Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [67]
In modern Thailand the white elephant retains its sacred status, and one is kept at Chitralada Palace, home to the current Thai king. The museum houses a sculptural representation of that elephant. Draped in royal vestments, the statue is more or less treated as a shrine by the visiting Thai public.
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The courtyard behind the bòht has 53 Buddha images (33 originals and 20 copies) representing every mudra (gesture) and style from Thai history, making this the ideal place to compare Buddhist iconography. If religious details aren’t for you, this temple still offers a pleasant stroll beside landscaped canals filled with blooming lotus and Chinese-style footbridges.
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CHINATOWN
Eating; Shopping; Sleeping
Although many generations removed from the mainland (see the boxed text), Bangkok’s Chinatown could be a bosom brother of any Chinese city. The streets are crammed with shark-fin restaurants, gaudy yellow-gold and jade shops and flashing neon signs in Chinese characters. But these are just window dressing for the neighbourhood’s relentlessly entrepreneurial soul.
Chinatown fans out along Mae Nam Chao Phraya between Saphan Phra Phuttha Yot Fa (Memorial Bridge) to the west and Hualamphong train station Click here to the southeast, near the relatively quiet lanes of Talat Noi. Th Yaowarat and Th Charoen Krung are Chinatown’s main arteries and they provide the greatest diversity of services, from shopping and eating in the latest mainland Chinese styles to promenading (as much as you can promenade when the pavements are heaving with vendors). The whole district is buzzing from dawn until after dusk, with only the overfed soi dogs splayed out on footpaths seeming in any way relaxed. And where the narrow market soi can be a world of elbows during the day, things are marginally more mellow by night, when banquet dining and dazzling neon contribute to a carnival atmosphere.
Until the 1970s Chinatown was, in effect, the country’s most important market, supplying and wholesaling pretty much anything that could be bought in the kingdom. Stores were, and still are, self-segregated by profession – whole streets or blocks are dedicated to sign making, gold and jewellery stores, and machine and tyre shops. However, Bangkok’s ongoing affair with consumerism, and its resulting brood of lust children in the form of multistorey megamalls, have seen a steady decline in the area’s commercial importance. Much of the middle class has moved out of the cramped district to the villas and condos of Bangkok’s new suburbs (mòo bâhn), taking their spending power with them.
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top picks
CHINATOWN
Chinatown walking tour Immerse yourself in the lanes, the flavours and the chaos of one of the world’s last genuine Chinatowns.
Wat Traimit Meet the temple’s Buddha, made of 5.5 tonnes of gold.
Talat Noi Oil-stained machine shops, hidden Chinese temples and twisting lanes leading to a generations-old market: welcome to Talat Noi.
Talat Mai Chaos and commerce battle it out in this photogenic, suffocating fresh-food market.
Delicious street food Who says you need money – or a roof – to eat well?
Phahurat Bollywood-style markets and the city’s cheapest and best Indian food.
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Moving through the market is a slow process, though, and after shouldering your way through the claustrophobic commercial chaos of Talat Mai (Trok Itsaranuphap;) you’ll find it difficult to imagine it could ever have been busier. Chinese remains the district’s primary language, and goods, people and services are on a continuous conveyor belt into and out of the area. All of which makes this one of Bangkok’s most rewarding areas to simply set out and explore, get lost, and find yourself eating oyster omelettes in a hole-in-the-wall