Echoes of a bygone era
A century-old riverside market community in Lampang matures gracefully with age
* Published: 2/06/2011 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: Life
Situated on the bank of the river Mae Nam Wang, Kat Kong Ta or Talad Kao, is a historical quarter of Lampang downtown. The two-kilometre stretch of the market that starts from Ratsadapisek Bridge and ends where it joins the main Thip Chang Road is lined with wooden houses and concrete buildings, some dating back over a hundred years. While most show their age, quite a few are still well preserved. Now and then, the sounds of bells from horse-drawn carriages and the clip-clops of hooves take one back in time. Somehow Kat Kong Ta holds the charm of slow paced life that seems surreal these days.
This elegant traditional Lanna house now serves as the Art Centre.
AN INTERNATIONAL MELTING POT
Back when forests were abundant and Lampang was the hub of the teak industry in the North, timbers from upstream would be gathered here before being rafted down the Wang River to Pak Nam Pho in Nakhon Sawan province and on to Bangkok. Because of its strategic location, Kat (meaning market) Kong (street) Ta (pier) grew into a flourishing trading community where locals rubbed shoulders with Britons, Burmese, Tai Yai (Thai-speaking ethnic group from Shan state), Indians and Chinese.
Kat Kong Ta became a melting pot of foreign cultures largely because big trading companies like Bombay Burmah, British Borneo, East Asiatic, Siam Forest and Louise T. Leonowens all had their employees positioned here to operate their teak concessions. They also hired Burmese men to look after their interests. Many Burmese headmen who worked for these companies later became very wealthy and influential.
There were Burmese merchants who sold clothes, lacquerware, medicinal herbs and other forest products as well. In effect Lampang's economy in the late 19th century to the first two decades of the 20th century was practically in the hands of the Burmese. Chinese traders subsequently took over as they began ferrying goods and imported merchandise from Bangkok for sale to locals and Westerners. Not before long they amassed enough fortune to build shophouses fronting the street with depots at the back bordering the river. Because of large Chinese presence, the business community along the Wang River came to be known as Talad Chin, or the Chinese market, until the name was changed to Talad Kao (old market) to reflect the pro-nationalist policy advocated by Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram's government.
Since 2005 the street market has become a regular event at Kat Kong Ta every weekend.
With the arrival of railways in 1915, river trade soon lost prominence. Floating timbers and traditional freight boats disappeared from the river and the bustle of Talad Kao died down. As trains became a more popular means of travel and cargo transportation, new communities sprang up in the neighbourhood of the railway station. Sop Tui, Sathanee Rod Fai and Gao Jao eventually took over from Talad Kao as Lampang's new centres of trade and commerce.
A PEDESTRIAN STREET WITH A DIFFERENCE
The Burmese and Chinese who became rich and successful left behind a magnificent legacy in the form of distinctive row houses and private residences in Kat Kong Ta. Today various architectural marvels can still be found on both sides of the street and in the flanking alleys.
Kittisak Hengsadeekul, an avid architectural conservationist and a native of Lampang, pointed out some differences between Kat Kong Ta buildings and Lampang's vernacular structures.
Notably the latter are made chiefly of teak wood and roofed with terracotta tiles. Floors are raised high above the ground over large open spaces. Typically they are living quarters with connecting passages sitting in large compounds with plenty of trees for shade.
Those at Kat Kong Ta, on the other hand, are more often blocks of structures huddling together, facing the street to allow easy access for customers. Sometimes bricks and mortar were used for reinforcement. Wooden ban fiem (accordion doors) are a common feature.
Lampang is known for ceramics, but the province has more to offer in terms of souvenirs.
No wonder Kat Kong Ta provides an exceptional setting for a walking street fair, an idea initially sponsored by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and run by the Lampang municipality in 1998. The project was part of a bigger effort to preserve the aesthetic and historical values of this old downtown area. However the first and subsequent fairs failed to catch on.
UNDAUNTED COMMUNITY SPIRIT
It was not until 2005 when the challenge to revitalise Kat Kong Ta was taken up again - this time by those who live in the community themselves. Since then the street market has become a regular event that breathes life into Kat Kong Ta every weekend. Underlying this sustainable achievement is community empowerment with the blessing of the local authority. According to Kiatichai Manasin, Kat Kong Ta's chief of operations, "We took management of the market into our own hands, everything from publicity, zoning, regulations and rentals to security and sanitation. Our experience as relief volunteers proved very helpful. Other communities were so inspired they came to learn from us."
While tourists are always welcome, the community's earnest aspiration is to have Kat Kong Ta serve as a social and cultural space for the local people and by the local people. As such, Kat Kong Ta will be a public venue where the like-minded can meet and share their ideas, showcase or even sell handicrafts and works of art. Exciting plans include literary talks, musical and dance performances, theatres as well as workshops of contemporary and traditional arts and crafts such as short film making, hand-made book making, paper (traditional streamers) and paper (traditional lantern) making.
Moung Ngwe Zin building is one of five architectural heritages that won the Association of Siamese Architects’ awards for conservation.
The idea of social and cultural space was taken further beyond occasional street activities and events when the Niyom Patamasevi Foundation opened Patamasevi Learning Centre in 2007 and Lampang Arts Centre in 2010. The Learning Centre occupies part of 100-years-old Fong Lee Building and a newly built annex while the Arts Centre takes up the entire complex of a graceful traditional Lanna house just next door.
Their long-term ambition is to conserve and hand down Lampang's heritage to future generations through a variety of activities. The Learning Centre takes local kids on a sight-seeing trip once a month, giving them a first-hand opportunity to learn and appreciate the history, culture and popular wisdom of their home province. The Arts Centre, meanwhile, regularly holds exhibitions and workshops where salah or great folk artisans are invited to impart their skills to interested groups of people.
THE FRUIT OF DEDICATION
Kat Kong Ta market is the only one to have received five prestigious awards from the Association of Siamese Architects.
Built in 1919, Baan Sinanon was cited for Outstanding Architectural Conservation in 2005, picking up the top award in the residence houses category.
Two years later the Moung Ngwe Zin Building (1908) and the traditional Thai house (now the Arts Centre) were awarded Outstanding Architectural Conservation, in the Lanna architecture category.
Shop till you drop and refill yourself with the numerous traditional northern delicacies on offer along the road.
Link :
http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/240166/echoes-of-a-bygone-era