ncr
29-10-05, 10:37 PM
Excellent quality photo, indeed.
I wonder whether someone is able to find out the exact location so we can take a picture of what this place looks like today. Seems near impossible though... any of those buildings still existing?
Addition: in the second magnification (http://www.2bangkok.com/images/CentralNewroad02.jpg) I just noticed the words "Hang Bom Bai" (Bombai Store) on the white three-storey building - and according to this account (http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Tram/writers2.shtml), that was somewhere between the GPO and the corner of Surawong Road. Is this looking north or south? On which side of the road was the tram track, the one closer to the river or the opposite one? Also interesting - why does that company on the left ("...olaw & Co Ltd") have a garuda on the facade of its office, and what's the full name? Well, on the other hand it could be the "White Away Ledlaw Store" that's also mentioned. And on a building behind Bombai Store there's a black sign with white letters reading "Kara...." in Thai. Karachi Store? Only the sequence of the three stores is not as described...
Finally, as for the date, to me it feels slightly older than the 1920s. Left of the tram (http://www.2bangkok.com/images/CentralNewroad01.jpg) you can spot some really ancient car model, though that doesn't have to mean anything, of course.
I wonder whether someone is able to find out the exact location so we can take a picture of what this place looks like today. Seems near impossible though... any of those buildings still existing?
Addition: in the second magnification (http://www.2bangkok.com/images/CentralNewroad02.jpg) I just noticed the words "Hang Bom Bai" (Bombai Store) on the white three-storey building - and according to this account (http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Tram/writers2.shtml), that was somewhere between the GPO and the corner of Surawong Road. Is this looking north or south? On which side of the road was the tram track, the one closer to the river or the opposite one? Also interesting - why does that company on the left ("...olaw & Co Ltd") have a garuda on the facade of its office, and what's the full name? Well, on the other hand it could be the "White Away Ledlaw Store" that's also mentioned. And on a building behind Bombai Store there's a black sign with white letters reading "Kara...." in Thai. Karachi Store? Only the sequence of the three stores is not as described...
Finally, as for the date, to me it feels slightly older than the 1920s. Left of the tram (http://www.2bangkok.com/images/CentralNewroad01.jpg) you can spot some really ancient car model, though that doesn't have to mean anything, of course.