Ban Baat (Monk's Bowl Village)

Yesterday Sean and I made our way to an area of town that I've had my eye on for weeks! Ban Baat or "Monk's Bowl Village", once a thriving community of alms bowl makers, now consists of one tiny alleyway where three families still make these beautiful bowls by hand. The alms bowl is one of the most important objects in the daily life of a monk. It is used primarily to collect food donations from Buddhist people supporting the monks. Traditionally these bowls were all handmade but now monks can purchase factory made alms for one tenth the price, meaning that most sales of the handmade bowls now come from tourists. You can read more about this tradition here

When we finally found the tiny road we were looking for, we couldn't help but be surprised. Unlike most other areas of Bangkok that cater to tourists, Ban Baat seemed completely unaffected and unspoiled. We found a battered sign indicating the way and were then led down a series of alleyways to the craftsman by an elderly Thai woman. All the way through this maze we were greeted by people just sitting around their homes, going about their daily lives; no evidence of the pushy street market hawkers that line the rest of Bangkok's tourist destinations! At one point Sean whispered from behind: "Hey Meg! This is awesome!"

When we finally arrived at the "shop" we found a battered display case sitting at the front of someone's living room (I use the term "living room" loosely - I won't get into the details now but this little village would certainly be considered poverty-stricken by any Western definition). The alms maker and his assistant greeted us and proceeded to give us a demonstration of how the bowls are created. Each bowl is put together using eight pieces of metal to represent Buddhism's eight-fold path. Some are lacquered and shiny while others are left natural so each of these eight pieces can be seen. We walked away 10 minutes later with two beautiful bowls and the feeling that we'd finally seen something that was truly and naturally "Thai".