Asiatique The Riverfront

Last night after a full day of seeking out treasures for Silk+Teak we found our way to Asiatique The Riverfront for the first time. These warehouses on the banks of the Chao Phraya River date back to the early 1900s when they were owned and operated by the East Asiatic Company of Denmark. The facility was used to export Teak to Europe but fell into disuse in 1947 - I wonder what happened here from 1947 to the date it opened as Asiatique in 2012? The site has now been developed into an open air night market and is open daily from 17:00 to 24:00.

The development has been designed in a Western style with very little Thai or Southeast Asian influence that I could detect. Aside from this the developers have done a good job of converting the space into a commercial and entertainment district and have clearly attracted the crowds, both local and travellers.

One of the things I appreciated most was their preservation of some of the old features of the docks, like the rail lines running through the center and the addition of some bronze statues by the river of dock workers carry bags of grain. Not sure if that would have been a common sight given that they were exporting Teak but still nice.