Rama IV Road(Thai:ถนนพระรามที่ 4,RTGS:Thanon Phra Ram Thi Si;usually shortened toถนนพระราม 4,RTGS:Thanon Phra Ram Si) is a main road inBangkok,Thailand. It starts atMo MiJunction in the area ofBangkok's ChinatowninSamphanthawongandPom Prap Sattru PhaiDistricts and ends at the junction withSukhumvit Road(Phra Khanong Junction) inKhlong Toei DistrictnearBangkok Port,also known as Khlong Toei Port.
Bordering the road are theHua Lamphong railway station,Wat Hua Lamphong,NewSam YanMarket,Lumphini Parkand Rama VI Memorial Plaza,King Chulalongkorn Memorial HospitalandQueen Saovabha Memorial Institute,theMetropolitan Electricity Authority,and the headquarters ofChannel 3.TheMRT Blue Linesnakes underneath Rama IV Road betweenHua Lamphong MRT stationandQueen Sirikit National Convention Centre MRT station.
History
editThis road was built in the year 1857 during the reign ofKing Mongkut(Rama IV) and can be considered as the first real road in Thailand. It was built about four years beforeCharoen Krung Road.The road was built at the request of foreign merchants and businessmen, who complained of the difficulty and waste of time of travelling to trade in the capital. To solve this issue, they proposed to set up their stores for trading goods around Khlong Phra Khanong up to theBang Naarea and requested that the government dig up a shortcut canal from Bang Na toKhlong Phadung Krung Kasem,which was one of the outer city moats during that time.
King Mongkut ordered that a new canal be dug up in front ofPhlan Phairi Rap Fort(around theHua Lamphongarea), cutting through fields to connect to Khlong Phra Khanong. At the same time, Khlong Phra Khanong was also extended to reach theChao Phraya River.The soil dug up would be used to pave a road running along the north of the canal. The King named the new canal Khlong Thanon Trong ( "straight road canal" ), and it is also came to be known as Khlong Hua Lamphong. The road that ran along the bank of the canal was given various names by the community, ranging from Trong Road, Hua Lamphong Road, and Wua Lamphong Road. It was later declared in 1919, during the reign of KingVajiravudh(Rama VI), to rename Outer Hua Lamphong Road, covering the stretch between the intersections with Charoen Krung and Luang Sunthorn Kosa, to Rama IV Road in memory of King Mongkut who had initially ordered its construction.
In 1947, Khlong Hua Lamphong was drained to make way for an extension of the road. ThePaknam Railway,Thailand's first railway line, followed the route of Rama IV Road from 1893 until it closed in 1960 due to under-use and increased road traffic. Several flyovers were added in the 1980s and 1990s to improve traffic flow.[1]
Development
editAs of 2019[update]the real estate bordering the road, particularly a 3.5 kilometre section stretching from Sam Yan to Klong Toey intersection, has attracted property investments totaling 185 billionbahtand more investment is forecast.[2]
References
edit- ^จับเข่าเล่าประวัติศาสตร์ (2013-07-11)."…ถนนพระรามที่สี่…"[Rama VI Road].Facebook(in Thai).
- ^Katharangsiporn, Kanana; Jitpleecheep, Pitsinee; Sangwongwanich, Pathom (29 July 2019)."Rise of Rama IV Road".Bangkok Post.Retrieved29 July2019.
