The Back Streets of Chinatown

It's almost Chinese Spring Festival! As the Year of the Pig draws to a close and the Year of the Rat begins to dawn, I found myself in Yaowarat, Bangkok's vibrant Chinatown on my first weekend Walking Adventure of the new year.

golden statue at the temple

We began by walking through the winding streets of Yaowarat to one of the many Chinese-style temples tucked away in the neighborhood's alley. I don't know the name of the temple, only that I had never been there before. It was small, fairly nondescript, but well-maintained. The temple hall was short, squat, and red, in the traditional style of Chinese Buddhist architecture, and the grounds were quiet that morning.

a Chinese-style temple in Bangkok

Bangkok has one of the world's biggest and most vibrant Chinatown neighborhoods, but it's different from the Chinatown areas in many other parts of the world. Bangkok's Chinatown is unique in that it is the center of the Chinese-Thai community, a group which considers themselves fully Thai while maintaining their historic cultural practices.

the colorful interior of the temple

In fact, Yaowarat is going to be packed in just a few days during the annual Spring Festival celebrations! I've never been down to Chinatown on Chinese New Year, but I hear it's a crazy, colorful, and chaotic time. Sounds kind of fun, doesn't it?

Chinese-style three Buddha statues (past, present, and future)

As we walked around the Chinese temple, Noi (the guide) explained how Chinese temples always have three statues of Buddha. On the left is Kāśyapa, the previous Buddha. In the center is Siddhārtha Gautama, the current Buddha. On the right is Maitreya, the Future Buddha.

the temple's door knocker (left) and a golden statue (right)

After we left the temple, we headed down another series of alleyways deeper into the heart of Chinatown. In preparation for the new year, the small village within the city was preparing and selling thousands of joss paper products. Joss paper, or ghost paper, is a type of offering made of elaborately decorated paper goods which are to be burned during the Spring Festival, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and other important Chinese festivals throughout the year.

joss paper goods

Originally, "ghost money" was simply that - colorful banknotes featuring the Chinese God of Heaven which were burned on festival days as an offering to send to one's ancestors.

ghost money to be burned in the Spring Festival

Nowadays, it goes way beyond that! You can find clothes and luxury items like Rolex watches, iphones, and Chanel bags all made out of joss paper to be burned and sent to one's departed ancestors in Heaven.

ghost money for sale at the joss paper village

Chinatown is an interesting area. It's a neighborhood that I don't venture to very often, partially because it's kind of far from where I live and partially because it's a bit overwhelming! It's confusing, chaotic, and incredibly vibrant. During this walking tour, I really enjoyed being led through a series of side streets too narrow for cars to drive down which I never would have been able to find on my own. It's definitely one of the city's most atmospheric neighborhoods.

a back alley deep in Chinatown

Noi brought us to a narrow old house, tucked up against a few shops deep in the back streets of Chinatown. Over a hundred years ago, this little town house belonged to the Royal Family. Now, it's preserved as a small museum about Yaowarat and the Chinese-Thai culture of the area.

a portrait of the king and an example of Chinese-Thai wedding dresses

Every year during major festivals, the museum puts on Chinese opera performances.

There was a portrait hanging on the wall of the museum. It depicted a young King Rama V wearing the regalia of a Chinese emperor.

a portrait of King Rama V in the traditional robes of a Chinese emperor

The museum was located within a small local market. Again, every shop and stall along the way was preparing for the Spring Festival with golden joss paper, folded paper flowers, and lots of beautiful peaches, apples, and other round fruits to give as offerings at the temple for an auspicious new year.

joss paper and offerings in front of a temple

Suddenly, the twisting warren of alleyways opened up, and Noi led us to a crumbling old temple. Before sending us off to explore the grounds, he gathered us around him in the temple's courtyard to tell us its storied history. This, he told us, is the Prostitute's Temple (it's actual name). In the 1830, a woman named Madam Fang owned a brothel in Chinatown. Incongruously, she was also a devout Buddhist, and used the earnings from the brothel to donate for the construction of a temple.

a statue of Madam Fang at the temple

When it was first built, it was condemned for being constructed using sinful money. For years, the temple lacked an official name, and was simply referred to as the "Prostitute's Temple". Eventually, Madam Fang petitioned the Thai king to give the temple an official name. After deliberation, King Rama V announced that the official name of the temple would be Wat Khanikaphon... officially, the Prostitute's Temple.

the "Prostitute's Temple"

The temple doesn't have any stigma nowadays, though. It's just a regular temple with an odd name. It houses a number of holy relics and is even home to a small temple school. There's one unique feature that differentiates it from other Thai temples, though. Instead of the traditional red or gold, the window and door frames are painted green. In the past, brothels in Thailand would hang up green lanterns outside their windows. It was a sort of "green light district", I guess. The green paint on the outside of the temple is a reminder of this.

exterior and interior of the temple

After that we made our way to Wat Mangkon, the most important Chinese temple in Thailand and the center of Bangkok's Chinese-Thai culture. I've visited this temple several times before. In fact, my girlfriend and I often go to wish for good luck around our birthdays. I had never seen it this busy before, though!

preparing for the Spring Festival

Dozens of people, all wearing white, were praying and giving offerings for the upcoming Chinese New Year. The temple was so crowded that it was difficult to move, and it was alive with the sounds of singing and chanting and the fragrant smells of flowers and burning incense.

incense and offerings at Wat Mangkon

After all that, it was time for a short break. Noi led the way down yet another side street to an old traditional Chinese-style shop house.

an old Chinese pharmacy

There, we had the chance to order a cooling herbal drink from the counter at the pharmacy. It's sort of like an old Chinese-style soda fountain! They offered monk fruit juice and chrysanthemum tea served over crushed ice in tiny plastic cups.

sort of a traditional Chinese soda fountain

I tried the monk fruit, a strongly herbal drink that tastes a bit like licorice. The drink was cooling and very refreshing, and before long we were ready to continue on our way to the next stop on our morning walking adventure.

dried herbs for sale at a Chinese pharmacy in Bangkok's Chinatown

Our next stop was Wat Chakrawatrachawat, known as the "Crocodile Temple". Around 30 years ago, there was a big flood in Bangkok. Crocodiles from the nearby river washed up here at the temple and refused to leave. The monks built a small habitat for them, and now the crocodiles are considered lucky and the guardians of the temple.

the Crocodile Temple

The crocodiles aren't the only thing that makes this temple so popular, though. It's also got one of the very few parking lots in Chinatown! It's always busy with locals and tourists alike, marveling at the historic mid 19th century architecture and the three crocodiles which serve as the temple's guardians.

interesting features at the Crocodile Temple

tour group at the Crocodile Temple