Banglamphu and the Amulet Market

It was another beautiful sunny Saturday morning. I met up with my friends from the walking adventures expat group to explore a part of Bangkok which I'm surprisingly not very familiar with: Banglamphu.

a monk at a small local shop

Banglamphu is the Old Town neighborhood near the Grand Palace and Khao San Road. It's generally packed with tourists (backpackers in particular), and is usually overcrowded and too full of pushy taxi drivers and shopkeepers trying to get your attention. However, since the Kingdom is still closed to tourists, it's the perfect time to take in what is actually quite a charming neighborhood (once you remove all the backpackers and drunk tourists, that is).

along the riverside

We weren't visiting the Grand Palace this day, though (although since it's set to reopen on the first of November, I'm still hoping to visit some of the city's most touristy spots before the tourists actually come back).

sunny morning on the Chaophraya

Our walk took us through Tah Maharaj, a central riverboat pier that doubles as a hip community mall. From there, we walked up a narrow set of stairs and back in time to a dark and mysterious alleyway. Why is the entrance to an ancient amulet market hidden in an alley next to a Starbucks? Nobody knows. It's kind of weird, and a perfect example of what makes Bangkok such a unique city.

this way to the amulet market

Amulets are a big part of life in Thailand. You'll see them strung around people's necks, hanging from the rearview mirrors of buses and taxi cabs, on shelves in peoples' homes... Most amulets can be picked up for 20-100 baht, but the buying and selling of amulets is big business. In fact, the most expensive amulet ever sold, Luang Puu Kai Amulet, went for 30 million baht (about $1 Million USD)!

inside the world's largest amulet market

Some amulets are made at temples to commemorate monks, abbots, or even special occasions. There are thousands and thousands of different types of amulets, each with its own story. 

Buddhist amulets for sale along the riverside

Amulets are popularly believed to give protection or to ward off evil. It's fascinating to look at the various amulets sold at the shops in the market, but it's hard to know exactly what you are looking at. Some people are real experts, though. As you wander through the amulet market, you'll see people walking around with magnifying glasses inspecting various amulets as if they were appraising gemstones.

Thai amulets come in all shapes and sizes

Leaving the market, we walked through the currently empty Khao San Road and its neighbor, Soi Rambutri to the gates of Wat Chana Songkhram, a second-class royal monastery.

a very old tree at the gates of the temple

The temple's most outstanding feature is the massive drum tower which rises above the monastery's other buildings.

a temple bell tower

The drums within the tower were historically used to keep the time, kind of like the chimes of a giant clock.

the bells were used to tell the time

There is a small shrine with a statue dedicated to King Rama I sitting outside the main temple hall. Rama I gave the old temple its current name, which means "Victory in War" after successfully holding off three Burmese attacks on Bangkok.

a statue of the king

Noi led us on through the winding streets of Banglamphu to a small, nondescript alleyway which I would otherwise likely have walked right past.

about 5% of Thailand is Muslim

The alleyway opened up in front of the Chakrapong Mosque, one of the most important and historical mosques in all of Bangkok. While Bangkok is predominantly Buddhist, the Thai constitution defends freedom of religion, and Islam is the kingdom's largest minority religion, at about 5% of the population (mostly located in the country's far southern provinces).

Chakrapong Mosque

The Sunni mosque was constructed during the reign of King Rama I. During that time, Siam invaded and conquered the Sultanate of Pattani (today one of the southern provinces of Thailand). After the battle, war captives were brought back to the capital. The king built this mosque for those captives, who worked at the palace as goldsmiths and makers of royal regalia, and granted the community land in the Old Town in which to build their community.

the oldest mosque in the city center

We ended our walk at the Loha Prasat, a monastery building built by King Rama III in 1846 in honor of his granddaughter. 

Loha Prasat

The Loha Prasat is one of the most interesting buildings in the city, and the structure holds a relic of the Buddha himself within the reliquary on the uppermost spire.

the only remaining iron castle - now painted gold

our group of explorers walking through the city