Soi Ban Baat - Monk's Bowl Village

This guide to Soi Ban Baat, Bangkok's Monk's Bowl Village, follows Lady Gai, a fourth-generation artisan who began hammering metal at twelve, through the hand-forged craft of building a monk's alms bowl from eight separate pieces of steel. It traces the symbolism behind that number, the three original communities King Rama I established for this trade, and what happened to the other two once factory-made bowls arrived in the 1970s. Stand near an open doorway and listen for the ringing of hammer on metal that still marks the street.