Re: Bangkok main railroad station

On Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:33:53 -0500, maxwell <mmmaxwell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Good soldier Schweik wrote on 11/6/2009
On Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:04:19 -0500, maxwell <mmmaxwell@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Good soldier Schweik wrote on 11/4/2009
The name of the Bangkok main railroad station is "Hua Lamphong", which
is also used by taxi drivers and others to designate the district
around the station.
The other day some mentioned that the name means ******* (which I'm
not going to post) and the explanation for why the name is used,
however the explanation seemed just a bit odd, even for Thailand.
Does anyone know what the words "Hua Lamphong" translate to, and how
the station got the name?

It's been my understanding that naming of satanee rotfai Krungthep is derived from the nearby canal and/or road.
As to the name itself, though my better half could not guess what it was that you were unwilling to post, she informs me that Hua Lumphong does not properly translate into English--apparently it is an idiomatic construction of head (hua) +loudspeaker (lamphong)

. .. and my posting addy is good, Schweik ;~)

Cheers,
Schweik

Cheers,
-maxwell


The translation I got was a bit more detailed. Described as the "thing
the sound comes out of on a hand cranked record player". I had
assumed "horn"

Consistent with what I'd first been told: "megaphone"
Apparently like many words, constrained by modifiers and/or context.

or some such description although I never heard the word applied to a trumpet :-)

or trombone; both often transliterated 'loan words' ;~)

Further explanation was that the half round shape of the building was the reason for the name...

Aha.

"and my posting addy is good, Schweik ;~)" ?????

It meant you could email me what you didn't want to spill the beans about in your OP.

hmmm..now I'm wondering. While the many canals of 'Venice of the East' preceded railway construction, if it turns out that khlong hualumphong was dredged *after* construction of satanee krungthep, then perhaps what I'd heard about the informal naming of the station had the order reversed.

Cheers,
Schweik
(goodsoldierschweikatgmaildotcom)

Cheers,
-maxwell


I did a bit of looking and I can find a great deal about the early
railroads and even a description of a French map of Bangkok on which
the station was referred to as the "Central Station", albeit in French
:-) But nothing regarding the actual name.

Same here, during my brief search *earlier*

Websearch branching from scholarly sources found it in a 2006 doctoral dissertation: hualumphong canal and road preceded the station by decades--in fact, dating from the reign of Rama IV.

<q>(following the 1855 Bowring Treaty) Western merchants petitioned the King for a short-cut to the Bangkok Port at Khlong Toei. So Khlong Thanon Trong, [straight way canal] was built in 1857 from Khlong Phadung to Khlong Toei with a walkway along the west bank, later called Thaang Thanon Trong. They were known by the name Hua Lampong in the reign of King Rama V, and the road was renamed Rama IV Road by King Rama VI in memory of his grandfather, who had the canal and road constructed (Damrong, 1964: 227-228). It was the first road parallel to a canal in Bangkok and seemed to be the blue-print for such constructions at a later date </q>

http://www.arch.chula.ac.th/nakhara/files/article/NGhwbWJ454Sun15248.pdf

.. and as construction of the new railway station commenced in the year Chulalungkorn (Rama V) died
http://www.thailandbytrain.com/RailHistory.html#HuaLamphong

. .. it seems not improbable that the station was so named in recognition of its location nearby to the khlong and road-- and of Rama IV.

One wonders whether it is so common knowledge that it is never
mentioned as "everyone already knows" or so esoteric that no one will
divulge the secret. Or just not of interest?

I could speculate that the history of Thai railways and canals may not be well known among a great many khon Thai.

Names of places and things are sort of intriguing. It is easy enough
to figure out where the name of, say, Passamaquady Bay gets it's name,
but Cut and Shoot, Texas?

wikipedia has that one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_and_Shoot,_Texas

Cheers,
Schweik
(goodsoldierschweikatgmaildotcom)

Cheers,
-maxwell


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Bangkok main railroad station
    ... around the station. ... While the many canals of 'Venice of the East' preceded railway construction, if it turns out that khlong hualumphong was dredged *after* construction of satanee krungthep, then perhaps what I'd heard about the informal naming of the station had the order reversed. ... Websearch branching from scholarly sources found it in a 2006 doctoral dissertation: hualumphong canal and road preceded the station by decades--in fact, dating from the reign of Rama IV. ...
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  • Re: Bangkok main railroad station
    ... around the station. ... was that you were unwilling to post, she informs me that Hua Lumphong ... While the many canals of 'Venice of the East' ... reign of King Rama V, and the road was renamed Rama IV Road by King ...
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  • Re: Bangkok main railroad station
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