Samut Songkhram offers plenty of local colour and old-world charm

Horizons News - Thursday December 13, 2007

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Samut Songkhram offers plenty of local colour and old-world charm

THANIN WEERADET

The Lek-Prapai Viriyapant Foundation has recently organised a cultural-study trip to Samut Songkhram in commemoration of Lek-Prapai Viriyapant, who first established Ancient City to preserve vanishing Thai culture and heritage.

The trip is intended as an opportunity for members of the public to learn age-old Thai ways of life and also have a fun time at canal-side markets.

After a two-hour trip from Bangkok we arrived in Samut Songkhram.

The town of three waters, Samut Songkhram sits on the Gulf of Thailand. In areas close to the coast, locals fish or farm on salt. A bit inland where there is an influence of high tide and low tide, canals and waterways contain brackish water. Myriads of coconut groves are the main feature. Farmers harvest coconuts for sugar. In outer areas less influenced by the sea, farmers grow fruits like lychees, bananas, oranges and pomeloes.

Fruit orchard farming was not originally a Thai practice, said historian Assoc Prof Srisak Walliphodom. Before the influence of immigrants from southern China, Thai farmers grew many varieties of fruit trees on one plot. When the Chinese migrants settled down, they introduced one-crop farming on elevated farmland divided by moats. Until today visitors will see Samut Songkhram's farming areas contain this style of farming.

Every 2nd, 7th and 12th day of waxing and waning moons on the lunar calendar farmers will paddle a boat in which they carry what they have in their orchard to the gathering spot called Tha Kha Market in the early morning. The floating market lasts for a three or four hours until noon. Some boats ply sweets, others offer spices and chillies. Sometimes, visitors cannot even identify the wares in the boat.

There's a bunch of dried nipa palm leaves. Some local men put tobacco on the leaves and wrap like a cigarette. Here it is known for Bang Chang chilli and Thai garlic.

This is a genuine floating market that survives to serve local needs. Local authorities once tried to promote the market as a tourism attraction by opening it on weekends. It was a failure. Tourists just came, took snapshots and left. They had no interest in buying local produce. So the market rendez-vous has been brought back to the dates on the lunar calendar which local vendors and buyers find convenient to their lifestyle.

A rowing boat trip took us to Bang Chang village where a coconut sugar-making house is located. There is an old saying, "Bang Chang Suan Nok Bangkok Suan Nai" (Bang Chang outer orchard, Bangkok inner orchard), which reflects old-time agricultural richness. Samphao Phancharoen, in his late 50s, has produced coconut sugar for nearly half a century. His house sits among fruit and coconut orchards.

Every morning and late afternoon, farmers will climb coconut trees to get coconut sugar. Mature coconut trees produce trunk-like spadix or blossom. Well massaged and cut on tip, the trunk-like spadix oozes sugary sap. Farmers will put a cylindrical vessel made of aluminium to collect the liquid. In earlier days they used bamboo cylinders to receive the sap and squirrels usually foraged the bamboo containers. To protect the sap from fermenting, farmers put in bits of Phayom bark. The collected sap will be put together on a heated huge steel pan. In order to protect it from spilling over when boiled, farmers will put a hollow, round bamboo-woven wall on the pan. The sweet liquid will be simmered and constantly stirred until it turns thick. It will be constantly stirred until it has cooled down. Then, the light brown-coloured coconut sugar will be placed in an aluminium bucket or put in a bowl-shape mould for sale.

In 1904, King Rama V travelled in disguise by boat to Samut Songkhram to learn about his people's livelihood. According to Assoc Prof Srisak, a royal visits in disguise had never existed in Siam before. Probably the king was influenced by Sleeper Awakens, a novel in the Arabian Night's.

During his visit to Samut Songkhram, the king dropped by at kamnan Chan's house. At that time, kamnan Chan's house was a complex of traditional houses located by Tha Kha Canal. The complex has shrunk to three houses connected by an open-air verandah in the middle.

Today Bang-oen Chantraprapha, a woman in her 50s, is a fifth-generation descendant of kamnan Chan.

On the walls hang portraits of her ancestors and as well as portraits of the present king and King Rama V. Unfortunately, the photo of King Rama V posed at the house was kept by her relative in Bangkok.

"Look at those jars of ashes," she said, pointing at her ancestors' urns of ashes placed on an altar. "I don't know which one belongs to whom."

From kamnan Chan's house we went back on the road. Lychee plantations are everywhere by the Maeklong River. Soon, we arrived at Bang Kung Camp.

