Riverside Reinvention
Bangkok's historic Charoenkrung Road, the first paved road in Thailand when it was built in 1864, has undergone a startling transformation as heart of a creative district
“When I first arrived in Bangkok, I met with so many inspiring and creative people, especially in the art field,” says Thomas Menard. “Searching for a home, I was really interested in finding a shophouse near a cultural or historical area, and Charoenkrung seemed the perfect spot,” explains the Frenchman, who in 2010 quit his economics job and moved to Asia in search of a different life. After scouting neighborhoods along the 150 year-old Charoenkrung Road, he eventually settled on an empty shophouse on Soi 28, drawn by, “No traffic, a local vibe, very interesting history, proximity to the river, mostly low rise buildings, and the lively Chinatown and Silom Road scene nearby.” He soon opened up alternative art space Speedy Grandma in the shophouse, followed by a slew of other neighbourhood venues that had some labelling this area 'Thomastown'.
“First came Speedy Grandma,” says Menard, “then I opened Soy Sauce Factory [a lively photo studio, concert and event venue, and exhibition space that is sadly now closed], then people from other areas started to show interest. I partnered with newcomers to create the live music venue Soul Bar, did a restaurant called Saddle and Bun [now the rather excellent 80/20], partnered with Chet Adkins and Jason Lang to open the Little Market diner, and rented out various other shophouses to a Dutch designer, modern izakaya JUA, Black Pig tattoo parlour and Tropic City, all on Charoenkrung Soi 28.”
It's a rapid pace of change for one of Bangkok's oldest and most traditional districts, but Menard assures that all the newcomers did not adversely affect the local way of life. “I only took spaces that were already abandoned or being used for storage. Sure, the area has attracted more foreigners and tourists over the years, but the lifestyle of local people is still unchanged,” he says. “The dynamics are slow in this area. People don't want to sell their houses, and a lot of local businesses are still operating. A few more creative spaces might join in, but there are not that many buildings available.”
While this may be true, there are two major projects nearby that have been drawing international attention to this area. The first is the Thailand Creative and Design Center, or TCDC for short, which opened down the road from Menard’s businesses in one wing of the imposing and modernist Grand Postal Building, where it occupies some 8,700 square metres. The TCDC is part of a government-led initiative launched in 2005 that aims to prepare the country for a creative economy. It began as a design resource library atop the downtown Bangkok shopping mall Emporium, but in its new reincarnation has been transformed into an incubator for creative industries, where designers can seek professional input, attend classes, and test and make prototypes.
The second project, which sits a stone's throw away from TCDC (another reason it’s being called the ‘creative district’), involves the repurposing of a collection of World War Two-era wooden warehouses. Visually more humble than the grand edifice on the other side of the lane, Warehouse 30 – the name refers to its location on Charoenkrung Soi 30 – is the brainchild of leading Thailand architect Duangrit Bunnag, and saw the once empty buildings – built in 1942 – variously house a clothing store (Bunnag's own brand Lonely Two-Legged Creature), cocktail bar, cafe, flower stall, design shop, organic market, movie screening room, bookshop, record store and raw juice bar.
Rungsima Kasikranund is the project director for Warehouse 30, though the former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration Thailand prefers the title ‘curator’. “Duangrit told me he's always had his eye on this property, with its historical structures in very good shape,” she says. “The beautiful buildings have such great potential, and we wanted to breathe life back into the spaces.” In some ways, it's a continuation of the project Bunnag started across the river at his design HQ, the The Jam Factory. Opened in 2015, that space similarly took a group of old warehouses and transformed them into a design and restaurant complex, that's also home to his office. “While of course they are sister properties, Warehouse 30 is different to the Jam Factory,” counters Kasikranund. Warehouse 30 supports young creatives, providing exhibition and performance space at little or no cost for ideas that impress them. “Artists propose their idea, and if we like it we’ll support it,” says Kasikranund, “such as providing a free space for a play.”
This incubation of native design talent represents why may have labeled the area as the ‘creative district’, a moniker being encouraged by Australian David Robinson, a longterm Bangkok expat who wears two hats – one as director of Bangkok River, a commercially-driven organisation involving local hotels and businesses which aims to attract more people to spend time (and money) by the river, and also as a founding member of the Creative District, a collective of both Thais and foreigners invested in fostering a new centre of creativity in Bangkok that includes Menard and Bunnag.
“There are two communities in the 'Creative District,” says Robinson, referring to the area he defines as being from the Saphan Taksin BTS train station in the south to the Talad Noi district in the north. 'There are people who have lived there for a long time, and people who would like to move there, and we have to encourage the two groups to appreciate the other – both the old and new. We can do this by taking actions that give people a chance to get to know each other. For example, there’s a man who makes traditional paper lanterns in a shophouse next to Speedy Grandma. Luke Satoru of Black Pig on the same soi then painted these, and they became contemporary art.”
Robinson is excited by the district's potential. “The TCDC has more than 30,000 members, next door is Warehouse 30, then around the corner is the House Number One event space, a heritage project that was overseen by the Crown Property Bureau, Thomastown, and the Portuguese Embassy. Our first job has been to get Bangkokians back on the river, and it’s already happening – on a recent weekend I was down here and there were 70 or so young people cycling around snapping selfies with street art, which I've never seen before.’ For Robinson, it’s all about the balancing act: “We need momentum to make change, but if the change happens too fast it’s not sustainable.”
An organisation perhaps best placed to reflect on the impact outsiders can have on this old Bangkok neighborhood is the splendid home of the Portuguese Embassy, the official representative of a country that has seen 500 years of trade with Siam, as the country was known until 1932. “The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Siam, in 1511,” explains Maria Madureira, cultural attaché at the embassy as well as director of the Portuguese Cultural Center, “which is why the Embassy of Portugal located on Charoenkrung Soi 30 is one of the most important landmarks in Bangkok.”
A few years ago, to mark the celebration of 500 years of relations between Thailand and Portugal, the embassy invited renowned Portuguese artist Vhils, aka Alexandre Farto, to produce a stunning carved art mural on its exterior wall. “For us, Vhils’ piece symbolizes the encounter of these two different cultures - Portugal and Thailand - and how they have gotten along for so many centuries until now,” says Madureira. “In a way this is our gift to the city of Bangkok, and most especially to the local community.”
She describes the district as buzzing with opportunities. “It is no longer an old and forgotten neighborhood along the river. It is an exciting destination full with galleries, restaurants, and music. A stroll up and down Charoenkrung is a feast to the eyes, with its architecture and contemporary art, and to the stomach with its new and vibrant restaurants, pubs and street food. To visit this district means to be part of ongoing process of innovation and creativity - there is always something new to discover.”
Old and new, East meets West. In many ways this quiet corner of Bangkok is not so much modernising as reclaiming a historic identity. As for what the development of a 'Creative District' bodes for the future, well – let's just see where this old road leads.