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Talat Phlu Walking Guide - After sampling delicious food for 3 rounds, "Sookjai Weekend" takes readers or lovely customers of Sawasdee Online Publishing House to visit the old community on the Thonburi side, which is the Talat Phlu community.
Why the name Talat Phlu?
Many of you may wonder why it's called "Talat Phlu." Do they only sell betel leaves and nothing else? This must be said that our Thonburi side has had Thai and Chinese people living together for a long time. In ancient times, it was called Bang Yi Ruea, not Talat Phlu. However, some Thai and Chinese people were very fond of betel gardens since the reign of King Rama V, especially the planting of "Bang Yi Ruea yellow betel," which is a famous product of Thonburi. People like to buy it to eat with betel lime. It is sold a lot at Talat Wat Klang (Wat Chantraram), which we will visit next, so it has been called by this name ever since.
Right here at Talat Wat Klang is the origin of the word "Talat Phlu."
Old Pawnshop, Chinese Chess Circle S.W.
Oh, not a member of the Senate, but meaning "elderly" instead. Haha.
For those who have passed by the area under the Ratchadaphisek Bridge, which is Ratchada Road crossing Khlong Bang Luang towards Tha Phra, in front of the Talat Phlu Relationship Building, you may have seen dozens of elderly Chinese men sitting in a circle playing Chinese chess. They are the people of the Talat Phlu community. It is a leisure activity, relaxing, exercising the brain, and socializing in the elderly group as well.
The area under the Ratchada Bridge has now become the Ratchadaphisek Market. There are many delicious things.
If you look at the other side, you will probably notice the old pawnshop that has become a symbol of Talat Phlu, which is the Seng Hong Lee Pawnshop. There are hardly any pawnshops left that use bamboo blinds to hide the entrance like this. Nowadays, they are modern with air conditioning, becoming dark, opaque film-covered glass doors. Before entering, you have to look left and right, and before coming out again, you have to observe first because you are afraid that acquaintances will see you.
This Talat Phlu intersection is considered the center of Talat Phlu today because it is the busiest area.
The railway road in the old days
If you want the atmosphere of Thonburi in the past, you must start on this road. The railway in the picture runs from the starting point, Wongwian Yai Railway Station, through Talat Phlu Station, to Maha Chai, Samut Sakhon Province. In fact, this railway line used to originate at Pak Khlong San Station, but the station and route have been canceled for a long time. The railway has been filled in to become a road, renamed Charoen Rat Road, which is the largest wholesale leather goods area in Bangkok.
This area is considered a railway-to-boat and railway-to-tram junction. Yes, in the era when the train was the main mode of transportation, Talat Phlu also had a tram running. Moreover, it ran as far as Wat Sing. If you look at old photos of Talat Phlu, you will see the railway tracks paired with tram tracks. Is it modern? Is it as modern as Bangkok? Otherwise, would it be called "Sampheng on the Thonburi side"?
On the railway road, there is also a shop selling bamboo weaving, which has become rare and strange these days, as if walking through a twin mirror into the past. It is the location of Kong Lee Chong San School, an old Chinese school in Talat Phlu. You can take pictures of the atmosphere of wooden houses along the railway, which are becoming increasingly rare, on this road.
The Talat Phlu Railway Station is still in use as before, and it has a lot of customers, especially in the evenings. Thai trains have become school buses for children.
Old houses in the Royal Treasury area
If you like walking around old houses, you should like Talat Phlu. I guess the old houses in this area were built around the same time as the Pak Khlong San-Maha Chai railway line.
If you want to see the old houses in Talat Phlu, you should start from the railway side at the end of Soi Thoet Thai 27, all the way to Soi Thoet Thai 20. Currently, the sois are opposite each other, but in the past, they were definitely the same soi because Thoet Thai Road was only cut a few years before World War II. This soi runs to Khlong Bang Luang and then turns right. Currently, it is right next to the Ratchada Bridge. Along both sides of the road are old houses of Thonburi.
"Sookjai Weekend" read and gathered information from the book Talat Phlu by Luang Mueang (Samran Sapnirandorn), published by Silapawatthanatham, Matichon Publishing House, and learned that the old houses in Soi Thoet Thai 27 to Soi 20 used to be the property of the Royal Treasury.
The important old house that Luang Mueang wrote about is the mansion of Chuen Makwibun, a wealthy man of Talat Phlu. It has now been bought to be converted into a hostel, and I secretly whisper that they sell craft beer too (this "Sookjai Weekend" has never tasted Talat Phlu craft beer). The shop next door is now Chitphochana, which used to be Lertphanit. The Nam Heng shop that appears in Luang Mueang's book is still open, becoming a two-unit grocery store. The building faces the railway.
Soi Thoet Thai 27 is also a food market. There are delicious things to eat from the beginning to the end of the soi.
Three Bang Yi Ruea Temples, North, Central, South
As "Sookjai Weekend" has told you before, the Talat Phlu community on the Thonburi side used to be called Bang Yi Ruea, so there are 3 temples named Bang Yi Ruea here, which you can visit along Thoet Thai Road.
Wat Ratchakrueworawihan is called by many names, including Wat Bang Yi Ruea Nai, Wat Bang Yi Ruea Nuea, Wat Bang Yi Ruea Mon, Wat Mon, Wat Nuea (see, many names). This temple has a replica of the Buddha's footprint and a small cave that you can't go into now because the temple has installed iron bars, prohibiting entry and exit to the small Buddha's footprint in all cases. Walking up to pay respect to the Buddha's footprint, you can see the whole temple, and the wind is cool, even though the sun is a bit hot.
Wat Chantraramworawihan is called Wat Bang Yi Ruea Klang or Wat Klang. On the side next to the Khlong Bang Luang waterfront of the temple is the location of Talat Wat Klang, a large building market today, but this market is probably an old market of Thonburi because it is speculated to be the cause of the word Talat Phlu. Because the people of Thonburi like to grow betel leaves and betel nuts, when they have produce, they will bring it to sell along the canal. They like to sell a lot at this Talat Wat Klang.
Arriving at Wat Intharam, also called Wat Bang Yi Ruea Nok, Wat Bang Yi Ruea Tai, or Wat Tai, this temple is important because it is the temple of the reign of King Taksin. It is both a place of ordination and the location of the chedi containing the relics of King Taksin.
The Viharn of King Taksin faces Khlong Bang Luang. The wind blows coolly along the canal. People like to come and pay respects and ask for blessings in terms of fortune and career. The temple has a lecturer to provide knowledge. It also preserves personal belongings such as the royal bed and the throne for keeping the precepts.
If you try to observe, you will see that some of the churches and viharns that have been passed down in the Bang Yi Ruea area do not have chofas and hanghong, which is the construction of buildings in the Chinese style. It may be the royal preference of King Taksin, which coincides with the royal preference of King Rama III of the Rattanakosin Kingdom.
