Our home, our heritage

I’VE LIVED in Bangkok all my life. One of my earliest memories comes from my primary school days, when I would walk past the old Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce building on Sathorn Road half-hoping and half-worried that a ghost would suddenly emerge and chase me away.

When I started secondary school, I would occasionally take a boat along the Chao Phraya River where I would see Westerners pointing at some run-down colonial buildings and the occasional church and wonder why they were so excited.

In short, I was like the majority of Bangkokians: aware of these old buildings and churches but knowing nothing of their history.

Last year the European Union and European Union National Institutes for Culture in Thailand (EUNIC Thailand) introduced a European Heritage Map for Bangkok and Ayutthaya. Printed on good quality paper, the map highlights 60 sites in Bangkok and five in Ayutthaya that underscore the rich and centuries-old relationship between Europe and Thailand. A print-run of 30,000 copies was disseminated around Thailand. 

This year, the EU’s diplomatic representations and cultural institutes in Thailand joined up for a follow-up project in the form of a smartphone application. The European Heritage Map and Cultural Calendar of Thailand app describes and illustrates some 250 sites around Thailand that represent a common heritage born out of centuries of Thai-European interaction.

“Last year’s heritage map was a great success and that encouraged us to come up a more comprehensive product. With everyone owning a smartphone these days, it seemed appropriate to introduce an app that can be used on android and iOS systems,” says Jesus Miguel Sanz, head of the Delegation of the European Union to Thailand.

“We also decided to expand this digital version to cover the whole of Thailand. From 65 heritage sites on the paper map, the ‘European Heritage Map and Cultural Calendar’ app now covers some 250 sites with rich illustrations and detailed information.”

The new app, the content for which was prepared by the EUNIC Thailand cluster and the European Union diplomatic representations in Thailand, was digitised by Talisman Media with funding from the Delegation and Cluster as well as the embassies of Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal plus Alliance Francaise, the Goethe Institut and the British Council. 

The app is in Thai and English and comes complete with maps, bookmarks for favourite sites, contact information of each site, and a share button that allows users to upload photos to the social networks. The app also provides a brief history of European influences in various Thai cities along with information about the architects and artists behind those buildings.

An added bonus is an up-to-date overview of all the cultural events organised by the EU’s Member States and their institutes in Thailand. 

“Europe’s strong presence in Thailand is of course still evident today, and not only in the architecture. This is why we added to the digital format a feature focusing on cultural events,” Sanz continues.

“This Cultural Calendar is updated regularly and lists detailed information, varying from movie screenings to dance performances, and from art exhibitions to lectures. In this way, the app promotes not only awareness and appreciation of the long and rich history of Euro-Thai relations but also the vibrant cultural exchanges of the present.

“Thailand is absolutely unique. Siam’s monarchs selected European architects from different nations to come here. This didn’t happen in other nations, where the colonial style says as great deal about power. You see Dutch architecture style in Indonesia because the Dutch wanted to show their power over the nation. Unlike Hanoi where the style is 100-per-cent French or Yangon, where it’s 100-per-cent British, Bangkok boasts Italian, French, German, Belgian, Portuguese and British architecture as well as some extraordinary blends of styles,” says Luc Citrinot, a French journalist and researcher of European Heritage-linked destinations in Southeast Asia.

Buildings featuring such a mix of Thai and Western styles include the Faculty of Arts at Chulalongkorn University, which was constructed in 1914 by Briton Edward Healey, and Wat Benjamabophit, which was built with Carrara marble from Italy.

In Citrinot’s view, education is vital to the survival of the historical and architectural gems that reflect the centuries-long relationship between Thailand and Europe.

“The knowledge should start at school. Teachers should raise students’ awareness of culture, history and architecture. It’s not enough to go to a museum or look at the app. Europe is a good example of how we have been able to reuse the old structures in the modern world.” 

Playing around the app, my heart beats faster when I come cross my childhood nemesis: the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and its ghosts.

The building was built in Neo-Renaissance style in 1903 to serve as the offices of the Bombay Burma Trading Company, which was originally based in British India. The building was sold to the Association of Chinese Commerce in Thailand in 1930. During World War II, it was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Army who turned it into their command centre. After the war, the building once again become the headquarters of the Thai Chinese Chamber of Commerce. Recognised by the Fine Arts Department, the building is an exceptional example of colonial-era architecture. Partially renovated in 2000, the building has now been fully and totally revitalised and restored as the Blue Elephant Cooking School and Restaurant.

The European Heritage Map and Cultural Calendar of Thailand app not only helps put names to the familiar faces of old buildings scattered around Thailand, but also allows us to really know them, embrace their histories and celebrate their survival. 

 

DIALLING IN TO DIGITAL

>>Download the European Heritage Map and Cultural Calendar of Thailand app at Apple store and Google Play Store.