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STREET SCENE

Marketplace of life

FESTIVAL CELEBRATES COMMUNITY SPIRIT

Nestled by the Ping River in the midst of Chiang Mai is Kad Luang, or Warorot Market - the North's largest marketplace. Here, visitors will experience the lively busy atmosphere of a marketplace, the richness of diverse cultures and the harmony of different faiths. During the day, it is a large three-storey market where shoppers can buy almost everything they want - food, commodity goods, clothes and fabrics, shoes, cosmetics and farming tools. After dusk, it becomes an open-air night market with roadside stalls selling wide varieties of food, garments, footwear and accessories, as well as handicrafts. This year, Kad Luang turns 100 and the people of Chiang Mai are celebrating this auspicious occasion.

A monochrome painting of more than 200 market people gathering in front of Kad Luang (Warorot Market), Chiang Mai, by Navin Production Studio. It is on view at Luang Anusarnsunthorn Residence in downtown Chiang Mai, until Feb 6. PHOTOS: NAVIN PRODUCTION STUDIO & PICHAYA SVASTI

"This marketplace is where I grew up. My father still has a shop here. On behalf of the market residents, we thought, 'Can we do something together? How can we bring people together again?"' said Navin Rawanchaikul, an internationally renowned artist who spearheads the Kad Luang Centennial Celebration called Mahakad Festival. "As Kad Luang turns 100, I want to create artworks which connect and blend well with my community. I focus on the roles of local communities and the creation of artworks which allow community participation."

Various exhibitions, both permanent and temporary, are being held until Feb 6 all over Kad Luang. At Luang Anusarnsunthorn's white building, a photo exhibition featuring collections of old images of Chiang Mai and Kad Luang captured by Chiang Mai's philanthropist and first photographer Luang Anusarnsunthorn (1867-1934) and biographical photographer Boonserm Satrabhaya stand alongside Navin and his team's paintings of Kad Luang residents and multimedia presentations of ways of life.

At the Chiang Mai Philatelic Museum, which also turns 100, a group of architects from Chiang Mai University is organising an exhibition on the landscape of Kad Luang and its surroundings, and several artists are showcasing their paintings and artworks related to Kad Luang. Award-winning photographer Dow Wasiksiri has come up with conceptual photography linking the past to the present with his snapshots taken around Kad Luang, while famous Lanna painter Pornchai Jaima presents a mural depicting Chiang Mai by the Ping River in ancient times, as seen from the Kad Luang community and as inspired by his dream.

At Khamthiang Anusorn School near Kad Luang, a group of artists will hold workshops for local children. On the opening day of the festival on Dec 5, 2010, visitors were led around the marketplace, talked to vendors, viewed exhibitions and watched performances all day. On the following day, those working on the environment, art and communities gathered at a special symposium to discuss the history, ways of life and problems of Chiang Mai. Kad Luang was one of their case studies.

An old picture of Kad Luang taken by Chiang Mai’s philanthropist and first photographer Luang Anusarnsunthorn.

According to Chiang Mai Deputy Governor Narumol Palawat, this celebration is a good start of the revitalisation of Kad Luang, reviving the glory of this market, bringing together those living and earning a living there and promoting the local economy and social activities.

The event also serves to open up community areas as art spaces, rather than keeping them in galleries and museums.

The history of Kad Luang dates back to the 19th century. According to a documentary film shown during the festival, markets outside the city of Chiang Mai were first built around 150 years ago and grew into major communities along the Ping River.

In 1867, during the reign of Chiang Mai's sixth king, Phra Chao Kawilarotsuriyawong, US missionaries Daniel and Sophia McGilvary arrived in Chiang Mai, leading a group of Presbyterians to set up a church by the Ping River in the Khuang Mane (crematorium ground) area. They also introduced modern medical science, nursing and schooling to Chiang Mai. Thus, this riverside area was where Thai, Chinese, European, Indian and Americans lived together. Later, Dr Marian M. Cheek had Thailand's first timber bridge built across the Ping River. Later, a community named Chang Moi was established in the area. It was where many villagers brought goods for sale here. Its boundary started from the palace to the Khuang Mane area.

