Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
To help build the palaces and temples of Bangkok and to dig the canals, thousands
more Chinese were imported as labour, and to the merchant class were added craftsmen:
blacksmiths, goldsmiths and silversmiths, carpenters, brickmakers and builders. Along
with the Chinese came opium and the secret societies. There came also the world's oldest
profession: prostitutes, mainly from southern China. Sampeng Lane became Bangkok's
first red-light area, although the brothels that were opened along the narrow lanes off
Sampeng were identifiable by a green light above their doors. These were legal, and they
were not all simple bawdy houses: many vied with each other in the quality of their decor
and the sophistication of their girls. The brothel owners prospered: one madame, a Mrs
Faeng, famously built a temple from her earnings. But a slang phrase for a woman of loose
morals entered the Thai language at this time:
aeSampeng
. Sampeng Lane also has the
reputation of being the starting point for big-time gambling. The Chinese brought with
them their fondness for gambling, one of most popular games being
huey
, which involves
betting on a letter of the alphabet. In the early 1830s, in the reign of Rama
III
, Bangkok
and its environs suffered bad flooding. The market gardens and rice fields were wiped out,
and the king was forced to buy rice from overseas. The amount of money in circulation
dropped, and the people suffered great hardship. An influential Chinese named Chao Sua
Hong managed to persuade the king that a form of lottery, based on
huey
, would release
more money into circulation and raise tax revenue. The office, Rong Huey, was set up
near Sampeng Lane in 1835, next to the bridge over the canal. Chao issued one letter of
the alphabet for betting every morning, plucked at random from a large bag. He quickly
prospered. A nobleman named Phra Sri Viroj thought this was such a good idea that he
also opened a Rong Huey, issuing a letter of the alphabet every evening. Other huay offices
followed. Gambling fever took hold of the capital, and quickly became a serious problem.
Despite the efforts of the next two monarchs it remained so for many years. A survey of
1888 found that there were 403 registered gambling houses in Bangkok, and it wasn't until
1916 that Rama
VI
managed to abolish them. This he achieved only by establishing a gov-
ernment lottery.
It was the Bowring Treaty of 1855 that changed the direction of Siam's trading towards
the West, for other treaties quickly followed and the Siamese enthusiastically embraced
European produce and ideas. Goods from British India began to arrive in Bangkok, and a
large community of Indians evolved. The Chinese of Sampeng Lane, however, readily ad-
apted: they became merchants dealing with the Europeans.
A visitor to Sampeng Lane today may be surprised at how narrow it is, but it was
built (or, rather, evolved) long before there were any roads in Bangkok. The entrance is at
