In a canal, several children are swimming joyfully while a man in a sarong is taking a bath. Not far away, another man is taking fish out of a net. On both banks, hundreds of rai of rice is ripe yellow, while pomelo trees and lotus plants are in full blossom.
HISTORIC WATERWAY: A bridge across the Maha Sawat canal. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DR WATTANA THIAMPATHOM AND SURASAK KHONGKHUAN
With no need to turn back the clock, anyone can experience pure nature and the slow-paced lifestyle of the past when visiting the Maha Sawat canal in Nakhon Pathom.
"We live simple yet happy lives here. We can still take a bath and swim in this canal because the water is very clean. Fresh water is regularly diverted from the Srinakarin Dam in Kanchanaburi to this stream via the Ngiew Rai area," said Pathum Sawatnam, a veteran farmer at tambon Maha Sawat.
In the past, the majority of local villagers grew rice, while others grew lotus plants. After a big flood in 1942, some of them opened betel nut and fruit orchards, and others opted for poultry farming and merchandising. Since the Boromratch-onnanee elevated road was built in 1982, more locals have become government officials and company workers.
"I am a rice farmer. Soil along this canal is good for rice growing. Most of the farmland here are rice fields. There are also a number of fruit orchards, especially pomelo orchards. Pomelos from Wat Suwannaram community are the most delicious and they sell like hot cakes," Mr Pathum said.
He said tambon Maha Sawat is free of housing estates and industrial factories because it is strictly a farming area only. More than 1,000 rai (160 hectares) of land there once belonged to the Crown Property Bureau and served as farmland only. Later, the land was allocated to rice farmers who received about 20 rai (3.2 hectares) each under a condition that the land could not be sold but could be transfered to the owners' children for farming purposes only.
"On both banks of this canal people grow various strains of rice. My father owned more than 300 rai [48 hectares] of farmland, which yielded 300 kwien [600,000 litres] of rice. He grew five breeds of rice so that he could harvest at different times," said Dr Wattana Thiampathom, director of Phutthamonthon Hospital, whose family has been living along the Maha Sawat canal for many generations.
EARLY BIRD: A monk paddles a boat to receive alms from Buddhists.
He said the Maha Sawat canal has a long history and turns 150 years old on May 17.
It is important to Phutthamonthon district and it links the east and west sides of Bangkok. And it was the fruit of King Rama IV's strong faith in Phra Pathom Chedi in Nakhon Pathom.
In 1852, King Rama IV ordered the restoration of Phra Pathom Chedi and assigned Chao Phraya Maha Prayoonrawong and his son, Chao Phraya Thipakornrawong, to supervise the digging of the Chedi Bucha and Maha Sawat canals, according to the Bangkok Royal Chronicle written during that reign.
A resting pavilion, or sala, was built every 100 sen (4km) along this canal. One of them was called Salaya because its walls were inscribed with traditional medicine formulae. Another one was called Sala Thamsop and served as the venue of funeral rites for officials and workers who died while building the canal.
FERTILE: Rice fields along the Maha Sawat canal.
After its opening in 1860, the Maha Sawat canal was taken by King Rama IV and his royal entourage as a route leading to Phra Pathom Chedi via the Nakhon Chaisi River and the Chedi Bucha canal. The king later gave more than 20,000 rai (3,200 hectares) of land along this canal to his children.
"The most important land plot here is the southern one. It has been inherited within the Royal Family," Dr Wattana said.
After the opening of the Maha Sawat canal more people moved into the area. The first batch of residents came from old communities along the Nakhon Chaisi River, including Song Khanong, Homkkred, Bang Toey and Don Wai; and some others from Muang Nonthaburi and Bangkok.
"A few years later, many people came to lease the royal land at low prices to grow rice. And a few other commoners occupied the rest of the plot of land," Mr Pathum added.
