PRATU PHI (SAMRAN RAT INTERSECTION)

Ever wondered why the area around Samran Rat intersection has always been referred to as “Pratu Phi” (Ghost Gate) among Thais? Located in the old town between Bamrung Mueang Road and Thanon Maha Chai Road, the area is known for late-night food — think big names like Jay Fai and Pad Thai Pratu Phi. But if you dig deep into its past, it is easy to understand why the area has such a spooky name. In the early Rattanakosin era, King Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I) had ordered the construction of city walls, gates and fortifications around the city to protect it. Attached on all the gates were holy amulets that helped to ward off evil spirits from entering the inner city, except on the west-facing gate that was used solely for carrying out the dead from the city, since bodies were not allowed to be cremated within city walls.

Today, Samran Rat Intersection sits where the gate used to be. Between the reigns of

Rama I and Rama V, a cholera pandemic wreaked havoc in the city, resulting in a great deal of death. Each day, hundreds of bodies were carried out through that one gate to Wat Saket, where bodies were thrown into a large pit. The corpses were arriving in such unprecedented numbers that the temple’s crematorium could not burn them fast enough. While they lay rotting awaiting cremation, vultures descended on the dead and fed on the rotting flesh. If you are curious to see what that might look like, the internet can provide numerous gory images, but you may find it more interesting to head over to Wat Saket, to see wax vultures feasting on dead bodies, which are on display in the temple’s garden. Today, thanks to the street food scene, there is not so much a “ghostly” feel in the area at nightfall, despite its grisly history. Imagine walking through Pratu Phi in darkness, without all the food stalls...