My trip to Chinatown was originally to find the old shop which I bought silver a long time ago. The shop was closed for the whole week during Chinese New Year holiday. So, I decided to have a walk around Sampheng market which was one of the oldest market in Bangkok. Before the arrival of westernised shopping malls, Sampheng was the only place where visitors could buy all household goods, clothes, shoes, cooking utensils, imported fabrics, toys, gold and jewelry, including Thai sweets and snacks.
Our first family home was very behind Sampheng market. So, I liked to visit Sampheng from time to time to observe all the changes in this old market place and to reminisce about my childhood. When all the shops were closed in the evening, the narrow alley in Sampheng became very quiet. That’s when local children would be out in bicycle gangs, cycling along the narrow alley. The atmosphere could be quite spooky sometimes as there’s an old temple nearby where there’s a big man made cave with big pythons. We heard several stories about cats and dogs went missing in the night. So, children tried to stay away from the temple ground.
Things have changed a lot over the past ten years. The alley became much darker as a roof had been constructed over the alley to make shopping in rainy season much more enjoyable. Since the opening up of communist China, the Chinese had been very successful in expanding her international trade to the detriment of local people. Very cheap textile imported from China has slowly eaten up the whole textile industry in Thailand. Very few textile companies could survive to these days. Somehow several Indian-Thai textile businesses could remain in business. So, most of the textile shops were all replaced by gift and toy shops.
The arrival of modern shopping malls with air conditioning have slowly ended the popularity of Sampheng market over the years. People liked the convenience of shopping in big malls with all the merchandise in cool air conditioned atmosphere and free car park. Very few original shops have managed to survive the modernisation processes in our country. I could tell whether some old shops from grandparent’s generation were still in existence by observing the old traditional designs of these shops’ plagues. Usually the fonts would be very distinctly old design with some classic Chinese characters.
I used to buy my Chinese silk pajamas from a kind elderly shop owner years ago. Last year, I went back to the same shop and her daughter told me that her grandmother passed away a few years ago. I tried to befriend the old generations of shopkeepers as they reminded me of my Chinese grandmother. They often gave me very good prices after our long conversations. The vendors in these ‘original’ shops were usually relatives of the families so they took good care of their potential customers. Hire helpers wouldn’t be so nice or service minded as they just care for their daily wages.
I could approach any of these old shops and asked for advice about where to get certain kinds of merchandise. I would often get very good advice and sometimes good recommendations for better alternatives. These vendors and shopkeepers still kept their ‘homely’ style of doing business. So, I went to Sampheng to reminisce about my childhood, and having friendly conversations with some elderly shopkeepers. I also looked out for the old sweet stalls I used to see in the old days. But none of these old sweet stalls and coffee shop survived the change of time.
Most gift shops stocked merchandise made in China so they could sell these at very cheap prices. I noticed that some shops have already stocked up gifts for Valentin’s day. I wondered how they could sell all the stuff as many shops were selling the same stuff. In fact this market has turned into wholesale for vendors from the countryside. These vendors would sell in bulks at wholesale prices. But this would change one day as people got used to buying things online instead of having to visit the shopping malls and markets physically. As more people became more literate, online businesses would gain bigger market shares.
It dawned on me that Sampheng market would disappeared in the future as everyone would be online and connecting to the internet or neural networks. The experience of searching for Thai sweet vendors would become an old legend. People in the digital age would probably think that walking in a market search for a piece of cloth or a sweet stall was such a waste of time and energy. The AI agent could order everything as soon as a person gave a verbal command or think about that command in his brain. I dreaded the unimaginable consequences of digital world on the evolution of human race.
Meanwhile, I intended to walk around old market places seeking my favourite sticky rice with egg custard and chatting with elderly shopkeepers. I wanted to visit our old family home but the short cut in Sampheng market was blocked by a gate belonging to the new estate project. A tycoon bought the whole piece of land with all the old houses and turned it into expensive renovated rental townhouses. So, I was like that little ginger cat waiting for the gate to open. The old Chinese coffee stall by the gate had gone long time ago. That’s where I unusually bought iced black coffee for my mother when I was a kid.
My feelings were very mixed whenever I visited Sampheng market, lots of warm feeling mixed with sadness and foreboding. I guessed I had to learn to let go and accept all the reality of dynamic changes in society. We could only live one day at a time. So I tried to be aware of all the rising emotions and let them settle down with my contemplation. As long as Sampheng market still survived the modernisation and digitalisation in our society, I would continue to visit this market on a regular basis to collect good memories and visual experiences for my own enjoyment.
Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.
Stay strong and cheerful.
#marketfriday hosted by dswigle.
