![Mo Mi Junction, Bangkok 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Mo_Mi_Junction%2C_Bangkok_01.jpg)
Mo Mi ( th, หมอมี, ) is a large intersection located in the centre of
Bangkok's Chinatown
Bangkok's Chinatown is one of the largest Chinatowns in the world. It was founded in 1782 when the city was established as the capital of the Rattanakosin Kingdom, and served as the home of the mainly Teochew immigrant Chinese population, who ...
quarter overlaps between
Pom Prap
Pom Prap ( th, ป้อมปราบ, ) is one of five ''khwaengs'' (subdistricts) of Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok. In February 2019 it had a total population of 15,440 people (7,444 men, 7,956 women). The majority of the population c ...
of
Pom Prap Sattru Phai
Pom Prap Sattru Phai ( th, ป้อมปราบศัตรูพ่าย, , or popularly just called Pom Prap, ) is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Dusit, Pathum Wan, ...
district and
Talat Noi
Talat Noi or Talad Noi ( th, ตลาดน้อย, ) is a historic neighbourhood in Bangkok. It roughly occupies the area of the sub-district of the same name in Samphanthawong District. On the periphery of Bangkok's Chinatown, Talat Noi has b ...
with
Samphanthawong
Samphanthawong ( th, สัมพันธวงศ์, ) is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. Regarded as Bangkok's Chinatown, it is the smallest district in area but has the highest population density of Bangkok's districts. ...
of
Samphanthawong
Samphanthawong ( th, สัมพันธวงศ์, ) is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. Regarded as Bangkok's Chinatown, it is the smallest district in area but has the highest population density of Bangkok's districts. ...
district.
This intersection consists of the following roads:
Charoen Krung
Shophouses along Charoen Krung road with the Sathorn Unique Tower in the vicinity (2021)
Charoen Krung Road ( th, ถนนเจริญกรุง, ) is a major road in Bangkok and the first in Thailand to be built using modern construction ...
(toward
Odeon Circle Odeon Circle and Chinese gate., 300px
Odeon Circle or Wongwian Odeon ( th, วงเวียนโอเดียน, ; zh, 崇聖牌樓; pinyin: ''Chóng shèng páilóu'') is a roundabout in Bangkok. It is the intersection of Yaowarat, Charoen ...
and
Wat Traimit
The Golden Buddha, officially titled Phra Phuttha Maha Suwanna Patimakon ( th, พระพุทธมหาสุวรรณปฏิมากร; sa, Buddhamahāsuvarṇapaṭimākara), commonly known in Thai as Phra Sukhothai Traimit ( th, ...
),
Rama IV
Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...
(toward
Hua Lamphong), Song Sawat (from Wat Samphanthawong and
Sampheng
Sampheng ( th, สำเพ็ง, ) is a historic neighbourhood and market in Bangkok's Chinatown, in Samphanthawong District. It was settled during the establishment of Bangkok in 1782 by Teochew Chinese, and eventually grew into the surroundi ...
, via
Song Wat road) and Mittraphan (toward
July 22nd Circle
The 22 July Circle ( th, วงเวียน 22 กรกฎาคม, ) is a traffic circle in Thailand. It's an intersection of Maitri Chit, Santiphap and Mittraphan roads in Pom Prap subdistrict, Pom Prap Sattru Phai district, Bangkok.
Hist ...
).
The boundaries of Mo Mi are considered to be where Rama IV and Mittraphan roads originate, and where Song Sawat road terminates.
Mo Mi, formerly and still colloquially known as Sam Yaek (สามแยก), which means "Three-Way Junction," and Sam Yaek Charoen Krung (สามแยกเจริญกรุง), meaning "Three-Way Junction of Charoen Krung." The original name of Mo Mi came from the fact that during
King Mongkut
Mongkut ( th, มงกุฏ; 18 October 18041 October 1868) was the fourth monarch of Siam (Thailand) under the House of Chakri, titled Rama IV. He ruled from 1851 to 1868. His full title in Thai was ''Phra Bat Somdet Phra Menthora Ramathibod ...
(Rama IV)'s reign, Mo Mi was only a three-way junction consisting of Charoen Krung and Thanon Trong roads which later became Rama IV road.
Charoen Krung Road that runs through this area from
Damrong Sathit bridge file:สะพานดำรงสถิต970.jpg , 250px, Saphan Lek or Damrong Sathit Bridge in 2014
Saphan Lek ( th, สะพานเหล็ก, , ) is the name of a bridge and a now-extinct makeshift market near the bridge in Bangkok. Now ...
(Saphan Lek) to here also serves as an administrative boundary between Pom Prap Sattru Phai (left side) with Samphanthwawong (right side) districts, and also has
one-way traffic
One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typical ...
as well.
Under the past administration of
Amphoe
An amphoe (sometimes also ''amphur'', th, อำเภอ, )—usually translated as "district"—is the second level administrative subdivision of Thailand. Groups of ''amphoe'' or districts make up the provinces, and are analogous to countie ...
Samphanthawong, this area or ''
tambon
''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district (''amphoe'') and province (''changwat''), they form the third administrative subdivision level. there were 7,255 tambons, not including the 180 ''khwaeng'' ...
'' (ตำบล; sub-district) was called "Tambon Sam Yaek" in the province of Phra Nakhon (known today as Bangkok).
In 1898, a fire occurred in this area, spreading rapidly across the neighborhood because of its contemporary design of wooden framing with
thatched roofs
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of t ...
combined with the high density of houses. Since then, the government in general banned the construction of wooden dwellings. The surviving Phlapphla Chai 2 Police Station site on
Phlapphla Chai
Phlapphla Chai ( th, พลับพลาไชย, ) is the name of a road in Bangkok's Pom Prap and Wat Thep Sirin sub-districts, Pom Prap Sattru Phai District, and also the five-way intersection of the road with Luang and Maitri Chit Roads. I ...
road was known as Sam Yaek Police Station at the time of the fire.
"Mo Mi" was named after Mo Mi or Boonmi Kasemsuvan, a pharmacist who specialized in herbal and medical chemistry, especially
Snuff
Snuff may refer to:
Tobacco
* Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose
** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco
** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste
Media and entertainment
* Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder
Literat ...
. His dispensary was located in the area.
The area around Mo Mi in the past was well-known as a centre of
chick
Chick or chicks may refer to:
*Chick (young bird), a bird that has not yet reached adulthood
People
* Chick (nickname), a list of people
* Chick (surname), various people
* Chick McGee, stage name of radio personality Charles Dean Hayes (born 19 ...
and
duckling
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ta ...
stores, but at present there is only one left on Rama IV road. It was also home to many leading
movie theater
A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...
s, currently closed to the business
One interesting thing about this intersection is the location of Tai Sia Huk Chou Shrine, a small old
joss house
Chinese temple architecture refer to a type of structures used as place of worship of Chinese Buddhism, Taoism or Chinese folk religion, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. They can be classified as:
* '' miào'' () or ''di ...
on Rama IV road, the only one shrine dedicated to
Sun Wukong
The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...
in this area (Chinatown).
References
{{reflist
Neighbourhoods of Bangkok
Samphanthawong district
Pom Prap Sattru Phai district
Road junctions in Bangkok