On April 9, 1909, HRH Princess Dara Rasamee, the youngest daughter of Chiang Mai's seventh king, Phrao Chao Inthawitchayanon, and a royal consort of King Chulalongkorn, visited the Khuang Mane area to pay respect to her ancestors' remains in stupas there after the cremation of her father. She ordered the relocation of those relics to Wat Suan Dok and the construction of a market there. This market was officially opened in 1910 and was called Warorot by the locals in honour of Chiang Mai incumbent monarch Phra Chao Intrawarorot.

Kad Luang, or Warorot Market, at present.

The operation of the market led to the establishment of communities from the Chang Moi area to the Tha Pae area. Many people from Chiang Mai and other towns came to sell goods at this open-air market under the shade of umbrellas, leading to the word "Kad Moi" (market in dim light). This market was continually developed with the construction of shophouses on the inside and a fresh market on the outside.

The emergence of communities led to the construction of religious buildings for people in the Kad Luang area to practise their faiths. Chao Phor Pung Tao Kong Shrine, Chiang Mai's oldest Chinese temple, was founded in 1876 near to Bu Bia (Guan-U) Shrine in Lao Jol Alley, while Namdhari Gurudwara, a Sikh temple, was established 101 years ago. Later, Indian migrants built a Hindu temple and a mosque in this area to practise their faiths. Nearby are several Buddhist temples, including the Burmese-style Wat Saen Fang and Wat Ketkaram, which combines Burmese, Lanna, Chinese and Western art.

"People here are of various ethnicities. Christians go to a Christian church nearby. There is a Sikh temple close to Wat Ketkaram, while a mosque is 500m away. A Hindu temple is situated in the north, next to Chao Wongtawan na Chiang Mai's residence. The five religions have been in harmony together here," Somwang Ritthidej, a committee member of Wat Ketkaram, said.

In 1949, Kraisee Nimanahaeminda and the owners of Anusarnsunthorn businesses renovated Warorot Market and introduced modern designs in accordance with the nearby communities. Unfortunately, one night in February, 1968, a blaze broke out in a shophouse in front of the adjacent Ton Lamyai Market, spread and completely destroyed Warorot Market. All the residents and vendors there had to move out. It was the end of the traditional Kad Luang community. Since then, Kad Luang has become a marketplace for vendors who arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. On March 19, 1972, a new market was opened under the same name with the focus on cleanliness and hygiene. After changes over time, Kad Luang has become a symbol of Chiang Mai and its ways of life.

Somwang, 67, recalled, "Since I was born, I have been living by the Ping River. During rainy seasons, I loved to swim or paddle a boat across the river to Kad Luang when I was a boy. I would take a bath and play with sand on the riverbank and plant eggplants and cabbages to trade with other people's goods. In the past, people in this area would cross the river to Warorot Market either via Thailand's first teak wooden bridge, built by Dr Cheek, or by boat."

James Chuawongdej is a second-generation vendor who sells khaeb moo (crispy pork crackling), chilli paste and boiled corn at Warorot Market. His family has been selling goods here since his mother's generation, who sold lottery tickets.

Ranjeet Singh, who sits on the committee of Sikhnamdhari Temple next to Warorot Market, said, "Our temple was built about 100 years ago, almost at the same time as our market. All communities around here depend on this market."

Like these people, artist Navin, who grew up in Warorot Market, is proud of the market and hopes the people of the Kad Luang community will feel the same after experiencing the Mahakad Festival with a new perspective, which is beyond the past and history.

"I hope the charm of Kad Luang and ways of life here will last long in a modern society with no need to change or fake it. We must ensure Kad Luang will maintain its spirit according to global changes, while preserving its identity. I wish the people of Chiang Mai and the Kad Luang community will be proud of what they have."