Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WALK 11
NORTH OUTER CITY
Beyond the City
Wall
In this neighbourhood, in what was once a forest temple, Prince Mongkut founded the
Thammayut Buddhist movement, and nearby are two villages that housed Khmer and Vi-
etnamese Christians who had fled their homeland.
Duration: 3 hours
Next to Phra Sumen Fort there is an alley, and a tiny bridge that leads over the second
moat into the northern reaches of the old city, beyond the wall, where in the sunny
little lane that runs behind Wat Sangwet stands a modest house, half brick and half timber,
from which each weekend emanates the sound of traditional Thai music. Ban Duriyapra-
neet, or Bang Lamphu House as it is also known, is a music conservatory that has been in
existence since 1898, established by Souk Duriyapraneet, a master of Thai traditional mu-
sic, and still in the hands of the family today. Souk was from a family that included two oth-
er masters of music, and he studied under both of them. He married a girl named Thaem
Choeiket, who was a member of a dance troupe that performed for the royal courts, and
initially the couple lived on a raft house moored in the canal near to the fort. When they
could afford to buy a house on land, they moved into this property at 83 Samsen 1, and the
house remains little changed to this day. Souk was renowned for his skills on the xylophone
and with various woodwind instruments, and he was part of the Royal Orchestra that was
formed in the reign of Rama
VI
. The couple had many children, and taught them all music,
and from this grew the conservatory. The house has become a historical place for Thai mu-
