Exploring Bangkok’s historic riverside heritage

I was lucky enough to get chosen as one out of twenty bloggers to take part of the TAT Newsroom Blogger Campaign launch. We were divided in two separate groups exploring 3 sites each, starting from the Oriental pier on Bangkok’s riverside. Our first stop was the stunning East Asiatic building. This Venetian style building is one of the many buildings with European heritage scattered around Thailand. We actually got to enter the building as well which made the experience quite unique. Later on we walked over to Assumption cathedral, another beautiful building with European influence. It’s quite a sight, you wouldn’t expect to see a church like this in Bangkok.

1st. stop East Asiatic building. It used to be the headquarters in Thailand for the Dutch East Asiatic company, founded in 1897 and after over a century, today, is still going. The building was built in the 1901 in grand Venetian style to impress visitors from all over the world who arrived in Bangkok by ship. It’s hard to miss this building while touristing around on the Bangkok riverside. We were so lucky to be able to enter the building and explore!

2nd stop, Assumption cathedral. This chruch feels very much like Europe. It’s a Romanesque building completed in 1919 and built for Bangkok’s Frebch catholic community. Unfortunately the original windows vere destroyed in World War ll, but have been replaced with new stained windows which has become quite famous.

3rd stop- O.P. Place. This is where the tradition of air-conditioned shoppping started. Thank you! The building is beautiful and boast of a charming vibe and wooden details. Definitely worth a little visit, just for a look or for some high-end shopping.

Hands down the best roti I’ve had in Thailand. Not too sweet and so easy to eat. Mine disappeared in 10 seconds. If you are ever around the Mandarin Oriental, take a stroll down to the muslim community and try these delicious treats!

East Asiatic building

You can imagine we were all drenched from walking around in the heat, so we were all excited to go to hang out at Bangkok’s first air-conditioned mall, O.P. Place. I rarely explore in this area and have never heard about this mall, but it was fun to see a mall with so much history. Curved wooden stairs leading you to a green elevator and a large chandelier in the center of the entrance, this Neo-classical style building was perfect for pictures. We also made a small visit to the muslim community and tried some amazing roti before walking over to Mango Tree restaurant for some talks and traditional Thai food. The main speaker,  Luc Citrinot made quite a good presentation about the Bangkok’s culture and heritage and has also made a map where you can locate all the European heritage sites along Thailand. There’s also an app called EUNIC for those of you who can’t get your hands on a map. We are already planning a little tour to go check out the sites. There are so many buildings we have yet to seen!

A big thanks to TAT Newsroom for organizing!