Tucked deep in the cramped lanes of Chinatown, the Leng Buai Ia Shrine is widely held to be the oldest Chinese shrine in Thailand, with an inscription dating its founding to the 1650s, long before Bangkok itself existed. Dedicated to a Teochew guardian deity and his consort, it is a working temple thick with incense and the quiet devotion of the local Chinese community.
Its elaborately carved and gilded altars, blackened by centuries of smoke, reward those willing to wander off Yaowarat Road to find it. The shrine offers a glimpse of the deep roots the Chinese community has put down in the city over nearly four centuries.