Walking along side street in Bangkok: an old Chinese community.
New Road was the first proper road in Bangkok. This road runs parallel to the main river (Chao Phraya River) where all the merchant ships stopped to unload their goods from China and where the Chinese immigrants disembarked and started looking for a job. New Road is located in the district of Bangrak. This area became the hub of trading and commerce. There were many foreign companies and warehouses in this busy area of Bangkok. Nowadays, all the small docks fir trading ships have gone. There is now a much bigger dockland further up the river. This area has turned into rows of shop-houses whose residents are descendants of those Chinese immigrants over a hundred years ago.
The main road (New Road) is a very busy road always full with traffic and people. The medium size shopping mall called Robinson is a very nice place with friendly staff. My favourite side street is just opposite this mall. I like to take a leisurely walk looking at the old houses and discover local street food along the way.
Local people around here are spoiled for choices of delicious street food in this narrow road. There are some famous local roast pork and duck in this road and modern coffee shop plus pizza place too. There are some cheap hostels for tourists on a budget and a quiet hotel at the other end of the road.
I often go for a walk along this road just to see the old rows of houses which are about a hundred years old. Some of these still have the original wooden frame and door panels. Local people like to have a garden but they have no land for gardening. The result is pot plants in front of their houses.
One house has gone to extreme by installing a big bird cage in front of his house! But he does manage to make the environment very green and jungle like for his birds. I wonder if this is really illegal to build a bird cage on the footpath. I feel sorry for these birds but I don’t think they will survive outside this cage as they have lost the skill for survival.
The local ice vendor is still operating despite new trend towards modern ice machines in the market. In the old days, Chinese labourers could be seen delivering ice bags in tricycles. This small ice factory brings back my childhood memory. This walk always brings me back to the good old days of my childhood. I miss my Chinese grandparents every time I take this walk.
Have a nice day!
Cheers.
Nice walk along the old road! The old rows of houses are interesting. I also love that people have small gardens in front of their houses. These can make the area look refreshing.
Among the street foods that you showed, I love the "Khanom Tokyo" most. Very yummy! The jackfruit is also one of my favorite fruits.
In the past, I loved to go to "Robinson", too. It's a very nice place, I agree.
It's good to know that this walk brings you back to the good old days of your childhood. Thanks so much for sharing. I also felt the same as you. ;)
Howdy sir kaminchan! I love seeing the street scenes with all the vendors and old houses. I don't see anyone wearing their masks, is everything back to normal?
Aha! Those were the days before the announcement of the pandemic! Now people are too scared and paranoid!
Howdy sir kaminchan! The country is gripped by fear? I thought things would be getting back to normal by now. Did you have to cancel your English teaching classes?
No classes for ages!! Everyone’s on lockdown!
I think things are going to get rough in July to August.
Take care.
I thought by now they would be opened up most of the way like we are. But then, we have record numbers of new cases in Texas so we may have opened too soon.