Where history lives

Water drifts slowly, like time itself, through the Sanam Chai canal in the Bang Kradi community at the southern tip of Bangkok. Sometimes a long tail boat glides past. Its engine is the only noise in this sleepy village, a unique cultural pocket on the Thon Buri side of the capital.

The Bang Kradi canal was dug during the Ayutthaya period to link the old capital to the Tha Chin River. This waterway was also the main mode of transportation for an ethnic Mon people who chose the fertile land along the canal to settle down in during the reign of King Rama IV.

Today they are known as Mon Bang Kradi. It is the only Mon community in Bangkok that decidedly preserves its culture, beliefs and way of life despite the pressure of property development and factory establishment around the village.

"Our community is known as a living heritage museum," said Sgt Tawatpong Monda, founder of the Mon Art and Cultural Centre in Bang Kradi.

The long-established ethnic-Mon community is located at the end of Bang Kradi Road, 3.7km off Rama II (marker No.35), in Bang Khunthian district, and on the edge of the Thon Buri side bordering Samut Sakhon. It used to be part of Thon Buri province before merging with Bangkok in 1971.

Bang Kradi is an example of how an ethnic group maintains a distinct identity while also becoming an integral part of larger society.

The community is home to Wat Bang Kradi, built in 1877, a centre of activity to this day, as Mon Bang Kradi are Buddhist devotees. Every Uposatha Day, or Wan Phra in Thai -- which is marked by full and new moons and Songkran, locals will dress up in traditional costumes to make merit, practise religious precepts and listen to dhamma teachings in the temple. Women wear a blouse topped with a sabai (rectangular shawl worn over the left shoulder and right chest) as well as pha thung (traditional wraparound skirt), and some of them put their hair in a bun, decorated with flowers or a hairpin. Men wear sarong and sling pha khao ma, the chequered loincloth, from left shoulder to right chest.

The way the locals offer alms to monks at the temple is also unlike what we see at Thai temples. After offering rice in monk's bowls, donors use a spoon to take a scoop of kab khao (side dishes) into ceramic bowls. Most of the bowls already contain several kab khao inside.

"Anyone can offer anything in one bowl, no matter if it is a clear soup, curry or stir-fried dishes. We call it tak bat kaeng ruam," said Thawin Monda, a cultural leader of the community and the mother of Tawatpong. The phrase refers to the mixed-food offering.

When any prepared bowls are full, the food is poured and mixed in a large cooking pot. Those empty bowls are returned to trays for others to offer their meals.

Around 8am, the trays of kaeng ruam are served to monks. The monks eat rice from their monk's bowls. The leftover food from the morning will be heated to serve as lunch for those who make merit in the temple.

People wear traditional dress for making merit in the temple. Karnjana Karnjanatawe

When it's time for praying, monks in the temple chant not in Pali, but in Mon. The language is spoken not only among elders but the younger people in the community. Thawin, better known as Auntie Phu, is the guest teacher who for three years has taught Mon to Mattayom 3 students of Wat Bang Kradi School.

In addition, Mattayom 2-3 students learn to sing traditional Mon songs called thayae Mon, which sound likes lam tad (Thai responsive singing). They also learn to play Mon musical instruments taught by Kanlaya Pungbangkradi, head of the Hong Fah Raman band. His is the last Mon musical band in Bangkok, according to the Culture Sport and Tourism Department of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The band normally plays during festivals such as Songkran as well as funerals.

Thayae Mon is normally sung in the Mon language. According to Sgt Tawatpong Monda, spoken and written Mon are slightly different. The words for speaking to monks have different terms from words used among the general populace -- a bit more formal, as in the Thai language, he said.

"When we say the word love, we say chan, but when we write, we put sadachan on the paper, for example," he said.

Basically, the Mon live their lives based on teachings from two reference books. One is Loka Sithi, which teaches how and when things should be done from birth to death. Another is Loka Samut, which teaches faith and beliefs.

"We believe that if an old person dies in his or her house alone, the house must be demolished and the materials donated to the temple. This also teaches us to take care of our elders -- otherwise, those who are not dutiful daughters or sons will lose their homes," he said.

Most of the houses in the Bang Kradi community are built on stilts. The shady space under the house is used for a common room, living room and workspace. Like the house of Pornthip Jiaple, 63. She uses the space for making tap jak for a living. Tap jak is a 120cm-long panel made of fresh Nipa palm leaves sewn tightly over a bamboo stick by a dry-wipe vine (or wai ling). Tap jak are used for roofing and the walls of rural houses.

Pornthip's house is known as Ban Tap Jak. She learned how to make the green panels when she was seven years old.

"We still have Nipa palm trees in our village, although they were not as plentiful as before, but there is still enough material for me and a few families to make tap jak for a living," she said, adding that there are still demands, as the panels are used for building huts for growing mushrooms and gazebos for fishing.

Another raised house, that of Rod Nimtanee, 77, also has an open space underneath, for producing brush-like sae. The tool is made of a young Nipa palm-flower stalk. Rod's house is known as Ban Sae and he is happy to show visitors how to make sae. It is used for chasing away bugs and mosquitoes, and for clearing dust from furniture.

Thawin Monda also renovated the shady space under his house to be the Mon Art and Cultural Centre. The centre has been open for more than two decades. It houses old Mon musical instruments, Buddha images, clay plots, bronze utensils, palm-leaf manuscripts carrying ancient scriptures, and picture boards educating visitors on Mon ceremonies for newborn babies, marriages and funerals.

For group visitors, Thawin can use a vacant space under her house to show a traditional Mon saba game or to teach visitors how to cook traditional Mon dishes such as kaeng som bai kra jiap (a mild sweet-sour-spicy soup mixed with okra leaves), kaeng liang phak plang (a spicy soup made with a variety of vegetables, including Malabar spinach leaves) and nam phrik pa (chilli paste made of shrimp paste, chilli, chopped shallot, tamarind sauce and palm sugar).

She even has Mon costumes for male and female visitors to don. She always has visitors, including students, and has never tired of welcoming them.

"I am proud of our Mon culture and identity. I'm happy that our community still preserves our traditional way of living and that we're known as a living heritage," said Thawin.