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In Ari Culture

“Fortress of Sanam Pao”, the design concept behind TMB branch

6 Mins Read

This is a translated article from a Thai article, (ป้อมปราการแห่งสนามเป้า (ธนาคารทหารไทย สาขาสนามเป้า)-The Fortress of Sanam Pao (Sanam Pao branch of Thai Military Bank (TMB)) by AriAround’s interview with Chachawal Pringpuangkeo, the great mind behind Design 103 International as he opened up to us that he took inspiration from the word ‘Ministry of Defense.’

Text & Photo By Napat Charitbutra / Translated by Your Neighbor Ari

The 80s Modern

I must admit that I was worried when I heard about a large mixed-use development project being built nearby; I was afraid that this old-fashioned, white building, like many other modern-era buildings in Bangkok, wouldn’t survive the wrecking ball.

My parents can recall that when they were teens, the construction site of this building was hidden from public view by a patchwork of tin sheets. The Thai Military Bank, Sanam Pao Branch was built in 1975. It was originally designed with a raw concrete finish, then later was later painted white. The building has been in use for 47 years. This was back in the days of the old Thai Military Bank logo before being rebranded to the TMB that we know today (which was recently merged with Thanachart Bank and is now called TTB).

Sanam Pao , 1 of the first 34 branches of TMB in Thailand

Back in 1975 when this building was built, the Thai Military Bank was handling a crisis of a lack of trust from the Thai people. At this time political turmoil in the cabinet allowed government bureaucrats to withdraw large amounts of money from the bank, and there was bad publicity from the infamous 14th October Student Massacre. This forced the Thai Military Bank to put more emphasis on the ordinary people rather than the ‘big money bags’ like before.

The young prefer Krungthep Bank, and the old prefer Siam Commercial Bank, and the working class have never even heard of Thai Military Bank

From the public relations of Thai Military Bank ltd. (1984)

All of this led to an enormous public image overhaul, of which the slogan “Thai Military Bank: bank for the people” was created. As the Bank’s revenue started to improve gradually, the bank expanded until it had 34 new branches nationwide in 1976. In 1975, the Sanam Pao branch opened for business and became one of the first 34 branches.

สถาปัตยกรรม ดีไซน์ 103 จำกัด Design 103 International

The Fortress of Sanam Pao

The concept sounds comical, but this is what Chachawal Pringpuangkeo. the founder of architectural firm Design 103 Ltd. (now Design 103 International), had in mind when he opened up to AriAround.

Sanam Pao is where the military base is located and this is a military bank. The keyword I came up with was the Ministry of Defense. The word ‘Defense’ was there so it had to be a fortress

Chachawal Pringpuangkeo

Around 50 years ago, in 1973, Chachawal Pringpuangkeo, a young blood architect who worked with foreign architectural firms like Louis Berger, was introduced by Colonel Kris Sivara, the commander in chief of the army and the chairman of Thai Military Bank to Sukhum Nawapan, the bank manager. “I told him about your concept and he liked it right away”.

Design 103 Ltd. designed more than one branch of TMB but no other branch looks like the one in Sanam Pao. “The key word Defense is solid. You can see the idea in there”. Pringpuangkeo said.

That explains the fortification-like appearance of this stand-alone bank building. He told AriAround that on the site back in 1974, there was nothing. “Nothing but rice fields, it was way out of town around here”. If you take a look at the windows, they are holed up deep inside the building like a bunker, the same idea goes to explain the flat roof.

The main requirement that the designer was given from the bank was safety. Put simply, no one should be able to break into the bank. “It’s quite straightforward. It’s much harder to break through a flat-roof than a traditional tile roof”. Pringpuangkeo continued to explain the rough surface finishing; it is made of wooden concrete mold. Once the wooden mold was removed, they’d give it some knocks with a hammer on the concrete surface to create a rough, fortification look.

Corrugated Concrete

Apart from the functional explanation, raw corrugated concrete was part of an architectural movement in this era. A senior architect told AriAround that about 40 years ago, the raw concrete surface was a very challenging task, but many architects were always up for the challenge.

This was influenced by architectural masters like Le Corbusier (1887-1965), Walter Gropius (1883-1969), and Paul Rudolph (1918-1997). “Back then, any emerging Thai architect freshly graduated abroad would love to test their skill in their hometown”. The senior architect shared with us further that smooth raw concrete surfaces were hard to achieve. It’s easy to end up with unpolished or stained-looking walls after the project is done. The smart resolution to avoid this is the corrugated surface. A good example of this is the Building of Chulalongkorn University Alumni Association Under the Patronage of His Majesty the King Chulalongkorn University Alumni Associations building designed by Jane Sakolthanarak (the architect behind the unique Building 5 of Prasarnmit Hospital)

(Sanam Pao branch) The Bank for the wealthy military families in Ari

Take a guess, who would open an account in TMB Sanam Pao Branch back in the day? If you have no idea, take a walk across the street to Soi Ratchakru and there you’ll see the answer.

As many of you may know, Ari is a neighborhood made up mostly of high-ranking military officers. The branch is located at the center of where the bank’s target group lives. It’s also next to The Royal Chivalry Army (Sanam Pao), the 1st infantry regiment base (where Prayuth lives) and most importantly, it was opposite Soi Ratchakru where Chatchai Choonhavan, former prime minister at that time lived.

