Anyone who wants to understand Bangkok's past should take a journey down Plaeng Nam Road, a 200m-long street running between Yaowarat and Charoen Krung Road that is packed with the remnants and colour of earlier eras. But before entering this evocative world, it is important to have an overall view of the city's Chinatown. Although every part of it is important and has its special character, it is the area alongside the Chao Phraya River by Ratchawong Road, with its wharves and warehouses, that was the original financial, commercial, and entertainment centre of the Chinese community in Bangkok. There were Chinese opera theatres, tea houses and legal card-playing venues, as well as Thailand's first topless dancing clubs. On Suea Pa Road there were luxurious Chinese restaurants with big bands and dancing.
BIG TROUBLE IN . . . : This page and opposite, Plaeng Nam Road preserves the Chinatown of the past.
Behind the buildings lining the roads were residences and shrines. There were both Chinese-style compounds and homes whose style combined Chinese and Western features. The grounds of the compound reflected the status of the people who lived there, but that was a relatively minor feature. Much more important were the many wooden rooms and other structures that were joined to form rows. These were connected by walkways that made a web-like network. This environment was extremely crowded, and the walkways were so narrow that when passing someone coming the other way it was necessary to tilt one's head to avoid collisions.
The inhabitants of the rows were members of a single Chinese family. Some of these families were very big, but even though they were so jammed together that they sometimes had to take turns sleeping because of limited space, they were content to live that way. They belonged to the same kind of society, and understood each other. If a stranger or an ethnic Thai came into the neighbourhood, he was viewed with suspicion.
Chinatown still has significance for ethnic Chinese Thais, even those who live far away. When they want to buy certain products, such as coffee beans, they go to Ratchawong Road. If they want to see a Chinese opera performance or buy seasonings for cooking it usually means a trip to Yaowarat or Charoen Krung Road. The same is true if they want to purchase gold. But for some, Chinatown is now too big, varied and spread out. For these ethnic Chinese, Plaeng Nam Road presents a compact version of Chinatown that offers the basic necessities.
The buildings there are old and in the style of earlier times, low rather than multi-storeyed and blending Chinese and Western architectural concepts. All of the land they stand on belongs to the Crown Property Bureau, which built these shophouses for Chinese merchants.
The merchandise sold on Plaeng Nam Road in the past was mostly for daily use in traditional Chinese households. There were shops with Chinese notebooks, and writing brushes and ink, and shops that carved Chinese characters into stone to create stamps, together with the red ink needed to stamp seals and signatures. Chinese kitchen equipment of all kinds was available, including ceramic teapots, as well as a full selection of traditional Chinese medicines and fresh medicinal herbs. Chinese musical instruments were offered, too, as well as lanterns and paraffin-fuelled stoves. While many of these items can no longer be found on Plaeng Nam Road, today, as in the past, there is plenty of food.
Shops selling khao kha moo (rice with aromatic stewed pork leg), khao man kai (Hainanese-style chicken and rice), the sweet Chinese sausage called kunchieng, and khao tom pet (rice soup with duck) are easy to find, and they look and operate pretty much as they did in the past. It all adds up to make Plaeng Nam Road a centre for the needs of traditional Chinese families, whether they live in Chinatown or come from far away.
The small but busy street has lost none of its importance, but it has had to adapt to changing times. For example, because the musical instrument shops are doing business at a time when not many young people play traditional Chinese music, they now repair old instruments and sell equipment for use in shrines. The ones that used to deal in lanterns and kerosene stoves now repair these items brought in by collectors.
Old shops whose businesses have been overtaken by changing times have been rented to new tenants that sell different kinds of products, like shark's fin soup or bird's nest soup. There are even khao tom shops that serve customers round the clock, making Plaeng Nam Road a street that never sleeps. All in all, it remains a place full of interesting things to discover, as it has been for a long time.
Today, there are some developments that cause uneasiness and fear in long-time residents of Chinatown. The end of Charoen Krung Road will be the site of a new underground station, and some row houses have been razed to make room for the entrance. But one thing is certain _ in the future, this area will be swarming with people who come in by train, and it will become a prime commercial district. So the current residents and merchants are nervous because they don't know what plans the Crown Property Bureau has for Plaeng Nam Road. The bureau has not renewed any leases nor explained what is in store.
Many people want to preserve the character of the area. Some locals have painted their buildings to make them more attractive and therefore, hopefully, more worth saving, but others seem more resigned and see such activities as useless. They feel it's just a matter of time before they're kicked out. Then there are the many younger people who feel no strong attachment to the neighbourhood.
If everyone accepts that the bureau wants to earn more income from the area, there are several ways out. The residents and the bureau will have to understand each other's viewpoints and find a compromise. If it is decided that the original atmosphere and character of the neighbourhood should be preserved but that rents have to go up, the residents must be willing to pay and to restore their properties.
Invasive features will have to go, meaning that tangles of electrical wires, air conditioners and the like must be concealed. The environment, including traffic on pavements and streets, will have to be made to run smooth and orderly. Plaeng Nam's residents will need to have a concrete plan for accomplishing the improvements, with an awareness of the rewards that will follow.
In the meantime, and hopefully in the future as well, those who go to Plaeng Nam Road for a taste of the original flavour of Chinatown _ in terms of both cuisine and culture _ will not be disappointed.
