Bridges of Bangkok (with Ann Valeerat) | Bangkok Photo Walks, Issue 107

About 50 photographers (and one model, thanks to Chutima) joined the 131st BPG Photo Walk in the late

afternoon of Sunday 1st December 2024, starting from exit 4 of Sanam Chai MRT station at 4 pm. From there,

we followed walk whisperer Mark into the area’s extensive flower markets. As striking as this start was, especially

with the beautiful Ann posing amongst the posies, the goal of the route was the two nearby bridges across the

Chao Phraya River: Phra Phutthayotfa Bridge (commonly known as Memorial Bridge) and Phra Pokklao Bridge

(featuring the Chao Phraya Sky Park).

The original intention was to cross over to the Thonburi side of the river on the latter and return to see the

former lit up after nightfall, though not everyone ended up doing it that way. The highlights on the river’s

right bank included Wat Prayurawongsawas Worawihan and Santa Cruz Church. We’re pretty confident most

people got to see the church as we received enough photos of it to fill a spread on page 84. By contrast, few

members stuck around long enough after the walk to see the drone and light show over Wat Arun that night.

Of the two bridges, Memorial Bridge naturally has the more interesting history. Opened on 6th April 1932,

it memorialised the 150th anniversary of the Chakri dynasty. Ironically, a bloodless coup d’état occurred just

79 days later, ending the absolute rule of the Chakris and bringing democracy to Thailand.

The steel bridge continued to display a sense of irony when it returned to the history books during World

War II. On 5th June 1944, a force of 98 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses of the US Army’s 58th Air Division was

sent to destroy the bridge and the Makasan railway yards to disrupt Japanese operations in Burma. This was

the first ever combat mission for the aircraft that would later go on to drop the only nuclear weapons so far

used in anger and, as a 3,638-km/2,261-mile round trip, was the longest sortie of the war up to that point.

They missed the bridge by over 2 km/1.25 miles. Only 18 bombs found their intended targets, but the others

accidentally destroyed a Japanese military hospital and damaged the local headquarters of the Kempeitai

(Japanese secret police). No civilian structures were reported damaged, making the mission an incredibly

successful failure. The bridge was eventually destroyed in a later raid and rebuilt in 1949.

The Chao Phraya Sky Park is also something of a successful failure. The first of its kind in Southeast Asia, it

opened in June 2020 on what was originally supposed to be a viaduct for the ill-fated Lavalin Skytrain project.

It provided a colourful backdrop for many photos of Ann, as you’ll see on the next 12 pages of this 107th issue

of Bangkok Photo Walks. We hope you enjoy the fantastic photos from the 35 submissions we received.

Have fun,

Mark, Chutima, and Ben.

Magazine Editor

Ben Reeves

Photo Walk Coordinator

Mark A. Hathaway

Administrative Support

Chutima Panjapan

Logo Design

Ubonpayom Ongsara

Guest Model

Ann Valeerat

Front Cover Photo

Leo Dochez

Group Photo

Ben Reeves

Back Cover Photo

Paramat Chaichomphu

© 2024 Bangkok Photographers Group

All rights reserved.

Bangkok Photo Walks is a not-for-profit

publication created by the members of

the Bangkok Photographers Group. All

photographs herein are copyrighted by

their respective creators and published

only with their permission.

A bridge too far?

BANGKOK PHOTO WALKS

December 2024 Issue 107