Silom – Surawong – Sathon
From end to end, these parallel streets are full of big blocks of multi-story buildings, housing many banks, finance firms, insurance companies, export-import houses, hotels, airlines offices, restaurants, shopping arcades, department stores, and entertainment establishments. This area is busy not only in the daytime, but also in the evening, when people come to eat, to meet buisness friends or to seek enjoyment.

There is a small area in this district which, for about 30 years, has been very well known to foreign visitors for its bars and nightclubs. Known as Patpong, this famous place offers various kinds of entertainment – wine, beer, music, dancing, etc. In this area, there are both skytrain and subway stations.

Siam – Ratchadamri
This is the biggest and busiest shopping district in Bangkok, which is accessible easily by skytrain, where almost all kinds of goods are on sale, including cloth, clothes, jewelry, handicrafts, books, antiques, etc. There are several large department stores located here, and also several shopping acades and countless smaller shops as well as a dozen of cinema theatres and mini theatres. So you can satisfy all your needs if you stay in one of over a dozen first-class hotels in the area.

The Pratunam Marked next to the Indra Arcade, though not a high-class shopping centre, is worth visiting if you want to broaden your vision and to see more about the ordinary Thai. It is also the marked of garments for export.

Sukhumvit – New Phetburi
Sukhumvit Road is one of the three longest roads in Thailand, leading right up to the Cambodian border in the east. But what concerns us here is the section from the inner city down to Sukhumvit 63 (Soi Ekkamai). The cream of this district lies around the entrances to the lanes (soi) off the road, where there are numerous fashionable residences, hotels, apartment buildings and guesthouses, and also a large number of really good restaurants.

In the section from Soi Nana (Sukhumvit 3 and 4) crossroads to Soi Sukhumvit 21 (Asoke Intersection), there are many shops catering to foreign tourists, where jewelry, leather goods, ready-made garments and suouvenirs are sold and tailoring and other services are offered.

To the north of Sukhumvit Road is the extension of Phetburi Road which, at night, is brightened with colourful neon signs and enlivened by people going out to enjoy themselves in dozen of entertainment places scattered along the street. And there are both skytrain and subway stations as well.

Royal City Avenue (RCA), a 2.5 kilometres street between Rama IX Road and New Phetburi Road, features several pubs, discos and restaurants. It was once the hottest spot of entertainment in Bangkok. It has attracted teenagers and stylish people to seek amusement in pubs. Though its popularity is reduced, nightlife here is still lively.

Ratchadaphisek
The name Ratchadaphisek refers to the short distance between the Lat Phrao Intersection and the Rama IX Road Intersection, which is a busy commercial district containing several big department stores, office buildings, hotels and a large number of restaurants and nightlife establishments. A little way off the road is Thailand Cultural Centre, where shows and exhibitions are held from time to time. A subway station is also available here.

Old town – Chinatown
The old town is the original area of Bangkok when it was first established as the capital over 200 years ago. Here are located the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, two universities and several ministries. The town was formerly surrounded by walls. Now only a few sections are preserved as historical sites. It is from this side of the Chao Phraya River that one takes a boat to visit the Temple of Dawn and the canals nearby.

Chinatown is located just to the southeast of the old town. It began to take shape at the same time of the establishment of Bangkok, when the Chinese inhabiting the old town areas were moved outside the city walls. The goldshop street named Yaowarat, and the temple of the Golden Buddha are in Chinatown.

Bang Lamphu – Khao San Road
Situated near the Chao Phraya River and close to Sanam Luang, Bang Lamphu is a lively commercial area where cloth, clothes, food and other goods are sold at a bargain. Not far from the shopping area is the famous Khao San Road which is a premier centre for backpackers and tourists on low budsgets from all over the world. The street is not very long, but it is full of inexpensive guesthouses and restaurants, and stalls selling clothing, shoes and handbags, souvenirs, etc. It is also a good place to enjoy nightlife.

Pin Klao
The area is located on the western side of the Chao Phraya River, and has become one of the most newly developed areas in Bangkok with several department stores, many restaurants and nightlife establishments. The wide road starting from the Pin Klao bridge leads to such tourist spots as Samphran Elephant Ground & Zoo, the Rose Garden, Nakhon Pathom, Phuttha Monthon, the Thai Human Imagery Museum. Along both sides of the road are numerous fashionable residences.

