Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WALK 13
CHINATOWN 1
The Shady Ladies
of Sampeng Lane
This walk will lead us through the original Chinatown thoroughfare of Sampeng Lane, once
a hotbed of gambling, opium dens and brothels, ending at a temple with a murky past.
Duration: 2 hours
Although Yaowarat is the main thoroughfare of Chinatown, and the name that all taxi
drivers will recognise (many are bewildered if you ask for “Chinatown”), anyone
wanting to seek out the origins and authentic atmosphere of this district should head for
Sampeng Lane.
When Rama
I
moved the settlement of Chinese merchants and workers from the land
he needed to build the new capital, he offered them land further to the southeast, beyond
the second moat and the new city wall, and stretching between two existing temples, Wat
Sampluem and Wat Sampeng. There was a canal next to Wat Sampluem, and this became
part of the second moat. Siam had not yet reopened to the Western nations, and China
was essentially the only trading partner. The Chinese junk trade grew very quickly after
Bangkok was founded, the ships mooring along the middle of the river and small boats
transporting goods to and from the warehouses on shore. Sampeng Lane therefore grew as
a thoroughfare parallel to the river, with narrow lanes running down to the water's edge on
one side, and out to the muddy limits of the settlement on the other, beyond which was a
waterlogged area that marked the beginning of the Sea of Mud, a large stretch of estuary
