Soi Ban Baat - Monk's Bowl Village
Living craft community where artisans hand-forge Buddhist monks' alms bowls from eight pieces of steel.
Location
About this audio guide
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.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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