San Pa Khoi area is an area situated opposite to Wat Gate area and with Charoen Mueang road in the middle. Before the arrival of railway to Chiang Mai, this San Pa Khoi area was a small community. The first community to settle here was the Ban-tha-sa-toy community (see detail of Tha-sa-toy community) at the back of the present San Pa Khoi market.
With the arrival of railway to Chiang Mai, a lot of Chinese from Bangkok moved into the area to make a living. This resulted in the area becoming an important business center in the city. Shops lay on both sides of Charoen Mueang road making it the center for sending goods to Bangkok. The agricultural products from the surrounding areas of Chiang Mai were rice, pig, tobacco and sealing wax. The community was also the site for distributing goods from Bangkok to other markets around Chiang Mai and upper Chiang Mai. One native of Chiang Mai mentioned that at that time San Pa Khoi area was filled with warehouses for transporting goods to other areas and it was always busy with buyers and ox carts which could be hired to haul goods. The majority of businesses was owned by Chinese business men, like Mr. Song Sae-ung (Ungkhapairoj). He remembers that he rode the train to buy salt, sugar and shrimp paste from Bangkok to be sold at his shop. Merchants from Lam-yai market and other surrounding markets would come to purchase his goods. Khun Anukornburee (an ancestor of Nimakorn family) started Leochunlee shop by selling bicycles shipped from Bangkok by rail.
The important center of this area was Kad-San Pa Khoi (San Pa Khoi market). There are no documents of when this market was established. However, it was believed that it might have been before 1926 because when King Rama VII visited Chiang Mai, the market already existed. There is evidence showing that there was a joint investment between Pra Pijitosod, Khun Anupolnakorn and Major General Anirutteawa (ML Feun Puengboon). At present, this San Pa Khoi market is a market which is well-known for delicious food, especially Chinese. There are shops on both sides of Charoen Mueang road. The famous Salapao Wikul (Chinese steamed bun) and Charoen Mueang restaurant can also be found here.
The center for Buddhists in this area is San Pa Khoi temple. It is situated at the side of San Pa Khoi market. Originally, its name was Wat Nang Leo and was located on the Ping river bank. But when the temple was flooded, it was moved to the present site. Thus, it was called Wat San Pa Khoi after the name of the area. There is evidence showing that the chedi in this temple was built in the era of Prachao Kawilowrojsuriyawongse and the ceremony for the chedi was in 1868. From the survey of this temple, it was found that the present viharn was completed on 14 March, 1929.
Though this area has a separate Chinese temple for Chinese merchants, it is understood that this temple is also the center for Chinese Buddhists in the area.
The San Pa Khoi area met its decline when the road construction between Bangkok and Chiang Mai was completed. The road transportation replaced the railway because it was faster and because the train ran only two days a week. Furthermore, having cars meant that people could go directly to the production sites without having to go through the middlemen at San Pa Khoi market anymore.
References
Anu Neunhard, Pol. Lt. Col.. (2000). Sapa rueang kao (Miscellaneous stories of Chiang Mai in the past. (in Thai). Chiang Mai: Nopburi Printing.
Chiang Mai Cultural Center. (1992). Wat sumkun nai nakorn Chiang Mai lem song(Important temples in Chiang Mai Vol. 2). (in Thai).
Chiang Mai: Sor. Sap publishing.
Chiang Mai University Library
Chiang Mai
ntic@lib.cmu.ac.th
Chiang Mai University. Information Technology Service Center
Chiang Mai
itsc@itsc.cmu.ac.th
Chiang Mai University, Funder
Usanee Thongchai, Advisor and project expert
1992
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