Pathum Wan district

Pathum Wan ปทุมวัน
Khet
Siam area
Khet location in Bangkok
Coordinates: 13°44′41.79″N 100°31′19.92″E
Country	Thailand
Province	Bangkok
Seat	Rong Mueang
Khwaeng	4
Area
• Total	8.37 km2 (3.23 sq mi)
Population  (2003)
• Total	97,533
• Density	11,654/km2 (30,180/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)
Postal code	10330
Geocode	1007

Pathum Wan or Pathumwan (Thai: ปทุมวัน; IPA: [pà.tʰūm.wān]) is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. The district is bounded by seven other districts (from north clockwise): Ratchathewi (across the canal Khlong Saen Saep), Watthana, Khlong Toei, Sathon, Bang Rak, Pom Prap Sattru Phai (across the canal Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem), and Dusit.

History

The district was established in 1914. It is named after a Buddhist temple Wat Pathum Wanaram (literally meaning lotus forest temple) and the nearby Sa Pathum Palace (means lotus pond palace). Both were built on the order of King Mongkut (Rama IV) and so-named because of an abundance of lotus in Khlong Saen Saep during his reign.

Administration

District map

The district is divided into four sub-districts (kwaeng).

1.	Rong Mueang	รองเมือง
2.	Wang Mai	วังใหม่
3.	Pathum Wan	ปทุมวัน
4.	Lumphini	ลุมพินี

Shopping

MBK Center

Pathum Wan is best known for its shopping centers. Siam Center is the oldest one in the area. Opened in 1973, it is now flanked by Siam Discovery Center and Siam Paragon (opened December 2005).

One of the most crowded and popular to local people and tourists is MBK Center (also known as mah boon krong). A covered, air-conditioned pedestrian bridge over Phaya Thai Road connects to a congested sister shopping center, the Bonanza Mall, which mostly sells inexpensive clothing and fashion accessories.

Siam Square, unlike others, is a shopping area that consists of a block of buildings and lots of small roads full of shops. There are two cinemas in Siam Square, built in the 1970s and run by the Apex chain: the Scala theater offers a single, big screen; the Lido is a small multi-plex with three screens. Another single big screen theater built in the same era, Siam, was destroyed during the 2010 Thai military crackdown. Besides shops, many exam preparation schools are found in Siam Square.

The Ratchaprasong intersection is flanked by CentralWorld (formerly World Trade Center and then Central World Plaza), BigC Ratchadamri, Narayana Phan, Gaysorn and Central Chit Lom shopping malls.

Places

Jim Thompson House

A large portion of Pathum Wan is occupied by organizations. Near MBK, Chulalongkorn University is the oldest university in Thailand. The main auditorium together with Faculty of Arts buildings, Maha Chulalongkorn and Maha Vajiravudh, are well-known for their design. The Museum of Imaging Technology in the Faculty of Science houses a large collection of cameras from old to new. Next to the university are Chulalongkorn Hospital and the Thai Red Cross. Inside the Red Cross there is a snake farm called Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (or Sathan Saovabha in Thai) showing venom extraction and producing serum to treat snakebites.

One of the major tourist attractions is the Jim Thompson House. It is a complex of Thai wooden houses formerly home to James H.W. Thompson, an American who lived in Thailand, developed Thai silk industry, and brought it to fame to the Western world. It is now a museum filled with antique decor.

The Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection is a sacred place where people come to pray and make wishes to Brahma. Flowers, wooden elephants, or traditional Thai dances are returned when a wish is granted. The Trimurti shrine and Ganesha shrine at CentralWorld are popular places to pray as well.

Also in Pathum Wan are the Royal Bangkok Sports Club (a horse racing track operating every other Saturday), the National Stadium, and Lumphini Park, the first park in Bangkok. The Lumphini Boxing Stadium where traditional Thai boxing matches are held has been moved to a new site on Ram Intra Road in Bang Khen District.

Festivals

Lights in front of Amarin Plaza

Every year around Christmas and New Year, shopping centers, hotels and sidewalks in the Ratchaprasong shopping district are decorated with lights. It was started by Peninsular Plaza and the Regent Hotel, and later expanded to Sogo (now out of business), Amarin Plaza, CentralWorld, Central Chit Lom, Gaysorn and more. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) provides lights along the BTS Skytrain pillars.

Transportation

Rail

• Hua Lamphong is the central train station of Bangkok and the State Railway of Thailand.

Mass transit

• Bangkok Metro subway stations in the district are Hua Lamphong, Sam Yan, Si Lom, and Lumphini along the southern border of Pathum Wan.
• Bangkok Skytrain's main interchange station, Siam, provides connections between the Si Lom Line and Sukhumvit Line.

Other BTS stations in Pathum Wan are National Stadium and Ratchadamri on the Si Lom Line and Chit Lom and Phloen Chit on the Sukhumvit Line.

Waterway

• Express boats run along the narrow and polluted Khlong Saen Saeb, a canal on the northern district border.

Embassies

The embassies of Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States are in Pathum Wan.

External links

• Bangkok's Crucible of Construction (Some of the places mentioned are in nearby Ratchathewi District)
• Pictures from Snake Farm in Thailand
• Jim Thompson Thai House Museum
• BMA website with the tourist landmarks of Pathum Wan
• Pathum Wan District (Thai)