The royal chronicles say that King Phumintharacha ordered the digging of this canal in 1722 but European maps of the river made several decades earlier already show Khlong Lat Kret Noi. In Nonthaburi the 2km long Khlong Lat Kret Noi eliminated a 6km loop of the river and created the island of Koh Kret, today popular for its busy weekend market. Two other short cut canals are well known to Bangkokians but the dates of their origin are not clear. Again the river’s original course can still be found as Khlong Om Non by the Maha-Chesadabodindranusorn Bridge and emerging down stream again as Khlong Bang Kruai shortly before Rama VII bridge. Few people are aware that the section of the Chao Phraya River in front of Bangkok’s Grand Palace is in fact a canalĪround 1630 King Prasat Thong ordered the cutting of a 5km long canal in modern day Nonthaburi which eliminated another 20km stretch of the river. Few people realise that this most famous stretch of the Chao Phraya River in front of Wat Arun and the Grand Palace is not the river’s natural course. That original channel is today known as Khlong Bangkok Noi, the site of Siriraj Hospital, and emerges again at Khlong Bangkok Yai, the site of Wang Derm. On completion in 1552 the waters rushed through this new canal widening and deepening it whilst the original channel silted up and narrowed. A 15km loop of the river was eliminated by a 2km length of canal. For all merchants time is money and they no doubt expressed frustration at the many additional days it took their ships to navigate around the long loops in the river.Ĭonstruction of the first major short cut canal or khlong lat was ordered by King Chaiyarachathirat (r.1533 – 1546) at the small village of Bangkok. Sixteenth century Ayutthaya relied upon an intricate network of canals for transportationĪyutthaya grew tremendously wealthy from international trade which predominantly came by sea via the meandering Chao Phraya river. The city was only completely surrounded by a moat in 1584 when a canal on the eastern side was widened and deepened in preparation for an expected Burmese attack. From an early period the city was criss-crossed by canals which served as the main means of transportation within the city. One of the earliest canals dug appears to have been Khlong Maha Phram to the north-west of the city which connected with the Chao Phraya River, which at that time ran a few kilometers west of Ayutthaya (It wasn’t until 1857 that another canal diverted the Chao Phraya River to Ayutthaya). Located strategically at the confluence of the Lop Buri and Pasak rivers early canal building was focussed on shortening trade routes. But why were there so many canals, when were they built and why are they to blame for Bangkok’s terrible traffic-jams today? Short Cuts to AyutthayaĪyutthaya emerged as the centre of powerful state known as Siam around 1350. The “Venice of the East” description was originally from the Portuguese explorer Fernão Mendes Pinto writing about Ayutthaya in the 1540’s. In fact the history of Thailand’s canals is older than Bangkok itself. Bangkok is famous for its canals or khlongs with tourist brochures promoting the city as having once been “The Venice of the East”.
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