Shophouses

[PeteC]

An interesting article and photo below. I've always had a soft spot for these when they have been renovated along the lines of what happened to derelict row houses in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore in years past. Auctioned properties are now selling for millions after being fixed up. I assume the same in London and other European cities also. With inner city Bangkok land almost gone for new condo developments, a shophouse may not be a bad investment if you can afford to renovate it. Also a place to stay when in Bangkok waiting for it to appreciate, but minus the amenities and facilities of a condo. A real slice of Thai life though to own and stay in one. Pete

sh.jpg (28.94 KiB) Viewed 1514 times

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/09 ... 65851.html

[MLS]

Thanks for posting the article. If only I could afford it I would absolutely love to have one in Bangkok.

[Nereus]

While I have not seen this one, or much of the area, the kindest thing that can be done with most of the shophouses in Thailand is bulldoze them down. Very little of the architecture has any significance or visual appeal, and I guess the difference with this one is due in a large part to its location.

This type of thing has been done extensively in Singapore, and not only in the one area. They started a long time ago to knock them down, but there was such a public outcry about it the decision was made to restore a lot of them, and it has worked well, providing a balance in an otherwise sterile environment.

It must be asked if this effort here is a genuine desire to preserve something, or just an exercise to copy Singapore, given Thais apathy in general to take care of anything.

And this quote from the article illustrates it perfectly:

"Not everyone is enthusiastic.
"Our place is fine the way it is now. Why should we change it?" says the proprietor of the Patkijprasong Dispensary, a century-old Chinese medicine shop in the Tha Tian neighbourhood.

"The Na Phra Lan shops look pretty, but they don't look authentic anymore," said the Tha Tian tenant, whose family has run the shop for 110 years."

If they had a genuine desire to preserve colonial era buildings, a good place to have started would have been the old house`s in the sold off part of the British Embassy grounds in Sukhumvit Road.

[Korkenzieher]

There's a similar debate going on in Penang.

So many of the shop-houses there have become dilapidated and broken down that the cost of restoration and renovation is prohibitive. Obviously, in large part they were thrown together cheaply in the 19th century, and are in a lot of ways not fit for purpose. But when you see what other places have made of them - particularly Singapore, and to a lesser though maybe wider extent, Melaka - it does seem to be worth the effort to try to preserve some areas, rather than allow piecemeal development, and surrender some of the others to 'progress'.

[Spitfire]

Yeah Pete, nice sentiments for Bangkok, but you'd have to find something other than a concrete box on steroids, which really would cost a fortune and not be easy to find.

Classic Thai architecture is a moot point and seems to mainly occupy the extremes of the spectrum on both sides, not much in between........maybe in another 50-75 years there will be something to preserve like this.

By the time the locals want to preserve or desire acquiring it......then, what little there is left, will be long gone.

[wpcoe]

I walked down HH Soi 78 for the first time a few weeks ago, and it struck me as being like something from 40+ years in the past. All those teak "houses" built right to the road's edge, smack dab in the middle of a major tourist city. I wonder if something like that can be "gentrified"?

[PeteC]

Sure they can, but if they're real teak and built in the traditional way using few mechanical fasteners, they should just about last a few lifetimes with only a need for cosmetic touch up and some coating from time to time. The rest would be up to the new owner's decorating choices. Don't let anyone tell you that termites won't eat teak. They will try but not get far and quit. If you look at a teak post that has been in the ground for decades you'll see hundreds of small grooves and squiggly paths the termites tried to take. No structural damage, but a hundred years or so all those little grooves may add up and the post may need to be extracted and refurbished.

Some foreigners are really hot to build and live in a Thai traditional house. It is great fun in the short term if you've ever stayed in one for a few weeks at a Thai resort. However, look at the Jim Thompson house in Bangkok and think about living there permanently. It would be a problem for me as simply too dark and boxy inside, and if you start to put up false interior walls to increase brightness and hide wiring, plumbing etc, and change the design, you ruin the original style. As a second house in the countryside would be OK. Pete

[T.I.G.R.]

Nereus -

This one isn't what it looks like.....it's a commercial bldg they just put up near Palm Hills GC, a sample of what the hoped-for shopping complex would look like. Very pretty but haven't seem much of anything like this in Bangkok or the parts of Thailand I've been in.

[T.I.G.R.]

Ooops, my bad. This is in the Tavimook Golf Range project nearer the new Hospital in HH. It looks similar to the other one I mentioned but much closer to town.....this frontage is for a restaurant, badminton courts(?) and a small 7-11 type store at the front......

[T.I.G.R.]

I'm lucky no-one seems all that interested as I just returned from a trip to HH and neither of the buildings I thought were the correct one.........so, never mind, I don't seem to have gotten my head out of my rear this morning!

[Super Joe]

I'm lucky no-one seems all that interested as I just returned from a trip to HH and neither of the buildings I thought were the correct one.........so, never mind

Are you referring to this 'Venezia' place TIGR?

photo(2).jpg (35.39 KiB) Viewed 996 times

I don't seem to have gotten my head out of my rear this morning!

It's all that bad company you're keeping down in HH

SJ

[T.I.G.R.]

Yeah, that's it. Amazing how they're so dissimilar......good example of why the cops never put any faith in witness statements.

[Super Joe]

An interesting article and photo below.

The attachment sh.jpg is no longer available

Thanks for that Pete, you've just made me think of Macau... which I assume you'll know well being an ex-HK'er. Awesome 'city' that was always a special weekend, vibrant (and that was saying something coming from HK), and such diversity for a small place... Portuguese Colonial meets China meets Vegas

macau_townsquare.jpg (64.54 KiB) Viewed 943 times

Off the hydrofoil late Friday afternoon, take in a bit of the city, evening to that casino (was it Lisboa!?) with all those nice Russian & Chinese ladies down in subterrainea who all had rooms upstairs that we couldn't afford, then club 'til 6am ('88-91 had just arrived in Asia around '94), then off to Fernandos at the beach later in morning, and a bit of Hawaii-5-0 before doing it all again...

Pic0j112.jpg (26.88 KiB) Viewed 943 times

Nice one Pete
SJ

[PeteC]

Happy to spark the memories SJ. I spent very little time in Macau. I remember two visits and some gambling but I don't remember where. I always had to take a hotel in Zhuhai as meetings the next day with mainland people who didn't have a travel pass to Macau. Probably best as saved money, and perhaps my morality....whatever was left of it. Pete