Why is Wat Arun the most famous monument of Thonburi?
Many places throughout the world are eye-candy landmarks and veritable treasure chests for tourists and one such jewel can be found in Thailand: Thonburi, one of the fifty districts (known as khet) of Bangkok.
Tourists flock to Thonburi for one major reason: it is home of the famous Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn), by full name Wat Arunratchawararam Ratchaworamahawihan, built in the nineteenth century. Common folklore teaches that, when having fallen to the Burmese, Ayutthaya (a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767) was reduced to rubble and ashes. General Taksin gathered the remaining survivors and vowed to march “until the sun rose again” and there to build a temple. Wat Arun stands on the spot to which they came and where later the new king built his royal palace and with it, a private chapel. The outstanding feature of this temple its central prang (79-meter or 259 feet high), which offers a breathtaking view of Bangkok, surrounded by four smaller satellite prangs. The buildings are decorated with seashells and bits of porcelain which had previously been used as ballast for boats coming from China to Bangkok. Atop the central prang is a trident which allegedly represents the “trident of Shiva” and around the base of the buildings, there are numerous figures of Chinese soldiers, animals and even deities. Mythology-wise, the central building is said to symbolize Mount Meru (a sacred mountain in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology) and the smaller buildings are devoted to the wind god Phra Phai.
But the Wat Arun is not the only extraordinary site in Thonburi. For a more traditional experience, many tourists charter boats to sail along the canals that run through the district and to visit the famous floating markets. The most commonly visited is the Taling Chan floating market, open only in week-ends, where the vendors are actually local farmers. The Wat Sai floating market used to be a popular attraction, but nearby construction of new roads left the market abandoned before it was recently revived, however, without the initial authentic feeling. The relatively new floating market of Bang Ramat has the usual shop stalls, but also a boat museum and it occasionally features outdoor performances by local children or organizations.
After all the hype of visiting the dazzling Wat Arun or the floating markets, tourists can stop by several impressive museums (a must-see being the Royal Barge National Museum) or relax in parks, especially the one around King Taksin the Great’s Monument. For those tourists who can’t live city life behind, there have been several shopping malls built around Thonburi, complete with modern-day entertainment facilities (for example, cinemas) and fast-food restaurants. Although Thonburi lacks a nightlife, there are many places where tourists can relax, while drinking a cup of coffee or Thai tea.
When visiting a foreign country, it is nearly impossible not to sample local cuisine. That’s why the Wang Lang and Bang Rhamat areas are also popular sites, as they are filled with plenty of restaurants or cart peddlers selling local dishes and traditional Thai cuisines.
