Have a good evening everyone! :)
Not much to show you.....yet but the plans for the inside of the shop are getting more and more precise. You were right, I chose the Chinese pharmacy among all the other shops. Now I have to draw blue prints and find the right wood. So many drawers to do...
Only one picture today, the Chinese lanterns glow in the dark now! A bit creepy, yes, I know...!

Visit to Samchuk market

Hello everyone :)
Last week, my students and I went to Samchuk, a small city about 50 km from Lopburi (where I live). There's not much to do in Samchuk but there is a fabulous old market. Most shops haven't changed since the 1920's,  I think.
In 4 or 5 lanes, old shops follow one another and it's like visting Thailand 90 years ago but don't get me wrong, it's not a museum, people live and work there.
They were about to pull all these shops down to build a new market when one of the daughters of the King of Thailand, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, insisted that this market should be kept in its original state as a testimony for the future generation.
I wanted to share some of the pictures I took there. Since I like to work on my project from real pictures, these will be very helpful.
Let's start with the pharmacy where a lovely Thai old woman explained this pharmacy had been opened by her grandfather.

Like in most Chinese shops, the ancestors'photographs are on display on the walls, from left to right, the woman's Chinese grand parents, her father and her late husband.

The different pots and jars contain  herbs and powders

I don't know what this strange tool was used for, maybe to cut herbs..

On the counter, the scale she uses to weigh plants and an abacus which are still often seen in old Chinese shops.

Each drawers contain plants that are still used in Chinese medicine. The pharmacist will weigh each plant and prepare the remedies.

Funny figure of a Chinese athlete in porcelain, very sexy! Was it for advertising? Lovely basket on the counter.

Another shop was the hairdresser's. It was early morning, so the owner wasn't very busy.

and the photographer's shop was incredible with tens of black and white pictures of Thai Chinese families.

The fashion shop.....

The....(I don't know the name in English, sorry!) We would say "le bazar" in French

The tailor's. The owner was sleeping on the left side in the wooden chair. Time had stopped there....

The clock shop, they also sold lamps

All these shops are sheltered in wooden buildings. Owners told me they often live upstairs with their families.

Friendly Thai shopowners posed in front of their food stall. Smoked meat I guess.

That's all for today! I hope you've enjoyed these pictures of an aspect of Thailand that I like

Finished but still empty

Hello,
Sorry for not publishing anything for the last few weeks. Too busy with work, new courses to prepare, seminars to attend, trainings to organize, etc... but today I managed to work and almost finished the shop house.
First, I placed the hinges ( something I don't like to do) then cut the floor for the 2nd floor, finally I painted and aged the side walls. I added two little windows with bars (as they do here) Now time to show you some pictures....

I have bought these lanterns and covered them with red silk paper, they are now equiped with electricity but I think they are too big. What do you think?

Have a great Sunday with your family.

The roof and the side walls are now installed

Morning!
The owners of the Chinese shop have now a roof above their head. It's not painted yet but I'll do that on Monday.

I have to add some windows on the side as usually these houses are built in  a row.

I will find some elements to give life to the facade. Old sposters, incense holders, Chinese lanterns hanging from the awnings...

As you can see, I don't use miniature tools, just regular ones I bought second-hand on my local flea market.

The next step will be to use filler on the walls and find the right kind of roof they have here, tiles or shingles. I think I may have to go back to the location and take more pictures.

and now let me show you some pictures, these are the real ones...

 If I dared, this is what the facade could look like but I'm afraid to go that far, though I admire Mr Ichiyo Haga's work and his reproductions of French shops

 Now about the shop itself. What about this Chinese pharmacy near the Indian quarter of Bangkok?

 Nothing has changed since 1900! It's like a movie set but the difference is that here everything is genuine.

 or this Nouveautes shop? I met the owner, an old man of Indian origin. His father opened the shop in 1910 and everything dates from that date. A real museum. His father's picture is hanging on the wall.

 Now the next step will be to improve the ageing process. I don't know much about cracks... and how to give that look but I'll try. That's a new challenge.

 About the inside... this is how the remodel small shop houses into one big. It would make a nice living room, wouldn't it?

 And to make miniaturists dream, what about this one? That would be a crazy project, wouldn't it?

Have a nice Sunday!

Patrick