Bangkok's Bloody Past

I went on a super fascinating walking tour this past Saturday! We took a walk through the Old Town, to some of the sites of Bangkok's storied past. I hope you enjoy the photographs and commentary!

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We met up at one of the new MRT stations. The Blue Line has made the city's Old Town more accessible than ever. We set out on foot through a quiet part of town, where early morning breakfast shops were already bustling and people were getting ready to head out via motorbike to work.

The Royal Theatre - once a classic cinema (there's a famous photo of a young Marlon Brando visiting), now the Royal Theatre hosts classical Khon (Thai traditional masked opera) performances.

Next, we arrived at a site I had tried to visit in my very first year in Bangkok: the old city prison!

The prison, which was in use from 1890 until the 1980s or 90s (I couldn't find an exact date). 

When Bangkok's main prison has moved to a larger and more modern complex in 1999, the old prison was converted into Rommaninat Park, a beautiful public park with the old guard towers and walls still in place.

The prison was nicknamed the "Bangkok Hilton" in an obvious allusion to the infamous Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam.

While walking through the beautiful park, we learned of the historic methods of execution in old Siam.

Most prisoners were executed by sword, but some were served a very horrific (and very Thai) punishment: being placed inside a large rattan ball and kicked around by an elephant until the prisoner died. Yikes!

Some of the cell blocks are still standing, but long abandoned - preserved as a part of the Bangkok Corrections Museum displays.

A wilted flower garland hangs from the bars of one of the old cells. Perhaps someone visited to remember a loved one who had died in this cell?

Walking on, we passed shops which produced massive Buddha statues. I'm not sure exactly who the clientele are for these shops. Do temples buy their Buddha statues in Bangkok? I guess I always thought they made their own. Do normal people buy statues that are this big? I've only ever seen small statues at family shrines. Hmm...

We continued walking down twisting alleyways and through peaceful temple courtyards. We came to Wat Theptidaram - the Temple of the Great Poet, named for the monk Sunthorn Phu ("Thai Shakespeare"), who lived from 1786 – 1856).

The temple was constructed by King Rama III, who loved the poet's works.

It also houses the White Buddha, a small Buddha statue that is not in any way related to Bangkok's bloody past, but is just interesting and quite unique.

The prayer hall was closed, but there was a replica of the White Buddha outside the temple doors.

From afar, we could see the Golden Mount of Wat Saket down a small khlong. 

Wat Saket, of course, is a major part of the infamous "Ghost Gate". In the early 19th century, a horrible cholera epidemic struck Siam. At the time, it was forbidden to cremate corpses within the city walls, so bodies were carried through the "Ghost Gate" to Wat Saket, where they were then laid to rest.

Across the road is the Loha Prasat, the "Iron Castle". Again, it's not the site of any particularly bloody event, just something interesting and a place in Bangkok that I love.

In my first year, the temple's spires were painted black. They were plated in gold to celebrate the 70th year of the reign of the late King Bhumibohl. At first, I was afraid that gold would take away from the uniqueness of the temple, but now that it's finished, I have to say that I think it looks really nice!

Nearby stands the Democracy Monument. It was quiet that morning, but the monument is often in the news as a major site of nearly every anti-government protest in Bangkok. It was constructed in the 1930s to commemorate Siam's first constitution and the end to absolute monarchy. If you follow news about any Thai demonstrations (or if you remember the Yellow and Red Shirt protests from several years back), you may have seen the Democracy Monument in the news.

The New World Mall was once the most spectacular mall in the kingdom. It was opened from the 1980 until the early 2000s when parts of it collapsed during a construction project to add additional floors. Now, the mall sits abandoned, covered in graffiti.

A couple of years ago, the mall gained some infamy when it flooded, and the lower levels filled up with fish from a nearby canal! I believe it's been cleared up since, but the building is still condemned and abandoned.

Every alleyway in Bangkok holds something interesting - but it's impossible to explore them all!

We came to Thammasat University, one of Thailand's top universities. It's especially famous for its Political Science department and for its very politically-involved students. Nearly every major Thai political demonstration has started at Thammasat.

It's also the site of a massacre carried out by the military under Thailand's ruling dictatorship (at the time) against protesting students in 1976. The horrible event led to the fall of the ruling Field Marshal and massive reforms in Thailand. Thammasat is said to be haunted to this day, especially the infamous "red elevator".

 

Finally, we arrived at a famous riverside market (Ta Maharaj), where a terrible accident took place in the early 90s. At the time, floating piers with covered roofs protected people from the hot sun while they were waiting for the river boats - at the time the only public transportation in the city besides the bus. It was a busy lunch rush, and too many people were crowding together on the covered pier. When a river boat approached, the waves lapped against the pier, flooding it. It rapidly sunk. The roof sadly trapped lots of people underwater. Of the 100 people standing on the pier, 20 drowned. 

Our guide, Noi, told us that his wife was among those rescued (before he met her). She was pulled out of the water by a stranger and luckily survived! 

It was a small but very fun group of nice expats on the walking tour.

Sometimes, learning the sad history of a city can be a little depressing, but it's important to know. History is a fascinating subject, and a walking tour like this one can get you behind the scenes to learn about the stuff the guide books never get into! It was a wonderful morning full of interesting history and a small but fun group of expats! It was my first walking tour of the year (things were more or less shut down in January and part of February), but it's certainly not to be my last!