Pathum Wan district
Pathum Wan is one of the fifty districts of Bangkok, Thailand. It lies just beyond the old city boundary of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem and was a rural area on the eastern outskirts of the city when royal villas were built there in the late nineteenth century. The district was officially established in 1915, and covers an area of. A large part of the district area is taken up by the campus of Chulalongkorn University and the green expanses of Lumphini Park and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. By the turn of the 20th–21st centuries, the district had become known as the modern-day city centre, home to the prominent shopping areas of Siam and Ratchaprasong.
History
When King Rama I established Bangkok as his capital in 1782, he had canals dug including Khlong Maha Nak, which extended eastward from the fortified city proper of Rattanakosin Island. Communities formed along its bank, including Ban Khrua, a Muslim community mainly of Cham settlers, which stood at the end of the canal. As the canal was extended further eastward and became known as Khlong Bang Kapi, the outlying areas were cleared for paddy fields, though apart from the canal's banks the areas remained sparsely populated.Urban development
By the reign of King Mongkut, the city had spread beyond its original walls, and Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem was dug to extend the city's periphery in 1852. The eastern fringe of the city was then dominated by expansive rice fields, with Thung Bang Kapi occupying the areas along Bang Kapi Canal. The area that is now Pathum Wan was occupied by royal paddy fields by the canal, between Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem and Ban Khrua to the west and the Bang Kapi fields to the east. Some Lao war captives had also been settled in the area following the razing of Vientiane in 1827.Sometime before 1855, Mongkut had part of the royal fields south of the canal landscaped with ponds and waterways, which were planted with decorative lotuses, for leisurely visits. A royal villa was built there, which was named Pathum Wan, meaning "lotus forest". A temple, named Wat Pathumwanaram, was also built next to the palace. The King made annual visits to the palace and the temple, at first travelling by boat. A road was later built, continuing eastward from Bamrung Mueang Road, linking the palace to the city. It was originally known as Sa Pathum or Pathum Wan Road before being renamed Rama I Road in 1920.
With the royal development, the area began to attract more residents, and more palaces were built during the following reign of King Chulalongkorn. The King had a palace built for Prince Svasti Sobhana west of Pathum Wan Palace in 1880, and commissioned Windsor Palace in 1881 for his own son Prince Vajirunhis, buying up large amounts of land for what was to be its extensive grounds. He also later gifted a plot of land to another son, Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, though it was Mahidol's mother Queen Savang Vadhana who oversaw the construction Sa Pathum Palace there after Chulalongkorn died in 1910.
Windsor Palace had become vacant following Vajirunhis's death in 1895, and its grounds became the site of several successive educational institutions which became established as Chulalongkorn University in 1917 by King Vajiravudh. By then, several canals, roads and railways had been built through the area. West of the university grounds the Bangkok Railway Station, the country's main terminus, had been built in 1916. To the east, the Phloen Chit area was developed by the enterprising businessman Nai Lert around the same time. When the administration of Bangkok's districts was reorganized in 1915, the district was established as Amphoe Pathum Wan, bounded by Khlong Saen Saep to the north, the Chong Nonsi Railway to the east, Khlong Hua Lamphong to the south, and Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem to the west. Its status, along with Bangkok's other districts', was later changed from amphoe to khet in 1972.
20th century
Pathum Wan District saw increasing development throughout the 20th century, especially since the 1970s when the area along Rama I and Phloenchit roads became developed as a major shopping and commercial district. The Erawan Hotel opened on Ratchaprasong Intersection in 1956, and the Thai Daimaru department store, famous for introducing air conditioning and the escalator, opened on the opposite corner in 1964. Siam Square was developed as a low-rise retail area by Chulalongkorn University the same year, and the Siam Inter-Continental Hotel opened opposite it in 1966. Rajadamri Arcade—a modern, enclosed shopping mall—opened at Ratchaprasong in 1972, and Siam Center followed the next year. Gradually, Siam and Ratchaprasong supplanted the Wang Burapha area as Bangkok's centre of urban retail and youth culture. With the opening of the BTS Skytrain in 1999, the location of its central interchange at Siam station helped cement the neighbourhood's prominence as Bangkok's modern-day city centre. The area's prominence led to its occupation by anti-government protesters in 2010, which ended in a violent military crackdown.The legal case about demolishing a high-rise on Soi Ruamrudee, was finally decided in 2025 by the Supreme Administrative Court; "The ruling means that no more legal barriers to demolition remain", according to media. The high-rise was built in 2005, without proper authority.
