Samre, Bangkok Explained

Official Name:Samre
Native Name:สำเหร่
Settlement Type:Khwaeng
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Thailand
Subdivision Type2:Province
Subdivision Name2:Bangkok
Subdivision Type3:Khet
Subdivision Name3:Thon Buri
Area Total Km2:1.230
Area Footnotes:[1]
Population As Of:2019
Population Total:14,937
Population Density Km2:12,143.90
Postal Code Type:Postal code
Blank Name:TIS 1099

Samre (Thai: สำเหร่, in Thai pronounced as /sǎm.rèː/), also spelled Sam Re and Samray, is a subdistrict (khwaeng) of Thon Buri District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is also the name of a neighbourhood around the area.

History

The word samre is a name for the plant Malabar melastome (also known as khlongkhleng), which probably used to grow in abundance in the area, leading the neighbourhood to be known by the name.[2] It was also the name of a Buddhist temple (wat) in the area, Wat Samre, believed to have been built around 1717 and now known as Wat Ratchawarin.[3]

Samre used to be a site of public executions during the late seventeenth to early eighteenth centuries, where prisoners were beheaded and their heads set on spikes by the riverside. It was a place locals feared to be heavily haunted, and is described as such in Nirat Thalang, a travel poem written c. 1815–1816 by Muen Phromsomphatson, a student of Sunthorn Phu.

In the 1850s, a plot of land in the area was purchased by American missionary Stephen Mattoon, and it became the location of the First Presbyterian Church, Samray as well as Samray Boys' School, the country's first formal school.[4]

Geography

Samre is in the southeastern corner of Thon Buri District.

Samre is bounded by other subdistricts (from north clockwise): Bang Yi Ruea in its district (Krung Thonburi Road is a borderline), Bang Lamphu Lang in Khlong San District (Khlong Bang Sai Kai is a borderline), Wat Phraya Krai and Bang Kho Laem in Bang Kho Laem District with Dao Khanong in its district (Chao Phraya River and Mahaisawan Road are the borderlines), Bukkhalo in its district (Somdet Phra Chao Tak Sin Road is a borderline).[5]

Places

The local temple Wat Samre, or Wat Ratchawarin, indeed, it is located in the area of neighbouring Bukkhalo.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: https://webportal.bangkok.go.th/upload/user/00000130/BMA_STATISTICS%202563/ebook%2063.pdf. th:สถิติกรุงเทพมหานครประจำปี 2563. Bangkok Statistics 2020. Administrative Strategy Division, Strategy and Evaluation Department, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration . 2021 . 27 November 2021. th.
  2. Web site: โคลงเคลง นักเลงกินโคลงเคลง แล้วไปโคลงเรือ หรือ…โค-ลงเรือ เรือจึงโคลงเคลง . Thai. Technologychaoban. 2019-09-24. Maywisa. 2021-03-14.
  3. Web site: รสสุคนธ์ อุดมศรี . ฐานข้อมูลท้องถิ่นธนบุรี . library.bsru.ac.th . Offices of Academic Resources and Information Technology Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University . 18 March 2021 . th.
  4. Web site: โลจน์ นันทิวัชรินทร์ . คริสตจักรที่หนึ่ง สำเหร่ โบสถ์โปรเตสแตนต์อายุกว่าร้อยปีริมน้ำย่านเจริญนคร: The First American Presbyterian Church . The Cloud . 18 March 2021 . th . 2 March 2021.
  5. Web site: แขวงบุคคโล เขตธนบุรี กรุงเทพมหานคร. Ro1.ldd.go.th. Thai. Bukkhalo Subdistrict, Thon Buri District, Bangkok.