Along Charoenkrung Road, Bangkok’s first paved road and home to several of the Thai capital's historic landmarks, old spaces give rise to new ideas in one of the city's few remaining heritage areas not swallowed by rapid development.
As the streetlight turns green, a public bus and a swarm of motorbikes whizz by, followed by a pink taxi, and then a grandma leisurely riding her bicycle with her groceries. Along the street, shophouses are open for business with the owners sitting outside, some reading newspapers, others watching crowds of students walking along the footpath as the school day ends.
Later, in 1927, the road saw the construction of the capital’s first high-rise building – a seven-storey building built by Nai Lert – and in 1950 the first branch of the Central department store, now Thailand’s largest retail conglomerate, opened in Charoenkrung.
But beyond construction and development, it was in the late-19th century that the French Embassy on Charoenkrung would be at the heart of a nation-defining moment for Thailand.
From postal buildings to warehouses, today buildings scattered across Charoenkrung Road are being repurposed for new uses. Though it seems the result of a concerted contemporary effort reimagining the area’s identity as the ‘Creative District’, Porntip Attakanwong, creative director of the ATT 19 gallery on Charoenkrung, argues that this creativity has always been what the road is known for.
These concepts continue to adapt and reinvent themselves, mixing the same elements of old and new, modern and traditional, staying true to Charoenkrung’s charm since the beginning.
This article was written by WANPEN PAJAI
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