Chanthaboon Waterfront

The Chanthaboon riverside community runs about a kilometre along the Chanthaburi river and has been settled for around three hundred years, by Chinese traders, Vietnamese Catholic refugees who came in successive waves from the eighteenth century onward, and, between 1893 and 1905, a French garrison that occupied Chanthaburi during a dispute with Siam over Lao territory. The street shows all of it: Chinese shophouses with carved wooden fronts, Sino-Portuguese facades, French colonial detailing, shrines, and the Catholic cathedral across a footbridge. The community began a conservation programme in the 2000s that has restored a number of buildings and opened a learning house explaining the street's history, and it received a UNESCO Asia-Pacific heritage award for it. Cafes, small shops and homestays occupy some of the buildings; others are ordinary homes. It is quiet on weekdays and busier at weekends.

What you actually see

• The mixed architecture - Chinese, Sino-Portuguese and French detailing along one street.
• The conservation work - restored buildings and the community learning house.
• The three communities - Chinese, Vietnamese Catholic and the French garrison period.
• The riverfront - the Chanthaburi river with the cathedral across the footbridge.

When to go

November to February. Weekdays are quiet with some places shut; weekends bring visitors and more open shops. Two to three hours to walk the street.

Honest expectations

Many buildings are private homes - photographing into them is unwelcome. Weekday closures are common. The street is short and can be walked in an hour without stops. Limited English interpretation.

Nearby

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is across the footbridge; the gem market runs at weekends.