A Giant Upturned Cannon in Bangkok
I’ve sometimes seen small upturned cannons around Bangkok that mark the edge of flower beds and lawns. These are relics of days gone by. But there is another one on the corner of Ploenchit and Wireless Roads. At first glance it looks like a giant upturned cannon. Obviously it isn’t a cannon and so I speculated next that it could be some kind of sentry post. But again that theory was thrown out as there is no doorway.
The answer comes from the website of the British Embassy: The “gun emplacement” marked the limits of Nai Lert’s property. When Nai Lert bought the land between Ploenchit Road and Klong Saen Saep he marked it off with stone boundary markers shaped like huge cannons stuck in the ground – there were six in all. Only one remains on the corner of the British Embassy. A previous marker outside the hotel entrance shaped like a bullet was destroyed in a car crash in 2003.
Now that they are building a new shopping mall on this corner called Central Embassy, I wonder how much longer it will be allowed to remain.
This is one of multiple concrete ‘pillars’ which used to mark the outer boundaries of what was in those days – we’re talking turn of the 19th>20th century – considered ‘the city’. It appears that the Central group’s plans include leaving this one intact. Let’s hope they don’t change their mind then.
This thing – and others like it – have historical value. They should be left where they are and be protected. What an awful place this would be if everything was new concrete and steel.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe my sentiment is reflected by the indigenous population.