people in this impoverished village had almost no access to formal education. Few of them could read and write. Instead, they learned the skills needed for agriculture _ water management, rice cultivation, animal husbandry and techniques for effective harvesting. The people in Lan Chang lived a simple but hard life, and in their quiet isolation they rarely saw foreigners.

A school is born

Two decades later, King Mongkut (Rama IV) decided to construct a temple at this location for a sect of Thammayut monks, a reformist branch of Buddhism that he had helped create. King Mongkut built a palace near this spot a bit earlier and realized the benefit that a temple would have on this community.

Wat Pathum Wanaram was completed in 1857, and the first abbot was a Laotian from Chamapasak. Most monks came from poor districts in Issan, which fit well culturally with the local population. Two cherished Buddha images were finally housed at this temple, which were originally brought from Vientiane along with the Lan Chang.

In contrast to other temples, which usually have murals depicting the life of Buddha, the walls of Wat Pathum Wanaram's wiharn (the building used by the Buddhist lay community for worship) are also portrayed with the crafty trickster Sri Thanonchai, who was well known by local Lao inhabitants. These paintings were perhaps the first ``textbook'' known to these illiterate villagers. Monks taught moral and cultural topics by pointing to the art while telling stories. Lan Chang residents gradually learned to read and write through the teachings of monks.

A modest wooden school named Pariyathitham was built outside the boundary walls for novice monks to study dharma. And with this knowledge poor residents could lift their spirits while toiling in rice fields later in life. Young children played at Wat Pathum Wanaram in the afternoon or worked as wat dek (temple boys). All this interaction nurtured a sense of community, and this was a healthy environment to cultivate education.

Hard times strike

In 1932, the absolute monarchy was replaced by a constitutional monarchy. With this political change also came the development of government schools. In the following year, the temple's abbot granted the government permission to build Wat Pathum Wanaram School. The original state school was a single-story wooden building without walls.

Although temple schools remained active in Thailand, education was gradually placed under government jurisdiction. Wat Pathum Wanaram School's enrollment rate increased, and the school expanded by adding a second story to include a total of eight rooms. The rising cost of education strained the government's budget, while the poverty of the village remained, despite better learning opportunities.

A Bangkok Post article appeared on October 12, 1981, under the headline, ``Sign of hard times draws the tourists.'' The focus was on the poverty of students at Wat Pathum Wanaram Elementary School and the contributions made by foreign visitors to the children's education.

School administrators and teachers worried about the diets of its 284 pupils, aged seven to sixteen, who came from broken homes and poor working class backgrounds. The children — whose families no longer sufficiently grew their own food — were weakened from the lack of nutrition and many failed to attend class due to bad health.

Although the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) supplied an annual budget to help meet school expenses the amount was not enough to cover students' needs. The school did not require poor students to pay tuition or book rental fees, but limited funding could not adequately pay for school lunches. It was decided to solve this problem by making the impoverished school a tourist attraction for visitors. A sign was placed in front of the school announcing that children received education first and food second, so donations and contributions were appreciated. School staff hosted ``mini-tours for inquisitive [foreigners] with Japanese cameras and perplexing questions.'' Four to five tourists visited the school every week, contributing as much as 200 baht.

Adisai Kemapirak worked 31 years at school. — WEENA NOPKUNTHONG

Adisai Kemapirak, who taught math at the school 31 years ago, remembers the donation box and also the school being very noisy due to traffic when the traffic light was green. She could not hear when students responded to her questions. The school only had one English teacher, a Thai who taught Grade 5-7 using cassette tapes.

While the village's poverty remained constant, Lan Chang's sense of community was rapidly changing. Rapid population growth, modernization, new technologies, and Western influences were settling in; along with the crime, conflicts and corruption that often accompany sudden financial change. The old way of life was blowing away.

When the rice fields dry

Urban development dissected the neighborhood into new city streets, and residents' agricultural livelihood was drained away to make room for a business district. Layers of pavement covered so much of the old village that even a patch of grass became a surprising comfort.

Klong Saen Saeb was no longer irrigated for crops. Instead, express boats raced through the polluted black water of a formerly quiet canal. A Bangkok Transport System (BTS) line now slices past Lan Chang, bleeding away the last traces of its agriculture history. The village is now sandwiched between the Central World Plaza and the Paragon shopping complexes. The neighborhood's secret of poverty is hidden behind large concrete walls on prime real estate.

Skills that villagers need to survive have changed, as well as the education system that supplied them. The BMA built a seven-story cement school with 48 classrooms, and eventually tore down the old wooden schoolhouse. The students inside the school prepared for sudden globalization and the growth of new industries, while their parents struggled to make ends meet.

And for a while it looked likely that this village would soon vanish completely. The only two things holding the community together were its strong connection to the temple and the lasting presence of its school.

A new life has been planted

Director Dr Pridawan at Wat Pathum Wanaram School — WEENA NOPKUNTHONG

And now, for the Lan Chang community, there is also strength to be found in the Royal family. On that fateful day, when HRH Princess MahaChakri Sirindhorn went for an inquisitive walk, curiously traipsing across the property that had once been abundant with rice fields and impoverished farmers, an entire village paused and looked.

HRH Maha Chakri Sirindhorn noticed a community that had been missed by the eyes of tourists. She stepped closer and listened. And what she learned from these villagers was that they needed to improve their lives with a better school. On June 18, this year, an opening ceremony was held at the new schoolhouse.

The Princess oversaw its construction from beginning to end and affixed the finished building with her royal insignia. The new school was constructed with state-of-the-art technology and two libraries. Many classrooms were equipped with computers, visual aids and furniture of top quality. English is now provided to students from Kindergarten onward. Chinese and Japanese _ two languages formerly banned in Thailand's education system _ will be added to the curricula as well.

There are now 40 teachers and over 700 students in this community. School Director Dr Predawan Intavimolsri says that these students are so happy with the new school that they don't rush to return home. The school now provides free uniforms and school lunches to all students.

Adisai, who still recalls the earlier hardships, is quite impressed with the new school. As an English teacher, she observes that the community still retains its connection to the temple by allowing monks to visit outside the school in the morning so students can give them food. The Lan Chang may be poor, but they have survived for close to two centuries in a single location.

The temple, the school and the Royal family are the footholds that have kept this village together despite all hardships. But nothing is permanent. For this village, it looks like its poverty may finally change.