Asian Geographic - April 2018

(singke) #1

Loud clanging sometimes sounds out amid


the twisting alleyways near Bangkok’s Golden


Mountain temple. Here, hidden in a side


street, lies the famous Ban Baat, the last


community of craftsmen making but one


thing from morning to night: bowls.


These aren’t just any bowls. They’re


baat, alms bowls which local monks use to


collect food offerings every morning, and


they’re carefully created by families up to six


generations into the trade with practically the


same method and tools: metal, a hammer,


and some good old elbow grease.


Yet these craftsmen – often Thai Chinese –


are slowly being swallowed up by Bangkok’s


rapidly expanding metropolis. After centuries


in the area, the small community, once


created by King Rama I to preserve the


baat tradition, is being threated by cheaper


versions churned out from factories. Today,


only a few families whose careers revolve


around the dying craft are left.


Thanks to centuries of successful integration,


Bangkok is home to a large proportion of Sino-


Thai. Yet the bearers of this unique mixed heritage


may soon find the Chinese half of their identities


left behind, as the city’s urban development


overwhelms key cultural communities


Vanishing Act


HERITAGE LOST


above Nuan, 71, has
been making baat
since she was eight

top right Baat for
sale on display at the
entrance of Ban Baat

right Sheet metal is
welded to make the
sides of a baat

DATA SOURCES: SUPOT WANCHAROEN, BANGKOK POST,
FRANK-JÜRGEN RICHTER, WORLD POPULATION REVIEW


These communities and


their uniquely Thai-Chinese


practices have already


begun to disappear from


the places they’ve resided


in for centuries


Text and Photos Pongkiat Rungrojkarnka


culture


Baat crafting isn’t a complicated process,


but it is tedious and requires a fair amount of


endurance, says Prachum Ekamol, a 70-year-


old craftsman who has been making the bowl


for over 50 years. He patiently points out


the benefits of a handmade product: Well-


rounded edges protect the monks, who have


to carry the bowl for long hours; this cannot


be achieved by machines. When the bowl is
tapped, it produces a pleasant ringing sound,
clear like a bell, unlike the dull chimes from
those off a production line. And it has a
shinier finish.
To keep the shrinking practice alive, the
community is taking desperate measures.
One of the oldest artisans, Nuan, 71, has begun

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