Samre ( th, สำเหร่, ), also spelled Sam Re and Samray, is a subdistrict (''
khwaeng
A ''khwaeng'' (, ) is an administrative subdivision used in the fifty districts of Bangkok and a few other city municipalities in Thailand. Currently, there are 180 ''khwaeng'' in Bangkok. A ''khwaeng'' is roughly equivalent to a ''tambon'' in othe ...
'') of
Thon Buri District, Bangkok, Thailand. It is also the name of a neighbourhood around the area.
History
The word ''samre'' is a name for the plant ''
Malabar melastome
Malabar may refer to the following:
People
* Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India
* Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion
Places
* Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...
'' (also known as ''khlongkhleng''), which probably used to grow in abundance in the area, leading the neighbourhood to be known by the name. It was also the name of a Buddhist temple (''
wat'') in the area, Wat Samre, believed to have been built around 1717 and now known as Wat Ratchawarin.
Samre used to be a site of public executions during the late seventeenth to early eighteenth centuries, where prisoners were beheaded and their heads set on spikes by the riverside. It was a place locals feared to be heavily haunted, and is described as such in ''Nirat Thalang'', a travel poem written c. 1815–1816 by Muen Phromsomphatson, a student of
Sunthorn Phu
Phra Sunthorn Vohara (Phu) ( th, พระสุนทรโวหาร (ภู่), , ; 26 June 1786 – 1855), known as Sunthorn Phu ( th, สุนทรภู่, , ), is Thailand's best-known royal poet. He wrote during the Rattanakosin pe ...
.
In the 1850s, a plot of land in the area was purchased by American missionary
Stephen Mattoon, and it became the location of the
First Presbyterian Church, Samray as well as
Samray Boys' School
Bangkok Christian College (BCC)( th, โรงเรียนกรุงเทพคริสเตียนวิทยาลัย) is a private boys' school in the financial district of Si Lom, Bangkok. The school has a longstanding reputation ...
, the country's first formal school.
Geography
Samre is in the southeastern corner of
Thon Buri District.
Samre is bounded by other subdistricts (from north clockwise):
Bang Yi Ruea in its district (Krung Thonburi Road is a borderline),
Bang Lamphu Lang
Bang Lamphu Lang ( th, บางลำภูล่าง, ) is a ''khwaeng'' (subdistrict) of Khlong San district, Bangkok's Thonburi side (west bank of Chao Phraya river).
History
Originally, Bang Lamphu Lang was a name of all Khlong San area. I ...
in
Khlong San District (Khlong Bang Sai Kai is a borderline),
Wat Phraya Krai and Bang Kho Laem in
Bang Kho Laem District
Bang Kho Laem ( th, บางคอแหลม, ) is one of the 50 districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. The incumbent district officer is Samita Xanthavanij. The district is bounded by (clockwise from north) Sathon, Yannawa, and across th ...
with
Dao Khanong
Dao Khanong ( th, ดาวคะนอง, also spelled: ดาวคนอง; ) is a ''khwaeng'' (sub-district) of Thon Buri district, Bangkok's Thonburi side. It is also the name of the surrounding area.
History and etymology
''Dao Khanong'' ...
in its district (
Chao Phraya River
The Chao Phraya ( or ; th, แม่น้ำเจ้าพระยา, , or ) is the major river in Thailand, with its low alluvial plain forming the centre of the country. It flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand.
Et ...
and
Mahaisawan Road 250px, Krungthep bridge carry the Mahai Sawan road across Chao Phraya River from Thonburi (west bank) to Phra Nakhon sides (east bank)
Mahai Sawan Road ( th, ถนนมไหสวรรย์, , ) is a short road and intersection in Bangkok. It ...
are the borderlines),
Bukkhalo in its district (Somdet Phra Chao Tak Sin Road is a borderline).
Places
*First Presbyterian Church, Samray
*Samre Police Station
*Bukkhalo Police Station
*Samre Post Office
*Wat Bang Nam Chon
*
Samitivej Thonburi Hospital (formerly Krungdhon 1 Hospital)
*
Rama III Bridge (New Krungthep Bridge, Krungthep 2 Bridge)
The local temple Wat Samre, or Wat Ratchawarin, indeed, it is located in the area of neighbouring Bukkhalo.
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References
{{Coord, 13, 42, 34.6, N, 100, 29, 29.44, E, region:TH_type:landmark, display=title
Neighbourhoods of Bangkok
Subdistricts of Bangkok
Thon Buri district