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Sathon

สาทร
Sathon สาทร
District
	Wat Yannawa, a temple in Sathon with a pagoda shaped like a Chinese junk
	District location in Bangkok
	Coordinates: 13°42′29″N 100°31′35″E / 13.70806°N 100.52639°E
Country	Thailand
Province	Bangkok
Seat	Thung Wat Don
Khwaeng	3
District established	9 November 1989
Area
• Total	9.326 km2 (3.601 sq mi)
Population (2017)
• Total	79,624
• Density	8,537.85/km2 (22,112.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+7 (ICT)
Postal code	10120
Geocode	1028

Sathon or Sathorn (Thai: สาทร, pronounced [sǎː.tʰɔ̄ːn]) is one of the 50 districts (khet) of Bangkok, Thailand. The district is bounded by six other districts (from north clockwise): Bang Rak, Pathum Wan, Khlong Toei, Yan Nawa, Bang Kho Laem, and Khlong San (across the Chao Phraya River).

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 three khwaeng of Yan Nawa. And then on 9 November 1989, the Sathon district was established inheriting the area once served by the branch office.

The district is named after Sathon Road and Khlong Sathon. Khlong Sathon, the older of the two, is a canal (khlong) 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 his accomplishment.^[2] Both sides of the canal later became Sathon Road. Incorrect Thai spelling for Sathon สาธร had been used for very long time, but it was corrected in April 1999. His former house is now Sathon Mansion in Bang Rak District.

Administration

The district is divided into three sub-districts (khwaeng).

No.	Name	Thai	Area (km²)
1.	Thung Wat Don	ทุ่งวัดดอน	3.195
2.	Yan Nawa	ยานนาวา	2.090
3.	Thung Maha Mek	ทุ่งมหาเมฆ	4.041
Total			9.326

The Department of Airports of Thailand is headquartered in Sathon,^[3] as was its predecessor, the Department of Civil Aviation.^[4]

Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AEROTHAI) and Bangkok Dock Company, the state enterprises under the Ministry of Transport also based in the district.

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.

Places

San Chao Mae Brahma Met

Soi Wanglee

Wat Yannawa (วัดยานนาวา), a temple dating 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 the Ayutthaya Kingdom and Wat Kok Krabue (วัดคอกกระบือ) during the Thonburi and early-Bangkok eras before the construction of the chedi.

Wat Don (วัดดอน) was built in 1797 during the King Rama I period by people who immigrated from Tavoy, Myanmar. The name Wat Don is equally well known for the Wat Don Cemetery not far away. The graveyard contains the remains of people of Chinese heritage. In the past, it was rumored to be a haunted place.^[5] Next to the cemetery is Wat Prok (วัดปรก), a Mon-styled Buddhist temple.

Hindu Dharma Sabha Association (สมาคมฮินดูธรรมสภา), also better known as Wat Vishnu (วัดวิษณุ) is one of Bangkok's oldest and most prominent Hindu temples apart from Sri Mahamariamman Temple in Bang Rak and Devasathan in Phra Nakhon. It is a temple in Vaishnavism established in 1920, considered as the only temple that enshrined the idol of all the major Hindu gods. Located in the same alley of Wat Prok.^[6]

Saint Louis Church, or locally known as Wat Saint Louis (วัดเซนต์หลุยส์) is the only Catholic church on the side of Sathon Road. It was named in honour of Saint Louis.

San Chao Mae Brahma Met (ศาลเจ้าแม่พรหมเมศ) is a Chinese joss house of Teochew on Charoen Krung Road near Sathon Bridge and Wat Yannawa, originally it was located at the mouth of Khlong Sathon. But later, when Sathon Bridge was built, it moved into the present location. Next to the shrine is Soi Wanglee (ซอยหวั่งหลี), a traditional community in the part of commercial district from Chinese junk to the steamboat periods. This area was originally filled with docks, various rice mills and also the location of the Chinese port to transport goods and passengers to Singapore, Hong Kong, Shantou, Hainan etc. All of which are joint ventures of Chinese-Thai businessmen during King Chulalongkorn's reign, but later they had conflicts. In the end, they were sold to the Wanglee family. Currently, this community no longer exists, it turned out to be just a wasteland beside Wat Yannawa.^[7]