Traditional Thai Teak House

There is something subtly exotic about wood. No other substance seems to mature in the same way, changing it's texture and smell in a second life that defies life's normal rhythm.

The traditional Thai teak house represent a style of living that is almost absent from Bangkok these days - with citywide modernisation, it is hard to find older houses that are still in use.

Villages such as Lampang in the North, featuring predominantly teak houses, are becoming more and more rare as people switch to modern building materials.

Built around the concept of simplicity, Thai stilt houses were the functional solution to a hot climate in the days before air-conditioning.

The gap between the floor and ground enables a cool breeze to to naturally ventilate the entire house, and the open window style still in practice today further aids this process.

Building with native teakwood gave the houses a natural beauty that is still imitated in today's architecture (think of the sweeping, upturned eaves of many Thai roofs.)

Prized for it's durability and attractive finish, teak has been logged almost to the point of extinction, and the magnificent trees (sometimes reaching 50m in height) are today rarely found outside dedicated plantations.

However, there remain some people trying to revive the traditions of teak workmanship, incorporating it into new homes and proving that old materials can be re-used with stunning effect.

In the heart of the Taling Chan district lies a canal that seems entirely detached from the regular bustle of city life, yet connected to the rest of the klongs that form the city's ancient corollaries.

I am introduced to this world by Kanya, a masseuse currently overseeing the production of a new home with her husband Yan. She leads me along the narrow path by the canal and I soak up the atmosphere of a quiet backwater entirely different from the Bangkok I am used to.

Across from us sits a magnificent example of wooden architecture, an obviously new house by the water's edge surrounded by palm fronds.

Kanya explains that this has been built with the express purpose of being a party house, and I feel a pang of jealousy for their frivolously beautiful enterprise.

Just back from the canal's edge sits her house, an obvious labour of love that sits next to her sister's, also being built with an eye for past wooden beauty.

While the ground floor retains some modern materials, the upper floor is furnished with a stunning mix of old teak boards and ornately carved pine shutters, the darker wood setting off the light to beautiful effect.

Inside the house the smells of wood craftsmanship pervade the rooms, and there is a feeling of inherent age that is difficult to achieve in new properties.

The main room upstairs stretches the breadth of the house, overlooking a patch of genuine wilderness that teems with life, and I'm pleased to hear they have no plans to get rid of it. "We wouldn't want to lose the birdsong" explains Kanya.

Throughout the house, we walk on gigantic beams that have the solid, immovable quality of wood that has been in existence for a great deal of time; "100 years old, maybe more" she says proudly.

Taken together, the ancient wood and the laid back pace of the canal provide an intoxicating mix that would likely tempt even a die-hard village-dweller to consider city life.

My Taling Chan visit has reminded me that Bangkok is a city of many faces, where the old can sometimes lie comfortably beside the new (without complaining about the price of milk these days.)

And while the building of super-malls with concrete and steel continues apace in Bangkok, there are signs that the traditional is also making a comeback, with interest in attractions such as Vimanmek mansion (a gigantic teak house made exclusively with teak - no nails!) and Jim Thompson's house on the rise.

It seems that there are also a number of people who are willing to sacrifice convenience for beauty in building of their own Thai homes, as the growing number of teak queries for 'traditional thai teak wood homestay Bangkok' posted online show.

A trip along the Chao Phraya shows a great deal about the city's character, from individual riverside lives to gigantic trade barges, peaceful restaurants to stunning Wats best seen by boat.

But a surprising part of this journey are the properties that have fallen by the wayside of development, beautiful teak houses left abandoned by their owners that have the potential to be truly amazing locations.

With all the development occurring along the riverbanks, it is a shock to see such treasures lying idle, and if Thailand is to maintain it's heritage this would surely be a good place to start. After all, a teak house party by the river is not to be sniffed at...

The Taling Chan house featured is available for long and short term rents - just search google or contact me for a link

Published on 1/15/07