Si Prachan: Historic Market Offers Access to Venerable Abbot’s Former Home
Staff Writer
While the historic Samchuk and Kao Hong markets are well known for their ability to attract visitors to Suphan Buri province, there’s another distinct location close by that generates the same kind of lively spirit for shoppers.
Si Prachan is located about 20 kilometers from the center of town and plays host to a market that has been active now for 100 years. The community previously played host to a wholesale market alongside the Suphan Buri River. It should be noted that in other parts of the country, this river is better known as the Tha Cheen River.
Authentic charm
The community’s narrow streets play host to rows of wooden, two-story houses that form the center of the market. Vendors make use of these buildings by selling from the ground floor areas. Last year, the Tourism Council of Thailand formally recognized the market’s allure, granting it an award for Best Tourism Destination based on its authentic charm and other attributes.
While the market is not as well known as Samchuk, attracting fewer visitors, this is a key selling point since visitors well get a truer picture of life at an authentic Thai market due to its high level of local participation.
The best time to visit the market is on a weekend morning. A variety of traditional forms of Thai cuisine are available, including treats such as guoi jub num sai (flat noodle soup with crispy pork and egg), roasted duck noodles, and traditional Thai and Chinese desserts.
A man of peace
As the hometown of the venerable Phra Brahmagunabhorn (also known as P. A. Payutto and Prayudh Payutto), one of the country’s most honorable Buddhist monks, Si Prachan is proud of this fact and the market includes the house in which he was born and grew up.
Phra Brahmagunabhorn has been honored with several titles such as ‘Si Prachan’s most outstanding man’ and a ‘Buddhist intellectual’ after spreading his ideas and thoughts throughout the world through his involvement in discussions, through preaching and lectures, dhamma talks, and through publications that have reached a global audience.
The Venerable P. A. Payutto’s works received the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) prize for Peace Education in 1994.
Now 71-years-old, Phra Brahmagunabhorn is currently the abbot of a temple in Nakhon Pathom province. However, his former home, prior to becoming ordained as a samanera (novice) at the age of 13, remains a popular attraction at Si Prachan market.
The ground floor of the building, once the Bai Rattanakarn fabric store, has been maintained in its original form, featuring an original sewing machine and various other forms of antique equipment. Locals insist that this store gained its name among locals for producing the best examples of traditional Thai Fug Kae silk shirts and Chinese-style silk pants known as pung lin.
The shop house also provides a place where people can honor Phra Brahmagunabhorn’s birthplace. A small corner on the first floor displays various household items, while showing how people in the community lived their lives during previous times, as well as detailing aspects from the abbot’s childhood.
The second floor of the house includes a reproduction of a classroom at Bumrungwutthirat School, Si Prachan’s first high school, which the abbot’s father founded. It is even said that the venerable P. A. Payutto’s widely respected teaching talents were forged during the time he spent here teaching and tutoring young people in the school.
Phra Brahmagunabhorn’s birthplace is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 am until 5 pm. – Translated and republished thanks to the kind permission of ASTV Manager.
Transport connections:
Car: From Bangkok, take Highway 340, which will take you close to Si Prachan district once you get close to central Suphan Buri.
Minivan (Rot-dtoo): Mini vans (Rot dtoo) to Si Prachan can be caught from Khok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Klang Road. The fare is 100 baht (about US$3) each way.
Credit: TAN Network (www.tannetwork.tv)
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