My Krung Thep กรุงเทพฯ (Bangkok): #MyKrungthep Good Morning Old Bangkok 6:Tha Prachan ท่าพระจันทร์ and Wang Lang Market ตลาดวังหลัง

Friday, May 10, 2019

#MyKrungthep Good Morning Old Bangkok 6:
Tha Prachan ท่าพระจันทร์ and
Wang Lang Market ตลาดวังหลัง

See the locations on #MyKrungthep Bangkok Walking Tour: Tha Prachan and Wang Lang Google Map

Picture by iamkeang

The area around Tha Prachan ท่าพระจันทร์ ("Moon pier") comes alive around 4 pm, when students and workers starting to head home and visiting tourists form an eclectic mix of people with the street vendors and owners of decades-old businesses in the shops. Tha Prachan (see picture) is one of Bangkok’s most historical piers. It’s also home to two of Thailand’s leading Universities, Thammasart (see campus map) and Silpakorn. "The food on offer at Tha Prachan is a real treat. Inside the pier’s small complex are a number of great local eateries offering all the favourites like papaya salad and green chicken curry. Outside are various street vendors selling tropical fruits, juices and other delicious snacks", notes Life in Bangkok blog. Have a look at the noodles eaten by Earn K.T. And BK Magazine covered eateries like New Yong Hua Pochana, Nai Dee, Charoen Chai, Ajisen Ramen, Tha Prachan, Roti Mataba Tha Prachan, N+Rich, Aew Tha Prachan and R-Roy. At R-Roy you get butter sugar crackers, for which the people are queuing reports Stranger in Bangkok. And their design is vintage, writes kanidinspired.com.

Picture by Momykaboon
R-Roy crispy bread, with vintage design

travel.cnn.com portrays owners of shops and stalls, between fashionable clothes and accessoires, bookshops and musicshops, fortune tellers and amulets. The area around the pier hosts an extensive Buddhist amulet market, which opens early in the morning and closes around dusk. Thais have been wearing Buddhist amulets for centuries. "This comes from a superstitious belief that an amulet can protect the wearer from evil spirits and bad luck. It's also thought that the various powers linked with an amulet can easily outlive the current owner", writes Youthapong Charoenpan.

Picture by -AX-
Amulet Market

Picture by -AX-

Picture by Nir Nussbaum

Picture by -AX-
Maharat Road

On the corner of Pra Chan and Na Phra That roads you will find Cafe Velo Dome คาเฟ่เวโลโดม. Here you can get a lot of information about Bangkok’s bicycle rentals, bike tours, and city routes for bikers.
Tha Prachan is also a historic site - a site of sadness. Pictures by tuktadevil show, what is known as the 6 October 1976 Thammasat University Massacre เหตุการณ์ 6 ตุลา, when right-wing paramilitary groups killed 46 students and wounded 167 students (the official numbers, probably many more), during a military coup. Thammasat University holds an annual event with eyewitness accounts and historical records. In 1996 a memorial has been built on the campus.

Tha Prachan is just a short walk from Tha Chang Pier, which can easily be reached by a Chao Phraya Express Boat. From Tha Prachan a ferry crosses Chao Phraya River to Tha Wang Lang Pier. And here, beneath Siriraj Hospital, you enter a secondhand shopping paradise: Wang Lang market ตลาดวังหลัง, little sois cramped with shops and stalls. Young Bangkokians know it for good quality and cheap prices for garments, shoes, accessoires as well as delicious foods, loved by locals and students and described by BK. See also this video by ToyJoyKandygirl. The market part with the clothing stalls is called Talad Naew Naew. Nira Chan has nice pictures and one advice: Don't go between 1130 am and 1pm, because the market then is full of hungry students and nurses from the hospital.