The bank’s most important clients all lived just around the corner

ธนาคารทหารไทย สาขาสนามเป้า ออกแบบโดย บริษัท ดีไซน์ 103 จำกัด Thai Military Bank TMB sanam pao — The Thai Military Bank Sanam Pao branch, designed by Design 103 (at the time), was awarded Best Architecture by the Siam Associations of Architects Under Royal Patronage

บริเวณด้านหน้าธนาคาร ที่มีการก่อสร้างอาคาร ธนาคารทหารไทย Thai Military Bank TMB sanam pao — The front of the building where the office construction site is

All photos courtesy of AriAround please contact AriAround for permission to use the photos

Reference:

การประชาสัมพันธ์ เพื่อการสร้างภาพพจน์ของธนาคารทหารไทย จำกัด (2527) โดย สุรางค์ กุศลนำสนอง
สื่อเพื่อการประชาสัมพันธ์ ของธนาคารทหารไทย จำกัด (2526) โดย ชลธิชา ตั้งใจในธรรม

In Ari Culture

Is Ari Getting Too Expensive?

5 Mins Read

You might have heard your Thai friends talking about the increase in the price of pork earlier this year. Caused by African swine fever, the higher pork price created higher demands on other meat products resulting in increased prices on most menus. You may have noticed prices on menus being overwritten on bits of masking tape all over Ari. I’m not sure if the swine flu is gone now, but those inflated price tags sure don’t seem to be going back down but rather more expensive.

These days, we start packing up at 10 pm – no reason to waste the gas to heat the pot. And things are so expensive these days, which cuts into our profit. Same as everything else. Prices seem only to have gone up and up in the past few years.
Joom, Night Noodle Stall, Opposite Noble Reform

Can middle-income people still live in Ari? is it too Expensive?

Most of the people who are affected by this are street food vendors and street food dependents like me. Generally speaking, by “like me”, I mean, urbanized people, first-generation educated families who fork out to go to work on the BTS and pay 8,000 baht in rent as the cheapest place they can afford in Ari. This higher cost of living means having less to no disposable income. For some people, living here makes them steadily poorer.

No, it’s not an exaggeration. In 2020, the Bank of Thailand revealed that 86.59% of Thai citizens had less than 50k baht in their accounts. What surprises me is the fact every time I hear there’s a new condo development around here, a sweeping 40-60% of the units are sold within the first day. It’s like this country can’t make its mind up if the economy is good or bad.

It’s the 86.59% that have been told that to achieve a decent living, they have to work hard to own or rent these properties near BTS stations. And, it’s the same group of people that let out a sigh of despair when they see the prices of food, rent, and travel going up yet again.

I was born and raised in Soi Phiboon Wattana, Thailand’s first-ever housing estate. It was developed in 1956 as a residential project for the nearby government workers. That’s why my grandad was able to buy this piece of land with a 2-storey wooden Thai house.
Bo, Researcher

You may already know that Ari was once a remote residential area peacefully inhabited by old money. The house owners (and their offspring) often tell me that, unlike other neighborhoods, the more well-off original Ari-ians are not taking the bait to sell off their lands, and thus are holding off Ari from being swiftly gentrified. Bangkok Metropolitan Land Office appraises the land value in Phahol 7 at 150K baht per 4 sqm. So you’ll need around 6 million baht to buy a piece of land to build a 160 sqm house in Ari neighborhood, is it expensive? Clearly, not something a person with less than 50k in their bank account would do.

That leaves only the big corporations to buy up these properties for development. Time changes and the economy changes, the old money loses its land. Big houses are replaced with high rises with 800+ units. Never mind the more crowded streets, it’s their income that matters. People who can afford 40k rent wouldn’t mind if the street food price has gone up from 40 to 80 baht. They might even demand a restaurant that caters to 400 baht per meal, as an extreme example.

Is Ari missing something?

About a week ago I posted a question on Facebook asking for suggestions as to what facilities Ari needed. Many answers cried out for parks and recreational space, which is something that is lacking in every neighborhood in Bangkok, anyway.

While living in a green neighborhood full of parks would be my dream come true, one harsh truth about creating public spaces is that they increase the value of the land. I’m not an expert, but what comes with a better quality of life is a higher price tag and that drives away people who can’t afford it. Maybe we need parks that are designed for everyone. Not instagrammable parks, but ones that are designed for everybody, so that a motorcycle taxi rider can rest in the shade and a 28-YO advertising creative can hang out in the same space.

Ari is great for cafe-hopping and Instagramming, but beyond that, there’s not that much to do here.
Om, Owner Of Hor Hidden Cafe

For me, gentrification isn’t simply about a city being developed or houses being knocked down. It’s about income disparity, which I think can be both positively and negatively affected by projects initiated by city offices. By understanding this cause-effect, we might hope that public spending may lessen this divide. We have seen it before in other countries in the world. Maybe it’s not unrealistic to expect the Bangkok office to tackle gentrification for the first time?

In Ari Culture

Behind This Blue Door

4 Mins Read

Just a quick hop over the wall from Gump’s, the young, upbeat, and most Instagrammed mall in Ari, a house covered entirely by trees. It’s impossible to tell what this place is from the front. The only thing that can be seen is an old blue wooden gate. You might notice it because this gateway has now become an unofficial parking spot for delivery riders taking orders from Gump’s. Hardly anyone knows what this mysterious place is. In fact, most people don’t even notice the gate at all. This is Puey Ungphakorn ‘s residence.

In Ari Culture

Sena Ruam: A ghost BTS Station that you have to pay for it.

5 Mins Read

I wish I had told you a mysterious ‘X-Files’ type of story, but I’m not. Ghouls and sprites do not haunt this ghost station. Rather it’s an infuriating story of (your) wasted money. I will tell you about the never-constructed ‘ghost’ BTS Skytrain station of Sena Ruam and how this invisible train station has been shamelessly draining money out of your pockets. Not a ghost station in the traditional sense, but some pretty scary facts, nonetheless.