Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
two dragons are playing with a pearl, and there is a courtyard with a figure of Kuan Yin,
the goddess of mercy, set against a water cascade. Nearby in Charoen Krung Road is the
Kwong Siew Hospital, founded by another charitable foundation, and next to this is the
only Guangdong shrine in Bangkok, built more than 130 years ago by Cantonese immig-
rants, using building materials and images brought from their homeland. The gods repres-
ented here include those who have an influence on education, craftsmanship, handicrafts,
and morality.
The oldest Chinese shrine in Bangkok predates the city itself, showing there was a
thriving Chinese community in what was later to become Chinatown, separate to that
which occupied the area where the Grand Palace now stands. The Leng Buai Yia Shrine
is in a courtyard reached by walking down the narrow alley of Yaowarat Soi 6. There is a
plaque inside with an inscription stating it was built in 1658, a century before the Burmese
razed Ayutthaya. Built by Teochew immigrants, the shrine is a traditional one with a roof
made of glazed tiles adorned with two ceramic dragons. The shrine contains an altar ded-
icated to Leng Buai Ia and his wife. To the left and right there are altars to the deity Kuan
Yu and the Queen of Heaven, Tianhou. Near the entrance is an ancient bell attributed to
the Emperor Daoguang, who ruled towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. Other items in-
side the shrine include three plaques from the reign of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Kangxi,
and a container for incense sticks given as a gift by Rama
V
.
The largest Chinese Buddhist temple in Chinatown is Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, the
Dragon Lotus Temple, more often known to local residents as Wat Leng Noei Yi, which
means the same in the Teochew dialect. Founded in 1871 on land donated by Rama
V
,
construction took eight years and was financed by wealthy Chinese merchants and gov-
ernment officials. The temple is set in a courtyard off Charoen Krung Road, opposite Ph-
lab Phla Chai Police Station. The architecture is traditional Chinese, with a multi-tiered
tiled roof decorated with animal and floral motifs, and Chinese dragons tus-sling with a
pearl of wisdom. A temple of the Mahayana Buddhist sect, with three Chinese-style gold
Buddha images in the
ubosot
, Wat Mangkon nonetheless encompasses other beliefs: the
entrance to the
wiharn
is flanked by large statues of the four guardians of the world, the
Chatulokkaban, clothed in warrior costumes, while elsewhere there are shrines dedicated
to a variety of Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian deities and religious figures, all important
in local Chinese beliefs. At the rear of the temple stand three pavilions, one dedicated to
Kuan Yin, one to the temple's founder, Phra Archan Chin Wang Samathiwat, and one to
the saint Lak Chao. The front courtyard includes a furnace for the ritual burning of pa-
per money and other offerings to ancestors, and near the rear of the courtyard is a case
