Ancient Cham Food and Old Mysteries in Bangkok’s Silk Weaving Village

A couple notes then location pins: First, the neighborhood itself doesn't have any restaurants (yet), but to find out about upcoming food-related events, the best resource appears to be their FB page: www.facebook.com/BankruaOfficial?mibextid=LQQJ4d Second, if you're in Vietnam, in recent years there's been an effort to preserve Cham heritage, and from the best I can tell, a couple potential destinations would be the area around Phan Rang- referenced in this video as the last Champa holdout that was overrun in 1832- and in Hoi An, with a place called Champa Amaravati serving ancient Cham cuisine (this is just from internet searching, I haven't been there and cannot personally confirm). Here are the pins, such as they were from this video: 1) The Yami Ul-Kairiya Mosque: maps.app.goo.gl/M6T99cXFK1MnVvbc9 (would suggest obviously entering the Mosque with permission and with proper attire; best is to ask on the outside to speak with Mr. Jaripan or Khun Tim) 2) Niphon's house: maps.app.goo.gl/b295uhwdKqkvyojw5 (it's opening hours are basically "whenever he's there" but if you ask around, someone will get him and he's happy to have visitors. Also as a note, we did our interview in Thai as that's the easiest language for him to tell his story, but he is also reasonably fluent in both English and German, so it's easy to stop through without much help).

"This is Bangkok, there are food festivals every 20 minutes" I really liked that😂

What a gem you've found! As an Indonesian, I learned about Champa in history classes at school, how there were intermarriages with our Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms, and how a Cham princess brought Islam to the court of Majapahit. I have been to Cham temples in Vietnam and while ancient monuments are important, I think having such a living and breathing community completes the picture. It's mind blowing how the people of such an influential empire are now scattered all over Southeast Asia and there's a chance they could slowly be forgotten if everything stays as it is. These are important stories, thank you for telling them!

You need to be appointed a Minister of Thai History and Culture. You are more knowledgeable than 99% of Thai history teachers.

as a professional historian, just want to say...your reseacrh and perspective are so great!

My family is Cham from Vietnam, specifically the village of Chau Doc. Thank you for showcasing our ancient history. In the eyes of the elders of Baan Krua I know they are my kin, the people of Champa 🤍🌍

I am a Thai watching this from Japan. This episode making me appreciate the diversity of Thai community. I had a friend who was the resident of Baan Kru’s who passed away recently. Thank you for all your insightful episodes.

Thank you so much for this video, I happened upon Baan Krua Nua about 8 or 9 years ago while exploring the city. I was astounded to find this tiny community of weavers smack dab in the middle of the city. They are barely mentioned during the tours of the Jim Thompson House Museum, so I would also mention to visitors to go check it out after, just a quick stroll over the bridge straddling the khlong. I was invited into one of the shops there by Loong Oud (he was quite old so I'm not sure that he's still around.) He showed me pictures taken with Jim Thomson and explained a bit about their history. They showed me the loops of silk drying in the loft area, as well as one or two people working on looms. I was a bit sad when I left because I wasn't really sure if this community would survive, especially after that big fire they had a few years ago. I'm very happy to learn that they are still fighting to keep the community alive. I hope the city does more for them, there's so much rich history!

The on-the-ground reporting of OTR never ceases to amaze me. It'd be easier just to do research, but I love that you go to the actual neighborhoods and flesh out the real story with actual first-hand accounts.

You just narrated to us one of the most amazing historical story that we wouldn't have known if not for this video! Truly amazing and I hope you document all these together so they will never be lost in time! Thank you for sharing!

Man, Thomson is a really interesting figure. You usually expect the worst when you hear "Rich white dude migrates to southeast asia to start a business" but it sounds like he was as good to people as a business owner can be and they really did like him. He returned most of the money generated back into the community, and provided jobs that paid much better than anything else. It also wasn't mentioned here I don't think, but one big thing was instead of building a factory and forcing all his workers to work there, he was happy with silk weavers staying in their own home meaning they could still be a homemaker at the same time. A rare case of someone born into a life of luxury who seemed to have actual empathy and love for the land he adopted.

Amazing. I'm a weaver and watching them work is priceless to me.

My history professor was a specialist in the Champa people, he also told us the story of Jim Thomson. Loved this video took me back to college.

This is the kind of youtube video that deserves millions of views, absolutely amazing stuff.

Thank you for such a good content. As a Thai, I am really amazed by how much time you put into tell a story of the food and history of another country that is not your. Thank you so much.

In Malaysia we know the Muslims in Cambodia as the Cham (or Kampung Cham). I was in the US when refugees from the Khmer Rouge started to arrive, there was a Muslim family that we hosted in the mosque for a while. Interestingly, we found that religious instruction was carried out in Malay (which they called "Jawi") - many years later I found out the same is true in Southern Thailand. There are a lot of native Malay speakers in Southern Thailand, of course, but religious instruction is specifically based on materials brought over from Malaysia and Indonesia.

What a wonderful story! I'll definitely visit Baan Krua the next time I'm in Bangkok. Thanks for the excellent work!

Almost 20 ears ago.....my family all met in KL, and drove to the Cameron Highlands for a week, then to KL and took a train to Bangkok. A magical two weeks where we spent our days going on tours, eating wonderful foods and experiencing nightlife in the streets. We were able to see this area where this episode focuses on and seeing the beautiful wares produced in it. It is a part of our trip that I cherish the most......thank you OTR for diving so deep into the history of these people and their plight . You taught me so much more about the areas inhabitants, their work and how it ties in to history. I can’t wait for the upcoming notification of your next educational and entertaining episode. Y’all ROCK!

This one was an edge-of-the-seat type episode. The OTR crew really have a talent for weaving a good story together.

I recently found your channel and I absolutely love your food documentaries! I love the length and the manner in which you present information as a historical and cultural story. Please keep up the good work, seeing this documentary go up made my day!