Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [68]
You could follow our Chinatown walking tour Click here, or perhaps fast for a day before embarking on our Chinatown Eats Walk, a mouthwatering meander past some of the world’s tastiest street food. Or just make it up as you go along. Whichever option you choose, expect it to be memorable.
But wait, there’s more! Just when you thought your senses could be stimulated no more, you arrive at a small but thriving Indian and Islamic district called Phahurat (Little India;). Located on the western edge of Chinatown, near the intersection of Th Phahurat and Th Chakraphet, Phahurat shares the dim alleys and affinity for commerce of its neighbour, though their particular expressions provide a fascinating diversity. Th Chakraphet is home to several cheap Indian restaurants where style is secondary to taste; it’s undoubtedly the best Indian food in the city.
WAT TRAIMIT (THE GOLDEN BUDDHA)
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0 2225 9775; Th Traimit, near cnr Th Yaowarat & Th Charoen Krung; admission 20B; 8am-5pm; ordinary 25, 35, 40 & 53; Tha Ratchawong (N5); Hua Lamphong exit 1
Wat Traimit, also known as the Temple of the Golden Buddha, is home to the world’s largest gold statue, a gleaming, 3m-tall, 5.5 tonne Buddha image with a mysterious past and a current value of more than US$40 million in gold alone. Sculpted in the graceful Sukhothai style (notice the hair curls and elongated earlobes), the image is thought to date from the late Sukhothai period. But if it is possible for a Buddha image to lead a double life, then this priceless piece has most certainly done so.
At what is thought to have been a time of great danger to the Siamese kingdom – presumably prior to an invasion from Burma – the Buddha image was rendered with a plaster exterior in an attempt to disguise it from the looting hordes. And it worked. After various assaults the Burmese hauled off vast quantities of Thai treasure, but this most valuable of all Buddha images – indeed the most valuable image in all of Buddhism – remained as shabby-looking and anonymous as intended. It was moved first to Bangkok and later to Wat Traimit, the only temple in the Chinatown area modest enough to take such a world-weary Buddha. And thus it remained, sheltered beneath a tin roof, until the mid-1950s when the temple had collected enough money to build a modest shelter for the image. During the move the Buddha was dropped from a crane, an act of such ill fortune that the workers are said to have downed tools and run. When the abbot inspected the Buddha the following day he found the plaster had cracked and, wouldn’t you know it, the golden Buddha’s true identity was finally revealed.
The image remained seated in its modest pavilion until 2009, smiling benevolently down upon an underwhelming and seemingly endless procession of tour groups, which seem to have scared off most of the genuine worshippers. But Wat Traimit’s days of poverty are long gone. A new, marble hall has been built with a combination of Chinese-style balustrades and a steep, golden Thai-style roof. Surrounding it is a narrow strip of grass watered via mist fountains.
After viewing the image, head to the wí·hăhn to see fading photos of the 1950s operation to remove the plaster. And drop by the bòht to ‘play’ the mechanical horoscope machines outside, which look like an import from a boardwalk amusement strip. Put a coin in the machine that corresponds to the day of the week you were born; lights flash and then a number appears that corresponds to a printed fortune. Don’t worry, these fortunes aren’t nearly as confronting as those on Golden Mount.
Keep an eye out for the new Chinatown Museum, which is due to open on the site in 2010.
PHAHURAT
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west of Th Chakrawat; ordinary 53 & 73; Tha Saphan Phut (Memorial Bridge, N6)
Fabric and gem traders set up shop in this small but bustling Little India, where everything from Bollywood movies to bindis is sold by enthusiastic small-time traders. Behind the more obvious storefronts are winding alleys that criss-cross Khlong Ong Ang, where merchants grab a bite to eat or make