Sampheng Market

This guide to Sampheng Market in Bangkok starts in 1782, when Rama the First's plan to build the Grand Palace pushed Teochew Chinese merchants off the land and into a swampy riverbank strip, where their dirt path became Sampheng Lane. It follows the lane's transformation over the next century into Sin Alley, with green lanterns marking brothels, opium dens, and rival Chinese secret societies carving up the street. You'll hear how that rivalry escalated around 1900 into open street warfare before order returned. Listen for what the phrase woman of Sampeng came to mean in Thai slang.