CULTURE STOCK

Nestled by the Chao Phraya River and set amidst several canals near the old palace of King Taksin the Great is Kudee Cheen, a closely knitted, multicultural community dating back to the Thon Buri period. It is also a reflection of the former capital, Ayutthaya, in terms of layout and traditions.

Since the construction of the Rama I Bridge in 1932 and the several adjacent roads thereafter, this area has expanded and changed, but not always for the better. Most of the canals have become murky and smelly, and a lot of the alleys look messy. Sadly, once-beautiful wooden houses are run down. Public spaces for local residents and children to relax and enjoy themselves are inadequate.

In a push for sustainable conservation, the Association of Siamese Architects Under Royal Patronage has been carrying out work, since 2006, in accordance with a cultural map of the riverside communities at Kudee Cheen and the nearby Ban Bu community.

"The Kudee Cheen area has several layers of historical complexity. Its value will be fulfilled with this cultural map," says Teeranand Chuangpinit, director of the Thon Buri Historical Information Centre.

Niramon Kulsrisombat, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Architecture who is involved in this cultural mapping project, reveals that the jigsaw was completed by the Fine Arts Department, architects and urban designers, and locals who know their community best.

Initially, opinions were gathered and three cultural maps for the Kudee Cheen area were drafted by three different groups - the Fine Arts Department, architects and urban designers, and local youths. A series of public forums were then held to enable the three parties and local villagers to exchange information and to discuss how to conserve and develop this community.

After that, the three maps were combined into a final draft, based on the findings obtained. The result listed the following landmarks: Kian Un Keng Shrine; Wat Kanlaya and its community; Wat Prayurawongsawat; Wat Buppha Ram; Bang Luang Mosque (Kudee Khao); the former Thon Buri provincial hall; Santa Cruz Church and its school and surrounding areas; and old canals, ancient wooden house, routes and walkways.

 

Located in Thon Buri (at one time known as Venice of the East), the Kudee Cheen area consists of six communities - Wat Kanlaya, Kudee Cheen, Wat Prayurawongsawat, Wat Buppha Ram, Kudee Khao and Rong Khram. This territory stretches from the mouth of khlong Bang Luang to Wat Prayurawongsawat.

"The Kudee Cheen community consists of six sub-communities of three religions and probably seven to eight ethnic groups. Its charm lies in its clusters of old wooden houses, particularly two beautiful houses alongside khlong Bang Luang," Mr Teeranand, director of the Thon Buri Historical Information Centre, said.

During the Ayutthaya period, the Kudee Cheen community served as a customs checkpoint and an anchorage for ships.

From the late Thon Buri period until the Bangkok period, a large part of the Thon Buri side of the city became the residential zone of royals and bureaucrats. The majority of its residents during the Thon Buri period were Hokkiens. This community was named Kudee Cheen after the local Chinese shrine.

Sarn Somdet, a compilation of letters between Prince Damrong, the founder of the modern Thai education system and an expert on Thai history, and Prince Naris, the father of Thai architecture, relates stories of this area.

"It is called Kudee Cheen and there used to be a real kudee cheen [Chinese shrine]. That shrine must have been built by the Chinese on a curve of the river according to a tradition. It was built sometime when the Chao Phraya River still flowed through Bangkok Yai Canal and when the current location of Wat Kanlayanamitr was part of the river. It was before Bangkok Canal was dug in the reign of King Chairacha. When King Taksin established Thon Buri as the capital, he gathered the war fugitives to settle down in Thon Buri. He allowed the Chinese from Ayutthaya to set up houses north of Kudee Cheen Canal where Wat Kanlayanamitr would be later built. Chao Sua Mun, father of Chao Phraya Nikornbordin, settled there, and Chao Phraya Nikorn-bordin was born there, leading to the construction of Wat Kanlayanamitr in the reign of King Rama III."

This book also says: "The Portuguese from Ayutthaya were allowed to settle down by the river, south of Kudee Cheen, and were called farang kudee cheen. The words 'farang kudee cheen' indicate that the Portuguese moved in after the Chinese since the words 'kudee cheen' were already widely in use ..."

 

The nearby Kudee Khao community, formerly the Bang Luang Village, was established in 1785 alongside Bang Luang Canal by hundreds of Muslim families who mostly sold spices, fruits and desserts on rafts in Ayutthaya. They later fled from the Burmese invaders by using those very rafts. That is why they are called khaek phae (Muslims on rafts).

The most important mosque here is Bang Luang Mosque, aka Kudee Khao Mosque. Built by a Muslim trader named Toh Hajyi in the reign of King Rama III, it is the one and only mosque in the style of a Buddhist chapel, or ubosot. This reflects cultural assimilation.

Not far away lives the Wat Prayurawong community, named after Wat Prayurawongsawat Worawiharn, a temple built between 1828 and 1836 on a plot of land donated by then-finance minister Somdej Chao Phraya Maha Prayurawong (Dis Bunnag). In the early Bangkok period, this community was packed with foreigners because members of the Bunnag family, who were top-level bureaucrats in charge of trade and foreign affairs, lived here. It later became a hub for missionaries. US missionary Dr Dan Beach Bradley lived here, too.

Standing tall and graceful in this area is the domed Santa Cruz Church, on a plot of land granted by King Taksin the Great to the Portuguese Christians who had escaped from Ayutthaya.

Leading local residents were able to share their knowledge of community history to help further the understanding of their heritage. Thamniab Saeng-ngern, Tonson Mosque's adviser on history, confirms that this area resembles the former capital of Ayutthaya in terms of layout and traditions.

"We can see Pombejra Fort, Wat Phananchoeng, a Turkish mosque and Christian churches in Ayutthaya. Here, we have Wat Kanlaya with its Luang Phor To, or Sam Por Kong, as does Wat Phananchoeng. Some patterns in Ayutthaya were [obviously] copied for use here," he notes.

 

Another example is the Kian Un Keng Shrine, where the Chinese Hokkiens go to worship the Goddess Guan Yin. It is built in the same tradition as the shrine of Chao Mae Soi Dok Mak at Wat Phananchoeng in Ayutthaya.

Santi Suwansorn, a speaker for Santa Cruz Church, adds: "Children who visit this community will have the opportunity to learn about various ethnicities. People who come to watch the sunset at Wat Kanlaya can also enjoy kudee cheen, thongyib, thongyod and foithong - all these desserts are baked by descendants of the Portuguese [who came here from Ayutthaya]."

In its quest to attain sustainable conservation of the Kudee Cheen area, the project's working group has put forward suggestions based on the cultural map.

Cultural sites and clusters of wooden houses should be preserved, it recommends. Ban Phatthayakosol and Ban Windsor should be restored and used to benefit the community, perhaps as museums. The shallow, dirty canals should be revitalised while empty spaces along the banks of the canals should be converted into walkways and resting points. Several public areas should be developed into recreation zones. The major alleys should undergo landscaping for safety and aesthetic reasons.

Above all, in addition to the proposed transformations of the physical structures and artefacts in the vicinity, the cultural mapping project aims to promote the creation of a community database, support local residents' participation in conservation, and raise their awareness of community problems.

Photos courtesy of the cultural mapping project committee of the Association of Siamese Architects Under Royal Patronage unless specified.

Relate Search: Chao Phraya River, King Taksin the Great is Kudee Cheen