Shanghai Mansion, the soul of Bangkok’s Chinatown

Written by Tyler Kelly on June 21, 2010 – 5:31 am

BANGKOK BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Shanghai Mansion, the soul of Bangkok’s Chinatown

By Luc Citrinot, etn | Jun 21, 2010

(Bangkok, Etn)-It could just be another boutique hotel in Bangkok. But just in contrary, the Shanghai Mansion is more than just a place for tourists to stay. The hotel is a rare example of an exquisit boutique hotel property which is deeply involved into the revival of one of Bangkok’s oldest districts, Yaowarat. The district has been for almost 200 years the heart of the Chinese community in Thailand’s capital city. Most of them were originally small traders who worked in the immediate vicinity of the Royal court qnd they are considered as one of the world’s oldest Chinatown community. Today, despite the fact that Bangkok’s contemporary commercial life has mostly relocated to the Sukhumvit area – and its now famous Ratchaprasong boulevard- Chinatown is still bustling with life. The district has a total population of 50,000 inhabitants and one of the highest density per sq. km in the capital. It still remains the center for textile with numerous markets, of spices, but also it is a place where visitors can see woodcarving craftmen, jewelers or cooks. Chinatown is permanently busy, deliciously old fashioned and polluted with its incessant traffic of cars and tuk tuk. It is probably one of the last areas in Bangkok where travelers might feel going back to the past.

In the midst of the district, on Yaowarat Road 479, a trading property was established in 1892 which was later turned into a traditional Chinese Opera house and later to Thailand’s stock exchange. In the fifties and sixties, the building became then a department store and housed various restaurants and a Chinese herbal medical outlet. It was only in 2005 that the ageing property was turned into a boutique hotel. “ I wanted to then give the falvour of old China and I realized that a style inspired by the mythical Shanghai 1930’s would be an ideal combination with the history of the building,” explains Lily Udomkunnatum, Managing Director of the Burasari Group, which runs the hotel.

Mrs Udomkunnatum incarnates this young generation of Thai business people who tries to respect and nurture traditions and turn them into a profitable operation. “ It is of course important to make our hotel a real success. But I hope that the Shanghai Mansion could be considerd as a model of how a historical building can be adapted to new purposes,” she explains. The hotel offers 76 rooms, all offering a glimpse into Old Shanghai live. Bright colors as favored by Chinese in the old days, exquisite cushions and curtains made in silk, comfortable beds and nostalgic stylish bathrooms. Some suites are also furnished with antique furniture including old style beds. All the rooms blend harmoniously antique furntiure with contemporary design. The lobby with its grand staircase and its dozens of silk lamps suspended over a water pond with fishes is an absolute must for any visitor of Yaowarat. As well as for the restaurant which is rapidly becoming one of Bangkok’s most famous place for Chinese-Thai traditional food.

Lily Udomkunnatum recognises that the property has suffered from the political troubles which marred recently Bangkok. However, the Managing Director estimates that the unique profile of Shanghai Mansion will help the property to bounce back rapidly. “ We want to be a kind of embassy of Yaowarat district and I am very much involve in the promotion and revitalisation of this historical area”, she says. Shanghai Mansion supports open doors events in Yaowarat as well as a festival. “ We also organise historical tours for interested visitors to discover historical Chinatown, enjoy a traditional breakfast or shop at some of the area’s most traditional outlets. And I have other ideas to further reinforce the attraction of Chinatown for foreign visitors. It is hard to change mentalities and having more local owners to participate to the revival of the area”, she tells. “ But I hope that we will succeed to be a model for other historical areas in Bangkok”.

Some initiatives to preserve Chinatown’s historical heritage have emerged over the last years. In early 2009, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration opened the city’s largest local museum of history. The Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Centre ais now located in a preivous school building of Wat Trai Mit Witthayaram on Yaowarat road, offering 3-D shows describign life of Chinese migrants in the capital. Since 2008 fake nostalgic tramway ply the roads of Chinatown each week end for tourists. The city has started to renovate some of the temples in the area as well as some of the first row houses built in the early years of the XX° century.

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