After King Taksin's victory over the Burmese at Bo Sam Ton Camp and the restoration of independence he established Thon Buri as the new capital since Ayutthaya had been razed. Nonetheless, his kingdom was not entirely free from Burmese attacks. In 1768 the Burmese again marched to Bang Kung Camp in Samut Songkhram. It was a gateway to Thon Buri. Bang Kung in Samut Songkhram was the first spot of warfare between Burmese and Thais since Ayutthaya fell. The Burmese were defeated and the morale of the Thai people was considerably boosted.

Tourists come to pay homage to King Taksin's statue and to a Buddha image inside an old ubosoth (ordination hall) now claimed by a bo tree. Like many popular temples, commercialism has taken its toll with loudspeakers and unnecessary installations. And it seems Thai visitors are not aware of the changes.

From the camp, we proceeded to Bang Nok Kwaek Catholic Church. It seems the church is out of place. It is a stark contrast to its surroundings which are coconut trees and tropical orchards. The church itself is an architectural gem from Europe.

The Catholic community first formed in Samut Songkhram when a group of Catholics were relocated here from the Holy Rosary Church in Bangkok. Residents built the first small church, called Wat Saladaeng or Wat Rang Yao. In 1850 a larger church was built as the Catholic community grew. It was not until 1896 that a group of missionaries from France and Italy founded the present-day church. Stained glass windows were imported from France aged over a hundred years. Interior colour was influenced by the church in Lucerne, Switzerland. Gilded patterns on the ceiling were painted 12 years ago. Asana Viharn Bang Nok Kwaek Church is so called because it is the church of the bishop of the Ratchaburi area, which covers Ratchaburi, Samut Songkhram, Kanchanaburi and Phetchaburi. In Thailand the Catholic church is divided into 10 administration zones, with each zone governed by a bishop.

A wedding couple was seen posing with guests in front of the church.

From the church, Wat Bang Kaphom gave us an entirely different visual experience. Here a replica of the Buddha's Footprint is enshrined. The temple was built in the late Ayutthaya period. Legend has it that a couple earned a living weaving kaphom for sale. Kaphom is a bamboo-woven basket whose top and bottom are narrow and swollen in the middle designed to hold rice paddy. One day the Burmese attacked their village. With nowhere to escape, the couple hid inside the kaphom. They made a prayer to Lord Buddha - if they could escape from the Burmese, they would give away their land for a temple. They survived the raid and their belongings were not plundered. So the temple was built on their land.

The temple features stucco murals depicting Lord Buddha's Enlightenment, Three Characteristics of Existence and eco-culture of Samut Songkhram. In addition, there is a Buddha's Footprint. Historian Prince Damrong once explained the fact about a temple with Buddha's Footprint. Building a replica of Lord Buddha's Footprint was influenced by India. When Buddha reached nirvana, Buddhist devotees established a stupa in his commemoration. Establishing a replica of Lord Buddha's Footprint was then a popular practice. A legend of Mahawong in Sri Lanka has it that Buddha came to preach dhamma. Before he returned, he left his footprint at the top of Sumanakut Mount.

By the late afternoon, we concluded our Samut Songkhram tour at the canal-side Amphawa Market.

Amphawa was an age-old community on the Maeklong River and canals. In those days people conducted commerce in a canal-side market that opened during daylight hours. Connected to the river and a network of canals, farmers paddled their boats to sell their produce. Sunthorn Phu, the famous poet of the early Rattanakosin period, described the vibrancy of Amphawa Market in his work, Nirat Phra Thaen Dongrang.

Since roads have replaced canals, and water gates and dykes were built for irrigation, travelling by boat on canals has diminished. Various canal-side markets have disappeared and Amphawa Market was no exception. Local tourists love visiting canal-side and floating markets. Now Amphawa Market has been revived. But it is no longer a market that serves local needs.

MORE INFO

Tha Kha Floating Market opens every 2, 7, 12 day of waxing and waning moon on the lunar calendar from early morning till noon. Amphawa Evening Floating Market is open only from late afternoon at 4pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and public holidays.

Both markets can be reached from Bangkok on highway 35 via Samut Songkhram or Phetchakasem Highway via Nakhon Pathom.

The 2nd Local Culture Study Trip organised by the Lek-Prapai Viriyapant Foundation will go to ancient temples in Suphan Buri and Phraek Si Racha in Chai Nat on January 19, 2008. The cost is 1,500 baht per person. Call 02-280-3340.

Bangkok Post