Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
it, and together with Chinese speakers now constitute much of the parish. Of particular
note are the splendid Romanesque stained-glass windows, gilded ceilings and a Christ
statue that is carried through the streets during Easter celebrations.
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
CHINATOWN VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL
During the annual Vegetarian Festival in September/October, Bangkok's Chinatown becomes a virtual orgy of
nonmeat cuisine. The festivities centre on Chinatown's main street, Th Yaowarat, and the Talat Noi (
Click here
)
area, but food shops and stalls all over the city post yellow flags to announce their meat-free status.
Celebrating alongside the ethnic Chinese are Thais who look forward to the special dishes that appear during
the festival period. Most restaurants put their normal menus on hold and instead prepare soy-based substitutes for
standard Thai dishes like
đôm yam
and
gaang kĕe·o wăhn
(green curry). Even Thai regional cuisines are sold
(without the meat, of course). Yellow Hokkien-style noodles often make an appearance in the special festival
dishes, usually in stir-fried dishes along with meaty mushrooms and big hunks of vegetables.
Along with abstinence from meat, the 10-day festival is celebrated with special visits to the temple, often re-
quiring worshippers to dress in white.
HUALAMPHONG TRAIN STATION
(off Th Phra Ram IV; Hua Lamphong exit 2)
At the southeastern edge of Chinatown, Bangkok's
main train station was built by Dutch architects and engineers between 1910 and 1916.
Above the 14 platforms it was designed in a neoclassical style by Italian architect-and-
engineer combination Mario Tamagno and Annibale Rigotti, who were working at the
same time on the grand Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall (
Click here
)
at Dusit. It also em-
braces other influences, such as the patterned, two-toned skylights that exemplify nascent
De Stijl Dutch modernism - it is through these that it is known as an early example of the
shift towards Thai art deco. If you can zone out of the chaos for a moment, look for the
vaulted iron roof and neoclassical portico, which were a state-of-the-art engineering feat.
HISTORICAL BUILDING
GURDWARA SIRI GURU SINGH SABHA
(off Th Chakraphet; 9am-5pm; Tha Saphan Phut, Memorial Bridge)
F
Just off Th Chakraphet is
this gold-domed Sikh temple. Basically it's a large hall, somewhat reminiscent of a
mosque interior, devoted to the worship of the Guru Granth Sahib
,
the 17th-century Sikh
holy book, which is itself considered the last of the religion's 10 great gurus.
Prasada (blessed food offered to Hindu or Sikh temple attendees) is distributed among
devotees every morning around 9am, and if you arrive on a Sikh festival day you can par-
TEMPLE
