Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
thaya, when it became prominent in helping to guard the entrance to the Chao Phraya.
Rama
I
ordered a fort to be built here in 1809, and in 1815 Rama
II
commanded anoth-
er eight forts to be built. The Mon immigrants having proved such fierce enemies of the
Burmese, several hundred Mon men and their families were settled along the river to man
the forts and to populate the town that the king was building here, Nakorn Keunkan. The
community has grown from that original migration. Phlaeng Faifa, the only remaining
fort, is to be found near the ferry pier, although there is little left except for a solid arch-
way and the earthworks topped with stone ramparts and ancient cannon. The site is now
a small public park. Most of the other forts have been completely lost and forgotten, their
stones long ago taken away for other building works, but the ruins of one, Puchao Saming
Phrai, can be found on the Samut Prakan side of the river, almost directly opposite, com-
pletely neglected except for a row of rusting cannon along the riverbank.
So thoroughly did the Mon settle Phra Pradaeng that there is only one Thai Buddhist
temple amongst the thirty-eight temples within the administrative district of Amphoe
Phra Pradaeng: all the others are of the Mon Buddhist sect. Wat Prodket Chettharam was
built in the time of Rama
II
and stands on the bank of the Lat Ruang canal, which was
cut at that time by Mon immigrants under the direction of the king; the depth of the Lat
Pho canal was reduced because of the saline water that was travelling upstream and seep-
ing into the irrigation system that fed the orchards established there. Klong Lat Ruang
passes in a diagonal fashion across Phra Pradaeng to avoid inundation by the river, and
was too narrow for larger shipping. In 1907 the Maenam Motorboat Company, a subsi-
diary of Siam Electricity, which owned Bangkok's electric trams system, set up a steam
tram that ran parallel to the Lat Ruang canal because the waterway was not large enough
to handle their boats. The trams were later converted to petrol but the system was aban-
doned in 1940 because of wartime fuel shortages. Wat Prodket's position next to this quiet
and clean waterway has enabled the creation of a small moat around the central
chedi
, an
attractive area set with stone benches. Although designed for devotees of the Thai style
of Buddhism, Wat Prodket shows strong elements of Mon design in its architecture. The
roofs of the
ubosot
and
wiharn
are both covered with Mon ceramic shingles and there are
no rooftop decorations, giving a slightly cropped look to the outline, while the gables are
flat and with a vine pattern made from ceramic fragments placed on stucco. A Chinese
gate leads over the moat, and there are Chinese pavilions. The temple has both a sitting
Buddha, in the Subduing Mara position, and a Reclining Buddha. Inside the
wiharn
are
Dharma illustrations performed in Western art style, which is extremely rare, and inside
the
mondop
is a representation of the Buddha's footprint, inlaid with pearl.
