Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
rises. The shophouses were built in the late nineteenth century, after the Mon had given
up their pottery trade, but look up at the pediments on the corners of this big, old de-
velopment and it can be seen that the architect has placed replicas of the
moh
on each
one to represent the original activity of the area. Follow the canal further and the motif is
reproduced elsewhere, and it becomes an intriguing little search to find pottery designs,
one of the most inventive being the abstract design woven on the corner of Ban Moh
Road and Phra Phitak. Near here is the modern-day Saphan Mon, a prosaic enough con-
crete structure, but having an elegant pottery theme worked into the wrought iron rail-
ings. The rather grand sweep of buildings on Atsadang Road, facing the canal, were shops
selling luxury imported goods and included Siam's first motor showrooms. The shoph-
ouses on the corner of Soi Phraya Sri are outstandingly handsome and prosperous look-
ing, and they were at one point used as a commercial store run by German and English
owners. This street takes its name from a prominent
phrayasri
, or senior court minister,
of Rama
III
's time: the minister's residence stood on this spot. Ban Moh does in fact have a
strong connection to the royal family of this era, for almost invisible behind a wall on Ban
Moh Road is one of Bangkok's oldest palaces. Ban Moh Palace was the residence of Prince
Phithak Thewet, the twenty-second son of Rama
II
. He was born in the Grand Palace in
1798. When he was 12 years old, he was given his own palace on the bank of the moat here,
near to the homes of his brothers. But in 1832 a fire razed the area. The prince then built
this present structure. During the reign of Rama
IV
the prince was promoted and given
command of the cavalry and elephant brigades. The canal-side location of his palace was
important, because a bathing place was needed for the elephants. As an example of early
Rattanakosin architecture the palace is outstanding, although unfortunately it is not open
to the public. The design was a fairly standard one for princes of this rank: a single-storey
building, raised high above the ground to be away from the flooding, with a wooden frame
and walls, and a roof of unglazed tiles. Prince Phithak Thewet lived at Ban Moh Palace un-
til his death in 1863. He was the founder of the Kunjara na Ayutthaya family, who retain
the palace to this day and use it as a private home.
Pak Klong Talat (“market at the canal mouth”) was formerly a floating market, the wa-
terways filled in many years ago and the market activity now taking place in the streets
and in the narrow
sois
. It was closed in 1893 when the area was being developed and the
vendors moved to a market at Hua Lampong. In the years immediately following World
War
II
the population of the city began to grow rapidly and the existing markets proved
to be not enough to supply demand. The government provided the land to once again be-
come a market, and placed it under the control of the Market Organisation. There are ac-
