Baan Krua

Lonely Planet review

Baan Krua (literally 'Muslim Family Village') is one of Bangkok's oldest communities. It dates to the turbulent years at the end of the 18th century, when Cham Muslims from Cambodia and Vietnam fought on the side of the new Thai king and were rewarded with this plot of land east of the new capital. The immigrants brought their silk-weaving traditions with them and the community grew with the arrival of other Muslims, and when the residents built the khlong to better connect them to the river.

The 1950s and '60s were boom years for Baan Krua, after Jim Thompson hired the weavers and exported their silks across the globe. Production was moved elsewhere following Thompson's disappearance and many Muslim's have moved out of the area; today about 30% of the population is Muslim, the rest primarily migrants from northeast Thailand. However, it retains its Muslim character, and one of the original families is still weaving silk on old teak looms. The village consists of old, tightly packed homes threaded by tiny paths barely wide enough for two people to pass. It has been described as a slum, but the house-proud residents are keen to point out that they might not live in high-rise condos, but that doesn't make their old community a slum.