Geography and administration
Pathum Wan District occupies in Bangkok's Phra Nakhon side. It is bordered by Dusit and Ratchathewi districts to the north across Khlong Saen Saep, Watthana and Khlong Toei to the east across the Maenam railway, Sathon and Bang Rak to the south across Rama IV Road, and Pom Prap Sattru Phai to the west across Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem.The district is served by two major thoroughfares running roughly west–east: Rama I–Phloen Chit near Saen Saep Canal and Rama IV Road along the district's southern edge. They are crossed by several roads running north–south: Rama VI–Charu Mueang, Banthat Thong, Phaya Thai, Henri Dunant, Ratchadamri, Chit Lom–Lang Suan, and Witthayu. The Si Rat and Chaloem Maha Nakhon expressways run above Phra Ram VI–Charu Mueang and alongside the Maenam railway, respectively.
Banthat Thong, Phaya Thai and Ratchadamri roads divide the district into four subdistricts. They are, from east to west: Rong Mueang, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan and Lumphini. Together, they have a registered population of 47,685 as of October 2019.
Neighbourhoods
remains the district's least developed area, occupied mostly by low-rise residential neighbourhoods. Rama VI Road crosses Rama I at Phong Phraram Intersection, and becomes known as Charu Mueang Road towards Rama IV to the south. The subdistrict's most prominent landmark is the Bangkok Railway Station, which lies in its southwestern corner at Hua Lamphong Intersection; the railway yard occupies most of the area along Phadung Krung Kasem Canal.File:CU Eastview01 211112.jpg|thumb|The campus of Chulalongkorn University and the Royal Bangkok Sports Club form open spaces against the backdrop of Ratchadamri skyscrapers.
The area of Wang Mai and Pathum Wan subdistricts is dominated by the campus of Chulalongkorn University, which owns most of the land between Banthat Thong, Rama I, Henri Dunant and Rama IV roads. The neighbourhoods of Suan Luang and Sam Yan are managed and developed for revenue by the university's Property Management Office.
Along Rama I Road, Charoen Phon Intersection is marked by the nearby National Stadium, which stands on the former location of Windsor Palace. Opposite the stadium complex to the north still lies part of the historic Ban Khrua community. East of the stadium complex, the length of Rama I Road from Pathum Wan Intersection to Chaloem Phao serves the major shopping area known as Siam, after the retail area of Siam Square and several shopping centres opposite it. Further east, past Wat Pathumwanaram, the chain of shopping malls continues through the Ratchaprasong area and along Phloen Chit Road. The coterminous areas of Siam and Ratchaprasong have been observed to form a "central shopping district" marking the city centre, as opposed to the central business district concept usually found elsewhere.
The area of Lumphini Subdistrict south of the shopping area consists mainly of luxury residential towers and hotels along Ratchadamri, Lang Suan and Witthayu Roads, as well as numerous embassies. The subdistrict's main feature, giving it its name, is Lumphini Park, which sits between Ratchadamri and Witthayu roads and fronts Rama IV from Sala Daeng to Witthayu intersections. Lower-income neighbourhoods form the residential communities of Polo and Bon Kai.
Notable locations
Shopping
Pathum Wan is best known for the shopping district of Siam and Ratchaprasong. Siam Square is a low-rise area consisting of many small blocks of shops and buildings, sitting opposite the enclosed malls MBK Center on one side, and Siam Discovery, Siam Center and Siam Paragon on the other. The Ratchaprasong intersection is lined by the CentralWorld, BigC Ratchadamri, Narayana Phan, and Gaysorn shopping malls, as well as Central Chidlom, the Central Group's flagship department store.Culture
On the opposite corner of Pathum Wan Intersection from Siam Square is the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, which shares the contemporary art scene with several galleries operated by Chulalongkorn University. The Jim Thompson House museum is popular as a tourist attraction. It is a complex of traditional Thai houses near the Ban Khrua community from where the designer sourced the silk he popularized internationally.The Erawan Shrine stands on a corner of Ratchaprasong, in front of the Grand Hyatt Erawan hotel. It is a famous place of worship where locals and tourists come to make wishes, but also the site of Bangkok's deadliest terrorist attack in 2015. Formal religious sites in the district include Wat Pathumwanaram, Wat Borom Niwat, Wat Duang Khae, Wat Chamni Hatthakan, Wat Sa Bua, Wat Chai Mongkhon, Masjid Indonesia, and the Holy Redeemer Church.