Ramkhamhaeng
When Ramkhamhaeng University was founded on Bangkok’s eastern outskirts as Thailand’s first open university in 1970, the area was rather remote and underdeveloped. However, as the university’s yearly enrolments increased rapidly, the area soon became a new satellite city of Bangkok with ever-increasing shophouses, apartment buldings, restaurants, cinema houses, department stores, hotels and places for entertainment. It is most frequently visited by students and other Bangkokians.

Rama III
This area is going to be an excellent location for business premises as it is close to busy business areas such as Sathon and Bangrak. There are several department stores, office buildings and huge blocks of flat along the Rama III Road which stands in parallel with the Chao PhrayaRiver. Though the area is rather quiet, nightlife here is interesting as there are plenty of restaurants with delicious food, beer, music and live entertainments.

Bangna
Situated on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok, Bangna is an industrial area and also the gate to the eastern provinces of Thailand, including Pattaya and Rayong. There are several big department stores for shopping. And at 1 kilometres of Bangna-Trat Road, Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) has been voted one of Asia-Pacific’s top venues.

On the left side of the main highway towards Samut Prakarn is an awe-striking image of a three-headed elephant almost the size of a football field. The new structure, said to be as tall as a 14-story building, is creating a stir among people in the province and in nearby Bangkok. But the stir has nothing to do with the distinct honor of having the world’s biggest elephant relief sculpture. Or with the fact that it is home to a vast collection of priceless arts and antiques built over the years by one of the country’s most avid antique collectors, Mr. Lek Viriyaphant, otherwise known as founder of Ancient City, another awe-inspiring cultural shrine located further down the road.

So what’s so special about this place, officially called the Erawan Elephant Museum, that thousands of worshippers flock to on certain days to offer flowers, garlands, fresh fruit and incense?

The answer is simple. During the early stages of the shrine’s construction, a young girl visited the site on Sukhumvit Road, Samut Prakarn, to make a wish to win the lottery. The next day she got her wish and the story made it to the local papers. From then on, the shrine has always been packed with people hoping for that extra bit of luck on the two days before the twice-monthly lottery draw. On other days, however, the area is more or less deserted.

The museum is a welcome addition to the tourism profile of Samut Prakarn, a thirty-minute ride away from Bangkok. Apart from the Erawan Museum and the Ancient City the province is also known for its crocodile farm and safari attractions.

The construction of the imposing shrine began in 1994. The idea cropped up while Mr. Lek was hosting a visit of a Westerner friend. The friend, awed by Mr. Lek’s extensive collection of artifacts that included chinaware, vases, Benjarong ceramics, musical instruments, statues, etc., suggested that he build a museum where people can view them openly. The museum, he proposed, could be in the form of an apple which, according to western belief, played a crucial part in the shaping of human destiny.

Mr. Lek welcomed the idea but went on building something more reflective of eastern traditions. He thus decided on the heavenly elephant Airavat of Hindu mythology. But he wanted his three-headed elephant to be more than just the vehicle of the god Indra. He wanted the elephant to be the symbolic center of the universe and spiritual heart of the land housing precious relics.

So, he designed, the huge copper elephant sculpture stands on a stained-glass dome which bears the map of the world. The elephant sculpture is hollow. Here Buddha images and other sacret objects are on display. The lowest level of the museum represents the underwater world. It’s the exhibition area that tells the background of the creation of the museum and showcases antiques and works of art from Mr. Lek’s collection.

Mr. Lek, who have made his millions as exclusive Mercedes Benz dealer in Thailand, died three years ago, long before the shrine’s completion. But his heirs have made a point to strictly follow Mr. Lek’s wishes as far as the museum is concerned.

Decorations in the museum were meticulouly chosen for their symbolic meanings and to hightlight Thai artistry and craftmanship. The stucco decorations, for instance, were done in Petchaburi, a province known for its stucco skills. On the other hand, the metal-plated pillars bearing the religious messages are the work of neillo craftsmen from Nakhon Si Thammarat. To give it an international flavour, the heirs awarded the conceptualization of the dome’s roof to German artists.

]]> http://www.seansite.net/thailand/bangkok/elephantine-museum-in-samut/feed 0