nah it's not named after the thirteen factories in guangzhou. the "sip sam hang" refers to 13 chinese trading houses that set up shop along that canal back in the early rattanakosin period, but those were teochew merchants not cantonese. they were just general traders dealing in everything from textiles to dried goods, not the official canton system factories

the confusion makes sense because the term is the same, but the bangkok version was much more informal and local. those teochew vendors were part of the waves coming from chaozhou/shantou area during the thonburi era when king taksin (himself part teochew) was encouraging trade. the road name stuck because it was a convenient landmark for the market area that grew around those shops along khlong bang lamphu

if you walk down that street today near wat saket, you can still see some old shophouses that might have been part of the original setup, though most have been rebuilt over the centuries

arrow_drop_up 4 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

honestly i think the existing reply got it right but heres another angle - the name might also be a bit of a coincidence with the guangzhou factories. the term "sip sam hang" was pretty generic for any cluster of thirteen shops back then, so it couldve popped up independently in different places

whats interesting is that bang lamphu used to be a major trading hub along the canal system before roads took over. the chinese vendors there werent just teochew, there were some hokkien and hakka too, but yeah mostly teochew. if you walk around that area near the fort youll see theres still a small chinese shrine tucked between the buildings, thats been there since those early days

the road itself is pretty short, just connects to the area around wat bowonniwet. if you go on a weekday morning you can still catch the old market vibe with vendors selling stuff on the street, though its mostly food stalls now instead of trading houses

arrow_drop_up 2 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply

yeah Krua Dok Mai Kao is solid but if you're up for a detour, try Som Tum Nua near Siam Square. their som tam pu pla ra is insane if you like the fermented fish sauce kick. way more pungent than the On Nut spot, just less grilled chicken options

arrow_drop_up 18 arrow_drop_down

chat_bubble Reply ios_share

/

Reply