This is my entry for #marketfriday created by the kind and lovely @dswigle. I kept on wanting to post a story about Sampeng, my favourite childhood’s trips with my mother. She always took me shopping there where all my senses of wonder were awaken by all the colours, sights and sounds of the crowded shoppers and amazing goods crammed in small shops. These photos were taken months before the pandemic so Sampeng market were still very lively and full of energy.
Sampeng market is the oldest and largest market which could be seen as the first Chinese shopping mall established during the reign of King Rama I, just over two hundred years ago. King Rama I began his Reign by building the Grand Palace and established Bangkok as the new capitol city of Siam, about two hundreds and fifty years ago. There was a big Chinese immigrants’ community living by the river near Ta Tian pier which was very close to the southern wall of the Palace. The construction of the Grand Palace required more land and control of strategic area by the river. So, the King offered the Chinese community a larger piece of land a few kilometers further down the river. This new Chinese settlement is called Sampeng and Yaowarad (or Chinatown).
Sampeng was previously the name of the old temple close to the river bank. There were small canals everywhere as the main transport in those days was rowing boat; most temples situated by a river or a canal with private piers. So, in the old days the front of houses faced the river or a canal (khlong in Thai). The Chinese community grew and expanded into a big hub of shopping complex; the Chinatown area becomes the food zone with theaters and cinemas, high end shops for European and imported luxury goods and gold shops.
The Sampeng area has become rows of shop-houses built during the Reign of King Rama V just over a hundred years ago. Small lanes and roads began to fill in and replace small canals. These shop-houses turned into hundreds of shops selling all the imported goods and delicacies from China, Japan and Korea. Nowadays Sampeng has different zones for different types of whole sale products from factories. But the main narrow lane is full of shops selling everything from hair-pins, decorations for parties, to traditional Thai silk. There, you could find Chinese noodle stalls, Thai iced sweets and seasonable fruits tucking away in even narrower alleys.
เราไม่ได้ไปเดินเล่นที่ตลาดสำเพ็งนานมากแล้ว เราจึงมาเขียนเรื่องตลาดสำเพ็งที่เรารู้จักตั้งแต่เป็นเด็ก เราไปเดินเล่นถ่ายรูปมานานมาก ตั้งแต่ก่อนมีปัญหาโรคโคโรนาไวรัส สำเพ็งจึงดูมีชีวิตชีวาและมีคนเดินกันหนาแน่น เราก็ไม่รู้ว่าตอนนี้สำเพ็งมีสภาพการเป็นอย่างไร เราคงต้องหาเวลาไปเดินเล่นเร็วๆนี้ พวกเราอาจจะไม่รู้ว่า สำเพ็งเป็นตลาดที่เก่าแก่ที่สุดและใหญ่ที่สุดในกรุงเทพฯ เป็นตลาดที่ขายของจากโรงงานต่างๆในจำนวนแบบขายส่งในราคาที่ถูกมาก ทั้งยังเป็นศูนย์รวมสินค้าต่างๆ เหมือนที่เราเห็นในห้างสรรพสินค้าสมัยใหม่ ฉะนั้นเราจึงคิดว่าสำเพ็งเป็นศูยน์รวมห้างสรรพสินค้าแห่งแรกในสยาม
ในสมัยกรุงธนบุรีเป็นเมืองหลวงของสยาม ชาวจีนที่ย้ายถิ่นฐานมาตั้งรกรากในสยาม พากันมาตั้งบ้านเรือนแถวริมแม่น้ำทางฝั่งท่าเตียนเป็นบริเวณกว้าง เมื่อในหลวงรัชกาลที่1 ย้ายเมืองหลวงมาฝั่งพระนคร และสร้างพระบรมมหาราชวังนั้น มีความจำเป็นต้องขยายพื้นที่ไปทางท่าเตียน จึงได้มีการให้ที่ดินชิ้นใหม่ที่กว้างใหญ่กว่าเดิมที่บริเวณวัดสำเพ็ง ชาวจีนจึงย้ายไปสร้างถิ่นฐานใหม่ที่บริเวณวัดสำเพ็ง และตลอดแนวแม่นํ้าเจ้าพระยา จนทำให้เป็นที่รู้จักในปัจจุบันว่า เป็นไชน่าทาวน์และสำเพ็ง โดยในสมัยรัชกาลที่5 ได้มีการสร้างถนนเยาวราชตัดผ่านเพื่อเป็นทางจราจร และสร้างตึกให้ชาวจีนเช่าระยะยาวในราคาถูก ตึกแถวเหล่านี้กลายเป็นศูนย์รวมสินค้านำเข้าจากจีน ญี่ปุ่น เกาหลีใต้เป็นต้น
ปัจจุบันสำเพ็งแบ่งออกเป็นโซนสินค้าประเภทต่างๆ ที่มาจากโรงงานในไทยและต่างประเทศ เช่น โซนขายกระเป๋า หมวก เป้และกระเป๋าเดินทาง รองเท้า ตุ๊กตาและของเล่น ส่วนถนนแคบๆที่ลูกค้าไปเดินกันนั้น จะเป็นร้านขายของที่ขายทั้งปลีกและขายส่ง สมัยก่อนจะมีแต่ร้านขายผ้านานาชนิด แต่ปัจจุบันมีสินค้าทุกอย่าง ตั้งแต่ของแต่งผม แต่งหน้า ของชำร่วยต่างๆเพื่อใช้ในงาน ของแต่งบ้านและสำหรับจัดงานแต่งงาน หรืองานปีใหม่ และมีของสวยงามเพื่อใช้เป็นของขวัญด้วย
I could not share all the photos I took while walking around Sampeng market. There were things I never saw before on sale there; beautiful and artistic crafts with lots of choices at cheap prices. Walking there is an experience a person will cherish for a long time.
