Si Lom

Si Lom Road (also written as Silom, , ) is a major street in the Thai capital Bangkok, best known for its commercial neighbourhood, which, along with the nearby and roughly parallel Sathon Road, forms one of the city's main business districts. It runs in a southwest–northeast direction between Charoen Krung and Rama IV roads in the city's Bang Rak District, forming the boundary between Suriyawong Subdistrict to its north and Si Lom Subdistrict to its south. Si Lom was one of the earliest modern roads to be built in the city, and some of its side streets serve historic ethnic neighbourhoods from the late nineteenth century, while others are known as shopping and nightlife venues. History In the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV, 1851–1868), Siam (as Thailand was then known) began modernizing and opening up to the West. Major roads were first built in Bangkok, with Thanon Trong (what is now Rama IV Road) built together with a canal in 1857, followed by Charoen Krung Road (popularly considered the first modern road in the country) in 1862, both in response to requests by Western consuls and merchants. Around the same time, the King had a canal dug from the French Consulate to the canal of Thanon Trong, linking the latter to the Chao Phraya River via the existing Bang Rak Canal. The dredged earth was used to build a road, running alongside the canal on its southern bank and linking Charoen Krung and Trong roads. The King also solicited contributions from wealthy property owners, who helped build bridges over canals crossed by the road. The new canal and road were initially known as Khlong Khwang and Thanon Khwang ('crossing canal'/'crossing road'). They later became known as Si Lom, which literally translates as windmill, probably from a windmill erected in the area by a Western entrepreneur; the road was referred to as Windmill Road in English-language sources until the 1930s.