At that time, the poet Maharuek - who penned the travel epic Niras Phra Pathom - used the Chedi Bucha and Maha Sawat canals to save time in his travels to Phra Pathom Chedi. He described the communities on both banks of the Maha Sawat canal and how each house stood very far from each other. He saw a Mon woman taking a bath in the canal near Sala Khlang (Sala Thamsop). He met a female farmer with a dark complexion and a kind heart at the Fifth Sala (Salaya), and saw many birds around the Sixth Sala.
LOCALS: Life along the Maha Sawat canal.
In 1877, King Rama V travelled to Saiyok Waterfall in Kanchanaburi past the Maha Sawat canal and wrote a memo about his journey. He recorded that the canal was most shallow between the 400 and 500 distance markers and impassable by his royal barge, which had to be towed by buffaloes. To solve the problem, the king ordered the digging of a new canal - naming it Thawi Watthana in 1878 - to connect the middle section of the Maha Sawat canal with the Phasi Charoen canal. Two years later, the Narapirom canal was built to link with the Thawi Watthana canal and the Nakhon Chaisi River in Bang Len district.
During the reign of King Rama VI, the local residents adopted surnames - most of which start or end with the word "Sawat". Later, new communities such as Wat Suwannaram, Salaya and Khlong Maha Sawat communities were established along this canal. Thatch-roofed cottages were first built and later replaced by tile-roofed traditional wooden houses. In the '50s, large two-storey wooden houses in the punya-style were introduced to this area by rich families.
TRADITIONAL: A painting at Wat Suwannaram featuring people working and relaxing along the canal.
"About 60 years ago, people here lived in thatch-roofed houses and used only paddle boats to get around. There were no long-tailed boats with engines. To hold funerals, coffins would be taken to temples in a procession of boats," the doctor said.
He added that the locals still buy goods from vendors on boats. Buyers will put money in plastic bowls and sellers will hand the items to them.
While many Bangkok waterways are too polluted for fish to survive, the Maha Sawat canal remains a nice habitat for water animals.
"The use of yor, a kind of fishing tool, is still popular here because this canal is very abundant with fish," Dr Wattana added.
To prevent further water pollution, Mr Pathum has been spearheading a campaign against the use of chemicals and pesticides in farming areas along this canal. He also leads a farmers' group for promoting ecotourism along the Maha Sawat canal.
WAY OF LIFE: The Tak Bart Thong Nam ceremony.
"More than 1,000 tourists visit our community each month. We arrange boat trips and farm visits for them. They need only pay 10 to 20 baht per person to visit each fruit orchard, where they can eat as much fruit as they like," Mr Pathum smiled. Such boat tours have been popular over the past few years. It costs 350 baht per trip to hire a boat for up to six persons and an extra 70 baht per head for farm visits. In 2007, tambon Maha Sawat was named "Outstanding Community for Tourism".
For about 50 years there has been a tradition called tak bart thong nam ("Almsgiving on the stream") at Wat Suwannaram along the Maha Sawat canal.
Mr Pathum noted: "The villagers would gather in the morning of the full moon day of the 12th lunar month to give alms to monks on boats." This ceremony is for worshipping the Goddess of Water and making merit for those who drowned in this canal. It is believed to be a warning and reminder for parents to take good care of children while swimming in the canal.
FLOATING SHOP: A boat selling tree pots.
Another tourist attraction is a floating market at Wat Sri Prawat, where hundreds of fish live happily as it is declared a no-fishing zone. Another tourist destination is Wat Chaiyapruekmala. This temple was built in the Ayutthaya period and restored during the reign of King Rama II and King Rama IV. As the temple was under the patronage of King Rama IV, or King Mongkut, its ordination hall was adorned with royal emblems of a crown. In front of this temple stands the only arch bridge remaining in this area.
"To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Maha Sawat canal, the district's cultural council will plant trees on both banks and organise a photo exhibition as well as arrange special boat trips, including those for tracing King Rama V's journey to the Saiyok Waterfall," Dr Wattana said.
Those interested in experiencing the ecotourism journey along the Maha Sawat canal can contact Mr Pathum on 08-1912-0723.
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