Wishing you all a very nice and peaceful weekend.
Cheers.
I want a hat 😁😁😁
Hahaha! Since they are quite cheap! You can have three hats!! One for the sun-hat, one for rainy day and one to go with your colourful dress!
Such great colours - I hope all will return to normal ... or better than normal soon! =D
Thank you so much. I do hope things will improve as soon as possible.
👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks!! You are very kind.
We walked to China town once in December and it was so interesting. We got lost on some narrow side streets which had such an awesome feel to it. I had memories of my mother and I walking around Bangkok which is funny that you were down memory lane when you were there. Thanks for sharing!
Yup! I always associate my mother with Sampeng market as she used to have a small shop near the temple while unmarried. She took me to this market very often!
So, your mum also liked to visit this market too. You’ll have to make another visit to this place in the evening just to have dinner at food stalls like the locals!
Looks a very busy market with plenty to see. I would have a lot of fun there!
Great photos! Ah yes lots of memories for me there also. Used to love to take the river boat from Banglaphu and walk to the Chinese market areas and end up in Phahurat for some Indian food and tea before the Indian emporium. I read recently that there is a large population of newly arrived Chinese in the area driving land prices up and thereby putting pressure on local residents... Have you seen any effects of this? You literally can find anything at those markets and really cheap! Used to just walk around endlessly and inevitably get lost...
I am so sorry that it took me forever to get here! To be fair, I read it when it first came in, then I began the search to track down all the #MarketFriday posts. :)
This is quite an amazing market! I am at a loss for words with everything that you had there. This is such a colorful market and the activity is at high levels. I love those hats, so many different ones and the food booths have enough to feed a village.
Your pictures have been such a delight to scroll through and I must say that Chinatown, in whatever city I have been to is one of the highlights of any city! The first market and being near the palace and the water - that made sense with the houses facing the water. I guess I never thought about it that way, but, yes.
I want to thank you for always, always giving us such a wonderful view of the Chinese community in Bangkok. It is with new eyes that I look at it!
Thanks for joining! I appreciate the love and support you are giving to #MarketFriday! Without you and people like yourself, I wouldn't be able to have such a successful challenge! I know that it is one of those challenges that take a lot of time and effort to be part of, so it means a lot to me that you participate. Thank you again for being a part of all this and I hope that you will, indeed, have a great day and week ahead!
Fridays are all about the #MarketFriday Challenge! Looking to take part in it? Here is how:
How to Participate:
Go to the market! Any market will do! Food, clothing, plant, or animal, if you wish. You can go to the zoo, an art auction, and restaurants. Anywhere or anything that you pay money for any kind of service.
Take pictures! Be creative! It’s fun!
Tell us a little bit about the market, what brought you here?
Post the picture.(s)
Don’t forget to use the MarketFriday Community #196308 to post from or hashtag it! #MarketFriday by @dswigle If you hashtag it, drop the link to your post here so I can easily find them.
As always, please remember! #MarketFriday loves you!
Upped and reposted
!tip .20
Oh! Don’t worry about that! I am physic! LoL. So,I know you have been working and reading all throughout the week! This tag is getting very, very popular!! You are going to need a team of assistants soon! You could try asking some nice kitties to form a team for you!
I think I have been very lucky to be able to keep busy these days and could steal some time to blog. I hope that one day in the far future, some of my long lost relatives will read my blogs one day. They would learn more about their ancestral culture and some bits of history.
You’ve got to pace yourself with all these submission! You are doing a lot of good for so many people around the world!
Thank you for all your kindness and generosity.
Best.
Check out @dswigle blog here and follow if you like the content :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
🎁 Hi @kaminchan! You have received 0.2 HIVE tip from @dswigle!Thank you very much for the tip.