Let's Show the World how Beautiful Bangkok is …
Let's Show the World how Beautiful Bangkok is …

Sathon (สาทร)

Area 9.326 km2 (3.601 sq mi)

Population 83,898

 

History

Sathon district was once part of Yan Nawa. Due to its large area and population, first, a branch district office of Yan Nawa was set up on 9 March 1989 to serve the people in 3 Khwaeng of Yan Nawa. And then on 9 November 1989, the Sathon district is established inheriting the area once served by the branch office.

The district is named after the Sathon Road and Khlong Sathon. Khlong Sathon, the older of the two, is a canal dug for public transportation by a Chinese company. The Chinese owner was later granted the name Luang Sathon Racha Yut (หลวงสาทรราชายุตก์) by King Chulalongkorn for her accomplishment. Along both sides of the canal later became Sathon Road. Incorrect Thai spelling for Sathon สาธร had been used for a very long time but it has been corrected since April 1999.

Sathon Road

Sathon Road marks the northern boundary of the district, with the southern lane of the road belonging to Sathon district and the northern lane across the Sathon canal belonging to Bang Rak.

Along Sathon Road, there are many up-scale hotels, the famous "Robot Building", Saint Louis Hospital (and church, and school), the Apostolic Nunciature of The Holy See, and the Blue Elephant cooking school.

Temples

Wat Yan Nawa (วัดยานนาวา), an old temple dated back to the Ayutthaya period, is probably the best-known temple in Sathon. It has a unique junk shaped chedi and viharn built by King Rama III. The idea behind the construction was that Chinese junk was quickly disappearing and the pagoda should show present descendants what it looked like. The temple was known as Wat Kok Khwai (วัดคอกควาย) during Ayuthaya kingdom and Wat Kok Krabue (วัดคอกกระบือ) during Thonburi and early Bangkok era before the construction of the chedi.

Wat Don (วัดดอน) is another old temple built in 1797 during Rama I period by people who immigrated here from Tavoy, Myanmar. But the name Wat Don is equally well known for the Wat Don Cemetery not far away. The graveyard contains buried remains of people of Chinese heritage. Next to the cemetery is Wat Prok (วัดปรก), a Mon-style Buddhist temple.