Bamrungchat Satsana Yathai or Baan Mowaan
The Bamrungchat Satsana Yathai Building, also known as Baan Mowaan, was constructed in 1924 (B.E. 2467). It is a three-storey shophouse of mixed masonry and timber construction, designed in a Colonial Sino-Portuguese style. Based on its architectural form and decorative stucco details, the building is believed to have been designed by an Italian architect who served in Siam during the reign of King Rama VI. The original owner of the building was Dr. Waan Rodmuang , a traditional Thai medicine practitioner who lived during the reigns of King Rama V to King Rama VIII.
The ground floor of the building resembles Western-style pharmacies that appeared in Bangkok and Singapore during that period. It features carved wooden doors and numerous windows or glass panels designed for the display of products and medicinal formulas offered for sale. Inside, a central counter separates the pharmacist from customers, with a weighing scale placed atop the counter for dispensing medicines.
Behind the counter stands a carved wooden cabinet with clear glass panels, revealing medicine bottles—many of which were imported from Western countries but filled with traditional Thai remedies. Some bottles contain chemical substances, extracts, or Western pharmaceutical preparations. In addition, the space displays a range of medical instruments from both traditional Thai and Western practices. These include pill grinders, grinding stones, decoction pots, mortars, and pill-rolling trays used in the preparation of Thai medicines, as well as stethoscopes, beakers, pipettes, test tubes, alcohol lamps, and distillation apparatus used by Western physicians or pharmacists.
Behind the counter stands a carved wooden cabinet containing glass bottles filled with the medicines offered for sale.
The second floor of the building serves as a storage area for herbal medicinal ingredients. Both the second and third floors feature spacious balconies. As the building was constructed to occupy the full plot, the architectural design makes functional use of these balconies as drying areas for medicines, which require broad exposure to sunlight.
The balconies on the second and third floors are used as drying areas for medicinal preparations.
The Bamrungchat Satsana Yathai Building has undergone several restorations, the most recent in 2009 (B.E. 2552). The restoration aimed to preserve the building’s original condition and interior décor as faithfully as possible to the period when Mowaan Rodmuang was still alive, in order to reflect the way of life of traditional Thai physicians and Thai pharmacies during the late reign of King Rama VI.
Awards Received:
2014 (B.E. 2557):
Outstanding Architectural Conservation Award (Commercial Building Category)
from the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage.
Outstanding Architectural Conservation Award (Commercial Building Category)
from the Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage.
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*Image Source: Bamrungchat Satsana Yathai Building — Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage