Khlong Bangkok Noi

Khlong Bangkok Noi near Wat Sri Sudaram

A map showing Chao Praya river's original course and its shortcut canals.

Khlong Bangkok Noi (Thai: คลองบางกอกน้อย; lit 'Bangkok Noi Canal') is a khlong (คลอง; canal) in Bangkok; its name is the origin of the name Bangkok Noi District.

The canal, along with its counterpart Khlong Bangkok Yai, is actually a part of Chao Praya river's original course. However, a canal was constructed in 1552, during the reign of King Chairachathirat of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. He ordered the construction of a canal bypassing a meander on the Chao Phraya River to shorten travel time. As time passes, the canal was eroded and became gradually wider. The river was diverted through the new canal, and the old route became the two canals known today as Khlong Bangkok Yai and Khlong Bangkok Noi.^[1]

In the early-Rattanakosin period, there was a floating market where vendor's boats and wooden houseboats mingled, lining up along the waterways to Bang Bamru and Bang Khun Non. This scenery was recounted in at least two poems by Sunthorn Phu (1786–1855), a poet of that era, who was born in Bangkok Noi.^[2]

The mouth of Khlong Bangkok Noi is located beside Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital (SiPH) and the former Bangkok Noi railway station (now the location of Thonburi Railway Station Pier). The current flows north through many historical and cultural landmarks, such as Ansorissunnah Royal Mosque, National Museum of Royal Barges, Wat Suwannaram, Thon Buri railway station, Wat Amarintharam, and Wat Si Sudaram, a Thai temple known as the place where Sunthorn Phu studied in his childhood, as well as Wat Bang Oi Chang in Nonthaburi Province, etc. The canal terminates at the confluence with Khlong Om Non and Khlong Bang Yai at the Old Bang Yai Market in Bang Yai District, Nonthaburi Province, along the way, it is also connected to many canals, such as Khlong Chak Phra, Khlong Maha Sawat, Khlong Bang Kruai.

For this reason it has been promoted as one of the cultural tourism routes, as well as other canals in Bangkok and the vicinity.^{[3] [4]}

Mouth of Khlong Bangkok Noi along Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital (SiPH)

Sign of Wat Si Sudaram at the shore of Khlong Bangkok Noi

References[]

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Coordinates: 13°45′47.0″N 100°28′45.0″E / 13.763056°N 100.479167°E / 13.763056; 100.479167