Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WALK 8
EAST OUTER RAT TANAKOSIN 1
A Tale of Three
Princes
This brief walk takes us through a district that was once the home of royal princes, and
which subsequently fell into decay until rescued by residents in one of the city's first conser-
vation movements.
Duration: 1 hour
Rama I, in the year after he founded Bangkok as the capital, ordered the digging of two
tube or
lot
canals that would connect the inner moat with the second moat, the latter
of which was dug at the same time. The tube canals weren't given official names at the time,
and the local people named the waterways after the points through which they passed, so
that one canal could have several names. The starting point of the southern tube canal be-
came known as Klong Lot Wat Ratchabophit, after the temple that stands at the canal junc-
tion. Only two centuries later, during the bicentennial celebrations, was the entire canal
formally given this name for its entire length. The waterway stretches across the outer is-
land to join with Klong Rop Krung, the second moat, at the Damrong Sathit Bridge.
Wat Ratchabophit presents itself as a cluster of stupas and pavilions facing onto Atsa-
dang Road across a low iron fence, forming one of the most pleasant stretches of road and
canal on the island. Rama
V
built the temple in 1869, the first temple commissioned fol-
lowing his accession to the throne the previous year. What is apparent is the exuberant use
of Western forms alongside traditional Siamese forms, indicating the extent to which the
