Michael's Museum Walk : Talad Noi and Yaowarat, Bangkok, Thailand

 This August, my mom and I visited Michael in Thailand as he and Pinky celebrated a blessing of their wedding at Christchurch in Bangkok-- and we made an occasion out of it by spending two more weeks in the country.

at a riverside cafe

We explored, we ate, we took a cooking class, we ate, and we traveled to the countryside, and we ate.

In addition to eating Thai food, Michael took us on a special walking tour of his very own innovation. Since the before the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic, Michael has been involved with a special volunteer program with the National Museum of Thailand, an English language program that engages expats from around the world. The volunteers were divided into groups, and each was instructed to develop their own walking tour which included Thai cultural landmarks, a coffee stop, and a lunch break.

at the Bangkok National Museum

Michael’s tour took us through the Talad Noi neighborhood and Yaowarat Road, and ended at the Bangkok National Museum. Our tour began at Wat Kalawar, the Portuguese Church of the Holy Rosary.

Here's where Michael took us:

Wat Kalawar, the Church of the Holy Rosary. This Portuguese church dates back to 1759.

"Wat Kalawar" is a Thai name that comes from the Portuguese word "Calvario", and means "Calvary Temple".

Talad Noi, which means "Little Market" is famous for its street food and Chinese heritage.

Michael reading about the history of Siam Commercial Bank.

An example of a traditional Chinese merchant's house at the Marine Department.

Sir John "Captain" Bush, an Englishman who served as Admiral of the Siamese Navy during the reigns of Kings Rama IV and V and captained the royal barge.

A Buddhist shrine at the Marine department looks out across the Chaophraya River.

Standing at a lookout point over the river.

This Hakka Shrine by the river is run by a multi-generation Thai-Chinese family.

It's a working Chinese shrine with lots of incense and candles to buy as offerings.

In the interior shrine you can find the statue of Hong Wong Kung, the first emperor of the Han dynasty of China (206 BC-220 AD).

Chinese shrines are very different from Thai temples!

The very colorful interior of the Hong Wong Kung Shrine in Bangkok.

This area has lots of interesting street art!

 Sol Heng Tai Mansion, a Chinese-style courtyard manor that is now home to a diving school and coffee shop.

The Fiat is sort of a landmark in Talad Noi neighborhood!

A street art map of the neighborhood.

Hong Sieng Kong Cafe, a cool old cafe and antiques gallery alongside the river.

We stopped for coffee, cake, and a rest.

The owner is an art collector, and the old house that he converted into a cafe features art and artifacts from all across Asia.

More fun street art!

We walked through the very busy and chaotic Chinatown Market.

Michael leading the way through the street market.

Leng Buai Ia Shrine - the oldest Chinese shrine in Bangkok!

We arrived at Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, the central and most important Mahayana Buddhist temple in Thailand (most of Thailand follows Theravada Buddhism, but Chinese Buddhism is mostly Mahayana).

Lots of red lanterns hung from the ceiling in the huge Chinese temple.

Many people were praying and giving offerings.

Huge guardian statues protected the doors to the temple.

It's a really colorful place!

Next we came to the The Poh Teck Tung Foundation, a charitable Thai-Chinese order that provides emergency assistance and disaster relief, and collects and properly handles unclaimed bodies following road accidents.

People can make donations in order to fund the foundation and make merit (gain good karma).

We ended up at the Bangkok National Museum, built on the site of the former Front Palace of the Vice-King of Thailand.

The museum is huge, but we only had time to visit a few of the galleries because we were starting to get tired after walking in the heat all day.

One interesting room was full of Thai royal funerary chariots, most recently used in the funeral procession of King Rama IX in 2016.