 |
 |
Saturday 6 December
Pahurat……..Now several days after the end of my amazing ‘Natural Thailand’ tour with hours and hours spent on sifting through and cataloging my photographs, I really must get some shopping done before I head back to the UK. Neither of these things need cause me to open a new thread. Yet as I head towards Pahurat textile market, deep in the heart of the old city, I manage to take a few photographs. With nowhere else to post them, I decide to open a new webpage. I don’t intend to write a whole chapter on this area but the Chao Phraya’s east bank provided a home for early Chinese and Indian traders who managed to drain some of the surrounding marshland though a series of klongs (canals) and build their homes. As I travel through the area, very congested with none of the most modern modes of transport available, I find a tuk tuk, the most suitable means to take me on to the textile quarter. The area is completely at odds with the commercial and political areas of Bangkok with evidence of the old city all around. It is slow to accept change with old wooden buildings refusing to give way to concrete and glass. But change may just be around the corner as the MRT underground loop is being extended through the area and out under the Chao Phraya River. So there’s no chapter, just a paragraph.
Pahurat……..Now several days after the end of my amazing ‘Natural Thailand’ tour with hours and hours spent on sifting through and cataloging my photographs, I really must get some shopping done before I head back to the UK. Neither of these things need cause me to open a new thread. Yet as I head towards Pahurat textile market, deep in the heart of the old city, I manage to take a few photographs. With nowhere else to post them, I decide to open a new webpage. I don’t intend to write a whole chapter on this area but the Chao Phraya’s east bank provided a home for early Chinese and Indian traders who managed to drain some of the surrounding marshland though a series of klongs (canals) and build their homes. As I travel through the area, very congested with none of the most modern modes of transport available, I find a tuk tuk, the most suitable means to take me on to the textile quarter. The area is completely at odds with the commercial and political areas of Bangkok with evidence of the old city all around. It is slow to accept change with old wooden buildings refusing to give way to concrete and glass. But change may just be around the corner as the MRT underground loop is being extended through the area and out under the Chao Phraya River. So there’s no chapter, just a paragraph.
MRT extension work near Hua Lamphong Railway Station and the Tuk Tuk ride through Yeoarat
Tuk Tuk ride to Pahurak and view of Dark Red Line construction from Lak Si station
On the right track……..Knowing the difficulty I had in inserting myself into the old city, I decide to try another mode of transport to extract myself. I head for Hua Lamphong Railway station again but this time by bus No. 7. I can use the opportunity at the station to expand my data base on the SRT. It proves useful and in addition with no easy route back to Kubon, I decide to take a train as far as Lak Si station. From here there is a direct route east along Ramintra Road. The route north from Bang Sue Junction follows the route of the SRT dark red line which is now well under construction after major delays. This urban line will be electrified and cover a distance of 21.6 kliometres as far as Thammasat University. I jump on the 16.30 Ordinary Service heading for Lopburi. This route is still slow but at least it’s predictable and cheap, just 5 baht for the train. As mentioned, I hadn’t intended to cover the day’s events in my blog but it leads naturally into another day which certainly has to be included. Next Page.