Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [6]
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The break with Ayuthaya was ideological as well as temporal. As Rama I shared no bloodline with earlier royalty, he garnered loyalty by modelling himself as a Dhammaraja (dhamma king) supporting Buddhist law rather than a Devaraja (god king) linked to the divine.
Under the second and third reigns of the Chakri dynasty, more temples were built and the system of rivers, streams and natural canals surrounding the capital was augmented by the excavation of additional waterways. Water-borne traffic dominated the city, supplemented by a meagre network of footpaths, well into the middle of the 19th century.
Temple construction remained the highlight of early development in Bangkok until the reign of Rama III (King Phranangklao; r 1824–51), when attention turned to upgrading the port for international sea trade. The city soon became a regional centre for Chinese trading ships, slowly surpassing in importance even the British port at Singapore.
By the mid-19th century Western naval shipping technology had eclipsed the Chinese junk fleets. Bangkok’s rulers began to feel threatened as the British and French made colonial inroads into Cambodia, Laos and Burma. This prompted the suspension of a great iron chain across Mae Nam Chao Phraya to guard against the entry of unauthorised ships.
Waterways & Roadways
During the reign of the first five Chakri kings, canal building constituted the lion’s share of public-works projects, changing the natural geography of the city, and city planners added two lengthy canals to one of the river’s largest natural curves. The canals Khlong Rop Krung (today’s Khlong Banglamphu) and Khlong Ong Ang were constructed to create Ko Ratanakosin. The island quickly accumulated an impressive architectural portfolio centred on the Grand Palace, political hub of the new Siamese capital, and the adjacent royal monastery of Wat Phra Kaew.
Throughout the early history of the Chakri dynasty, royal administrations added to the system. Khlong Mahawawat was excavated during the reign of Rama IV (King Mongkut; r 1851–1868) to link Mae Nam Chao Phraya with Mae Nam Tha Chin, thus expanding the canal-and-river system by hundreds of kilometres. Lined with fruit orchards and stilted houses draped with fishing nets, Khlong Mahawawat remains one of the most traditional and least visited of the Bangkok canals.
Khlong Saen Saep was built to shorten travel between Mae Nam Chao Phraya and Mae Nam Bang Pakong, and today is heavily used by boat-taxi commuters moving across the city. Likewise, Khlong Sunak Hon and Khlong Damoen Saduak link up Tha Chin and Mae Klong. Khlong Prem Prachakon was dug purely to facilitate travel for Rama V between Bangkok and Ayuthaya, while Khlong Prawet Burirom shortened the distance between Samut Prakan and Chachoengsao provinces.
When Rama IV loosened Thai trade restrictions, many Western powers signed trade agreements with the monarch. He also sponsored Siam’s second printing press and instituted educational reforms, developing a school system along European lines. Although the king courted the West, he did so with caution and warned his subjects: ‘Whatever they have invented or done which we should know of and do, we can imitate and learn from them, but do not wholeheartedly believe in them.’ Rama IV was the first monarch to show his face to the Thai public.
In 1861 Bangkok’s European diplomats and merchants delivered a petition to Rama IV requesting roadways so that they could enjoy horse riding for physical fitness and pleasure. The royal government acquiesced, and established a handful of roads suitable for horse-drawn carriages and rickshaws. The first – and the most ambitious road project for nearly a century to come – was Th Charoen Krung (also known by its English name, New Rd), which extended 10km south from