HISTORICAL HERITAGE

The Chao Phraya River is an important centre of culture and heritage. Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) has undertaken preliminary steps to have a section of the river listed as a UN World Heritage Site. City officials have identified a stretch of the river from the Memorial Bridge to Wasukree Pier as an area of outstanding historical heritage.

They have consulted with the government’s Fine Arts Department about the drafting of an action plan and additional regulations that need to be implemented ahead of submitting an application for World Heritage listing to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

A riverboat trip starting from the Oriental Pier takes passengers past the famed Oriental hotel, which dates back to 1876 and was the country’s first luxury hotel, and along a stretch of water lined with history.

Near the Oriental is the Portuguese Embassy. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to come to Thailand in large numbers to trade and eventually settle in riverside areas, and consequently their riverside embassy is the first and oldest mission in the capital. Within walking distance is the Holy Rosary Church, which was built by the Portuguese in 1786, and on the Thonburi bank is their Santa Cruz Church, founded several years earlier.

The premises of the Siam Commercial Bank, the first Thai bank, designed by famed Italian architect Annibale Rigotti and looking like a handsome villa, sit within a leafy enclave on the riverbank, near Holy Rosary Church. Near to Santa Cruz is Wat Kanlayamit in which is housed a 15-metre high seated Buddha, one of the largest indoor seated Buddha images in the world.