Photharam in Ratchaburi province is a small district that might seem unremarkable at first. It has nothing to draw tourists, is not important economically, boasts nothing flashily contemporary, is innocent of hotels and, in short, has nothing to attract the eye or make you take a second look. But if you stay there for a while and look at things slowly and carefully you will be fascinated by Photharam. There are intriguing things to be found beneath its modest surface.
QUIET PLEASE: Simple homes of local people line the road that runs along the Mae Klong River.
First, it is important to know something about the history and geography of the area, its society, traditions, lifestyle and food. Only then will you be able to appreciate the real character of this quiet spot.
The first people to live on this stretch of land on the banks of the Mae Klong River, which runs from Kanchanaburi to Ratchaburi, were the Mon, longtime friends of the Thais who were once a large ethnic group in Myanmar but had to come to Thailand as refugees for a number of reasons. They made their living as farmers and were strict and devout Buddhists. The strength of their faith is shown in the fact that almost all of the Buddhist temples along the Mae Klong were built by the Mon.
When the southern branch of the Thai railroad was built through Photharam district, a commercial centre sprang up around the station, with most of the traders being Chinese. The size of the community can be seen in the four Chinese shrines located in the district.
But the Chinese did not isolate themselves. They intermixed freely with the Mon and other ethnic communities there. There is a lot of evidence of this shared history. The ornamental designs at Wat Kanon, the most famous of the Mon temples in Photharam, for example, are Chinese in style and were created by Chinese artisans.
The Mae Klong, the river on which Photharam is located, is scenic and beautiful. Both banks are steep, quiet, and dense with vegetation. There is no flooding, and land development, road building, and irrigation systems are orderly and effective from Kanchanaburi to Ratchaburi. Roads run along both banks of the river, with straight irrigation ditches all along the road (the river follows a winding course, only the irrigation channels are straight). With the roads, the river, and the irrigation ditches so well constructed and organised, the land nearby is full of farms and orchards growing all kinds of crops. Beyond them are rice fields.
Amphoe Photharam is located midway between Baan Poang district and Ratchaburi, which is about 12km away. Baan Poang is a big modern centre with a large population. There are factories of various sizes and a commercial centre with hotels, food shops and restaurants of all kinds, much like the town of Ratchaburi.
Photharam tends to be quiet because most of what is noisy and urban can be found in Baan Poang or Ratchaburi, and also because most of the people there are of Mon descent, and the Mon prefer peaceful surroundings, contented with the lifestyle of an orchard keeper or farmer.
The town of Photharam, a commercial centre next to the railroad track, was once a row of wooden shophouses, but different parts of it have fallen victim to fire at various times and been replaced by more modern buildings, so that the surviving wooden structures now exist in isolated clusters, making them unable to be pressed into service as a tourist attraction. When a town is as quiet as this one is, outsiders do not come to visit, and there will be no hotels, restaurants, or entertainment centres.
STREET EATS: A range of tasty dishes will reward those who explore this sleepy town.
What’s more, on major Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year or Ching Ming, when offerings are made to ancestors, the whole town shuts down. All doors are closed, and visitors would be disappointed to find nothing to see or to eat. But with the arrival of the Vegetarian Festival, things change. On the days of the opening and closing ceremonies there are processions at all of the town shrines, with the excitement of a full-colour festival.
As for the local food, outside of the town there is an informal market that sets up on specified days at different locations on a rotary basis. People bring fruit, vegetables, and meat to sell to their fellow townspeople.
There are also shops selling simple but tasty foods of the kind that are hard to find in Bangkok. You have to cross the bridge over the Mae Klong and head in the direction of Wat Chaloem Aat to reach a small, basic shop set next to the road near to the temple to buy kui tio muu paa huay, a noodle dish that contains only Chinese red pork and minced pork. It is also known as kui tio Thai, and has a somewhat sweet taste.
There is also yen ta fo, a noodle dish that gets is red colour from the salty fermented tofu condiment called tao huu yee rather than from the ketchup generally used these days. Noodle shops like this one are very scarce. This one is open from early in the morning but closes during important religious holidays.
Tao huu dam, or black tofu, is hard tofu that has been simmered in a thick, aromatic Chinese sauce called nam phalo. People like to buy it to take home and eat with rice soup. It can be purchased at two shops in a small lane in front of the Photharam train station. The lane is so small that it is easy to miss, and you may have to ask one of the local people at the train station for help in finding it. They all know it.
If you want to sample the noodle dish called ba-mee Kwangtoong with red Chinese pork and crispy pork, you must continue from that road past the hospital and turn at the second red light, where there will be rows of shophouses on both sides of the road. The first shop is in the middle of the long row of shophouses on the left is called Ochaa. It offers Chinese red pork with either ba-mee or rice and ba-mee with home-made kio (stuffed noodle dumplings). The noodles are fresh and tender. The kio themselves without broth and the noodles with red pork, also without broth, are delicious. This shop is very popular with Photharam residents.
Another shop across the street called Heng Kee also serves ba-mee Kwangtoong and khao muu daeng (rice with Chinese red pork). Also on the menu are very good khanom jeep (sheets of wheat noodle wrapped around a filling of seasoned minced pork and shrimp), but the dipping sauce served with them is like the one that usually accompanies chicken. More properly they should be served with sour soy sauce. Heng Kee is popular with travellers visiting Photharam.
Nearby, on Naa Photharam Road, is another row of shophouses that contains a restaurant that specialises in roast duck, with a sign that identifies it as Pet Yaang Lang Amphoe (Grilled Duck Behind the Amphoe). Among the offerings are khao pet yaang (grilled duck with sauce over rice) and ba-mee kio. The duck is good, but the sauce is a little thin and overly sweet. The kio nam pet yaang (kio in broth with grilled duck) is delicious, though.
In front of the Photharam post office, where public transport vehicles that run between Amphoe Photharam and Bangkok park, is a stand that sells khao nio ping (grilled patties of sticky rice) and luuk chin ping (meatballs put on skewers and grilled), but best of all are the khanom khrok (hemispherical sweets of rice flour, coconut cream, and sugar cooked in a mould over charcoal until they are crisp on the outside but soft inside). They are the old-fashioned kind, hard to find now, and they go on sale around noon.
When entering Amphoe Photharam from Phetkasem Road you will come to a crossroads called Bang Phae Intersection. Continue on into Photharam until you reach a traffic light, then turn left and drive on for about three or four kilometres.
On the left you will see a shop called Nuea Toon Baan Sing that sells kao lao nuea toon (beef simmered to extreme tenderness in spicy broth with meatballs, beansprouts, and other ingredients) with rice. The kao lao is excellent but chilli-hot, and those who do not like fiery food should tell the cook when ordering the dish.
The kao lao is made like tom yam with galangal, lemon grass and fresh basil. It is meant to be eaten with rice, and is different from any available in Bangkok. If someone were to make and sell it in Bangkok, they would be able to buy a luxury townhouse and a top-model Mercedes-Benz to match within a month. It is utterly delectable.
This has been a brief glance at Amphoe Photharam, a small place with big things to explore for those willing to take the time. And as a refuge from our hectic capital it offers quiet surroundings, soothing natural scenery, and a peaceful, simple community of the kind that is becoming increasingly rare in today’s Thailand. n
