CLOSING FULLMOON
Join the Bangkok Moon Walk in support of the struggle of one Bangkok’s oldest neighborhood read my post on Facebook. And despite being a rainy weekday we assembled a fine group of locals and travelers who wanted to see what the Moon Walk was all about. Unfortunately nobody dressed up as Michael Jackson and we also didn’t get to walk backwards singing Billy Jean since the rain turned walkways slippery. Instead we strolled in good old fashion several kilometers through Bangkok’s mystical alleys, Buddha manufacturing lanes, Bangkok’s former central prison, charged our spirits in one of Bangkok’s oldest temples and enjoyed hidden Indian culinary treasures whilst never really walking along those lines you’d find on a map called main roads.
Our destination was one of Bangkok’s oldest neighborhoods, the Charoen Chai community and their ceremony of the Moon Festival. After a four-hour walk, darkness had se in but the red Chinese lanterns shone light on the 19th century urban design tastes.
Locals were in the midst of preparing for one the most important cultural celebrations among the Chinese community — the Chinese Moon Festival. Every time I enter the Charoen Chai community it feels as though nothing has changed since the old days of Bangkok apart from the fashion maybe and the fact that time has been wearing on the facades of the Chinese row houses. There were no hints of gloom, despite the underlying reality that this might be the last moon gathering instead there was this great energy from the smiles, chatter, people happily munching delicacies that were prepared for visitors free of charge.
Only the t-shirts being sold were a reminder of another purpose of the gathering. Each Chinese letter on the t-shirt stood for one Chinese family that would after many generations loose their home if developers have it their way. The date of the festival was also coinciding with the release of a book that describes the history of the community, portraits of its families their specific crafts, folks wisdoms, tales and legends. We are witness of something that Mr. James fittingly described as “a museum of intangible overseas Chinese culture, a living link with the early days of Chinese immigration to Thailand”.
This was the living link to the past that bears such a strong fascination on me. The girls were selling those t-shirts of which I already had two and upstairs in the Historical Hut members of the community were meeting. The local M.P. paid a visit and pledged support of Charoen Chai’s struggle and so did a representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
My question was how was government going to support? There weren’t unfortunately any concrete plans but before we get absorbed relying on government to help us out we better think what we ourselves can do to help our fellow citizens. Interviews were being given and I was trying to spot Pee Lek, the busiest person of all, the person spearheading every single of the community’s initiatives together with her team Pee Art and Pee Num.
The seminar was set in the community’s little Museum, the Historical Hut, the symbol of the community’s struggle against Bangkok’s urban evolution. It is set up on the second floor of a Chinese House dating back to the era of King Rama V. It exemplifies the struggle of the “Little People” against the invisible decision makers in Bangkok’s city hall and powerful real estate developers. It is always a stark reminder after immersing in my fascination for Bangkok that it was not the festival alone but our support for Pee Lek and her friends who are taking on the fight on behalf of the entire neighborhood or for that matter and on behalf of every ancient community, street and house that are irreplaceable parts of Thailand’s DNA.
Eventually after the seminar we finally had the chance to give her the little donation from the Moon Walk to help pay for the utility costs of the Historical Hut. It’s just a tiny step but we hope to build more effective support fueled by the ideas and support of some of our readers who care about these issues. To support Pee Lek and her conservation initiative, send an email to: sirinee@yahoo.com and you can get in touch with us if you need assistance in translations.
Back in the alley of Charoen Chai, nothing of this was felt. The people of this tight-knit community were all smiles as the troupes of musicians and dragons passed with sounds of drums in honor of the moon. People came together like the family usually does during the Moon Festival, similar to our Thanks Giving, the gathering, the feeling of belonging enhanced by the celebration of the Moon’s beauty. Everybody knew each others but though we were outsiders I didn’t feel strange or alienated but felt that people are happy to share the occasion with us. People were praying with incense sticks, giving speeches or were they reading poems? Whilst people from all walks of life from artists, architects to writers and travelers mingled with the aunties and kids in a romantic and beautiful spectacle of which only the moon itself was missing as it hid behind the seasonal curtain of grey.
The buzz, familiar faces, tinged in the warmth of candle lights, lanterns and homes radiated a nostalgic energy. The doors were flanked by elaborate golden Chinese paper adornments peaking in the magnificent altars set up in the middle of the alley to which the dragons danced in honor of a sacred moon. This special alley had become a bubble of ancient traditions and cultures, worlds apart from the rest of the city.
Indeed given the number of people and the narrowness of the alley through which no car is capable of passing it became a somewhat steamy affair and as rain drops were dripping from the omnipresent powerlines and sweat from some friends’ foreheads I leafed through the newly published book of Charoen Chai to find the two pages I’ve contributed.
And as I held the book in my hands, my eyes continued to observe the scene, spotting Pee Lek and her friends Pee Art and Pee Num whose faces have become familiar. That moment another line from the book struck so true: “Over the past year, the struggle of the residents of the Charoen Chai community to preserve their homes, traditional ways of life and cultural heritage has been an inspiration to all who are concerned with the threatened destruction of the historical districts of Bangkok.” That’s why we were here that evening, worlds away from the rest of the city, witnessing this special celebration in one of Bangkok’s last remaining pioneering neighborhoods and growing in resolution that we will not be among the last witnesses of the Moon Festival in Charoen Chai.
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