At the Wellspring of Visual Storytelling: The Art of Sukhothai and Its Legacy
The history of Thai art tends to begin at Sukhothai, in the 13th century, in what UNESCO presents as the first kingdom of Siam. Here we find brick…
Understand 12 min read
Heritage type
Religious heritage
Articles
Talat Noi, the junk quarter: how a Sino-Thai village took shape on the banks of the Chao Phraya
Between Yaowarat and the Phadung Krung Kasem Canal, on the east bank of the Chao Phraya, Talat Noi covers less than half a square kilometre. Yet this…
Understand 13 min read
Mount Meru in the City: How Siam's Temples and Royal Pyres Reproduce the Hindu-Buddhist Universe
At the centre of the Buddhist universe rises a mountain, Meru, encircled by seven ranges, seven seas and four continents. In the 14th century the…
In depth 13 min read
Pahurat, Bangkok's ‘Little India’: a royal road, Punjabi merchants and a quarter still finding itself
A few steps from Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, a handful of streets in the old city sell saris, gold braid and lengths of fabric. Above them rises…
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Rama III and the Chinese Taste: The Origins of the Sino-Thai Style in Bangkok
Under the reign of Rama III, commonly placed between 1824 and 1851, several of Bangkok's royal temples were clad in ceramics and filled with stone…
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Kudi Chin, on the Thonburi bank: the descendants of the Portuguese and the memory of a plural neighbourhood
On the west bank of the Chao Phraya River, facing old Bangkok, the neighbourhood of Kudi Chin brings together a Catholic church, a Buddhist temple, a…
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Sak yant: the history of a sacred Thai tattoo, between protective magic and ancestral art
On backs and shoulders, grids of ancient characters, tigers and deities appear. Outside Thailand, sak yant often passes for an exotic fashion. It is…
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Thailand's Festivals and Celebrations: The Year's Calendar, Month by Month
In Thailand, the year is not divided into months alone. It also follows the moon, the rice harvest, the rainy season and the rhythm of the…
Discover 26 min read
Yaowarat, from Sampheng market to the ‘dragon road’: how Bangkok’s Chinatown took shape
Some one and a half kilometres long, Yaowarat Road has become the emblem of Bangkok’s Chinatown, with its shop signs, its gold shops and its…
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Tha Rae, on the shore of Lake Nong Han: how Catholicism took root in Isan
On the edge of Lake Nong Han, some twenty kilometres from Sakon Nakhon, a boat-shaped cathedral towers over streets laid out with ruler-straight…
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Behind the Masks of Phi Ta Khon: What Dan Sai Really Celebrates
Every year, at the end of June or the beginning of July, Dan Sai, a small town in Loei province in north-eastern Thailand, fills with round-eyed…
Understand 13 min read