I had a morning off this week, so I took the MRT downtown to the Silom neighborhood just outside of Lumpini Park.
The Neilson Hays Library was established in 1896 as Thailand's first English library and the oldest non-profit in the country.
Originally established by 13 British and American women as the Bangkok Ladies' Library Association, the library had a very important purpose for early foreigners in the kingdom. According to the library's website:
"Life for early Western residents could be harsh. Devastating epidemics were frequent. Western luxuries such as books were treasured items; a precious connection with home. Until the opening of the Suez Canal, freight from Europe or America could take six months or more to arrive in the Kingdom of Siam."
"Life for early Western residents could be harsh. Devastating epidemics were frequent. Western luxuries such as books were treasured items; a precious connection with home. Until the opening of the Suez Canal, freight from Europe or America could take six months or more to arrive in the Kingdom of Siam."
The most influential member of the board was Jennie Neilson, a Danish-born American who came to Siam as a protestant missionary in 1884 and subsequently married Dr. Thomas Hays, the Chief of the Royal Thai Navy Hospital. The library is, of course, named after her.
By 1897 a full-time librarian meant that the library could be open six days a week, and in 1914, the association was able to purchase a small plot of land on Surawong Road. The current building was constructed in 1922. During the Second World War, it was occupied by the Japanese army who used it for housing soldiers. Needless to say, the history of the library is a long and storied one.
This week is the library's bi-annual book sale. Throughout the year, the library takes book donations and sells them during the book fair to help fund its programs, such as author talks, children's story time, and more. It's fun to visit and browse, but I didn't end up buying anything other than a coffee at the onsite cafe.
Even though I love the idea of an English library, and it's a beautiful space, it's a little bit far from where I live and inconvenient for me to get to. I've actually only visited it twice: once in my first or second year for a lecture about Thai spirit houses (hosted by none other than renowned English monk Phra Pandit) and once about ten years ago for the book sale.
It was starting to look like it might rain, but I decided to chance it and take a walk back to the station. Despite being a busy and popular neighborhood, I rarely make my way out this way, and Silom is still kind of a new area for me to explore.
I passed by Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, also known as "Wat Khaek".
The word "khaek" is a Thai term meaning "guest" and is used to refer to Indians the same way the term "farang" is used to refer Westerners. The word holds a respectful connotation, reflecting the high regard in which Thailand held India as the birthplace of Buddhism, and reflects the view of Indians visiting Thailand as honored guests.
The temple, built in 1879 by Vaithi Padayatchi, a wealthy Tamil merchant who has a street named after him in Bangkok, is the most important Hindu temple in Thailand.
I had never been to this temple before but decided to take off my shoes and step inside to look around. I'm pretty comfortable in Buddhist temples nowadays, but I've only visited a handful of Hindu temples in my life and don't really know what I'm doing. I find them extremely beautiful, though! The temple was super colorful and inside contained a dozen or so shrines to various Hindu deities (and even a shrine to Buddha!).
Photography was not allowed inside the temple's walls, which was understandable, though I wish I could have taken a few pictures to show how beautiful it was.
As I walked back towards the BTS station, I happened to pass St. Louis Hospital and the nearby St. Louis Catholic Church. A heavy gate caught my eye, and I discovered that the church was also the site of Bangkok's Embassy of the Holy See.
Vatican City is officially the smallest independent country in the world, but it as a state does not actually have any diplomatic relations. Instead, all Vatican diplomacy is carried out in the name of the Holy See via the Apostolic Nunciature, the Holy See’s highest-level diplomatic mission, which functions both as an embassy and the Pope's direct liaison to the local Catholic Church.
My walk ended back at the MRT station just outside the gates of Lumpini Park. As a matter of fact, the reason that I had come out to Silom in the first place was to visit the brand-new Lumpini Park Hawker Center.
Touted as Bangkok's very first Singapore-style hawker center (sort of like an open-air food court), the new construction just outside of the park was planned as a social initiative to improve the neighborhood and offer benefits to local people.
The center can accommodate more than 80 vendors and rent at one of the stalls is regulated by the city at 60 baht (around $2) per day, ensuring that it's affordable for everyone.
The food court isn't fully open yet, but even during the soft opening period, it was pretty popular. When it's fully up and running, it's going to be a really nice place to grab a bite to eat when out at Bangkok's most famous park.
I had a simple but delicious lunch of steamed vegetables, fried chicken, and a fried egg over rice before hopping back on the train and heading back home.
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