VERSO BANG RAK WALKING TOUR
So Heng Tai mansion
Audio:
Welcome to So Heng Tai Mansion
Did you know that the So Heng Tai mansion was once forgotten? The 265 year old mansion, which is considered the oldest continuously occupied house in Thailand, includes an outdoor cafe and diving school. To enter the mansion, you will have to pay an entrance fee (50 baht) or buy a drink from the cafe. It is located in Thailand’s oldest neighborhoods. It belongs to one of the first Chinese noble families in Thailand who constructed the mansion before the fall of Ayutthaya. The house has continuously been inhabited by her descendants, including one branch who now form the Poshyachinda family. The mansion is a great tourist attraction since it goes into the deep history of the oldest house in Thailand, you are able to explore the surrounding environment, street art, beetle car, etc. And also take the time to sit down on the second floor of the mansion to enjoy a drink with the view the the pool.
Interview
Brief History
The So Heng Tai mansion is an ‘architectural relic’ from the 19th century, exposing the Thai community to Chinese cultural architecture. The Mansion belongs to a first Chinese noble family in Thailand who traveled and traded in the Ayutthaya era which leads to them connecting with Phra Jao Taksin
Architecture
In the late Ayutthaya era, the Thai-Hokkien family gained fortune as traders and soon built their two-storey Chinese influenced mansion. It is now one of Thailand’s last examples of Hokkien style architecture, si tiam kim or ‘golden four points.’ The historical mansion is constructed of a courtyard and a two-storey house surrounded by walls. Hokkien beliefs can be seen through images of animals and flowers that are believed to be heaven-sent.
Tourism
Before covid, the mansion attracted a constant stream of tourists, business was flying. When covid struck it had a big effect on Talat Noi, which was the area around it and the So Heng Tai mansion especially since most of the targeted audience were foreigners, and since the country closed, so heng tai barely had any customers. After covid, the amount of tourists greatly decreased compared to before the pandemic. Also, the wall on the right side of the mansion collapsed due to trapped moisture that had been leaking from the neighbors bathroom. Something that helped the mansion was one particular tourist that accidentally founded the mansion again and started raising awareness. Because of the tourist, the mansion is starting to recover from the critical point.
The Struggle of So Heng Tai Mansion
The 265 year old mansion has recently encountered a major crisis. The wall on the right side of the mansion has collapsed and the payment to reconstruct the mansion is high. The goal of Mrs. Duangtawan is to not only preserve the mansion and show the next generation of the oldest existing building but to continue her family legacy. Currently, she has reached out to many organizations and investors seeking financial support to renovate the mansion. However, none of the organizations has supported the mansion. Without the financial support the only source of income is from the small businesses running in the mansion, still the ongoing income can not be supporting the maintenance that is over 6 figures.
Why should we preserve the mansion?
The mansion is 260 years old and it is even older than Wat Phra Kaew but wat Phra Kaew is better preserved than the mansion. The mansion holds old artifacts and chinese architecture which is extremely rare in thailand. The architecture is hard to find because the chinese left
Since Thailand rebuilded the whole city to evolve to the new era, there are not many old historical sites in Thailand that are not the original sites unlike the So Heng Tai which was never renovated, changed etc…which makes the location not only a part of the Thai and Chinese culture correlate but also an original Thai treasure.