Sam Yan ( th, สามย่าน, ) is the name of an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, thei ...

and its nearby neighbourhood in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. It connects

Rama IV Road Rama IV Road ( th, ถนนพระรามที่ 4, ; usually shortened to , ) is a main road in Bangkok, Thailand. It starts at Mo Mi Junction in the area of Bangkok's Chinatown in Samphanthawong and Pom Prap Sattru Phai Districts and ...

with Phaya Thai and Si Phraya roads, and is located within

Pathum Wan District Pathum Wan ( th, ปทุมวัน, ) is one of the fifty districts (''khet'') of Bangkok, Thailand. It lies just beyond the old city boundary of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, and was a rural area on the eastern outskirts of the city when roy ...

, next to its border with Bang Rak. The neighbourhood lies in the intersection's northwest corner on land owned by

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU, th, จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, ), nicknamed Chula ( th, จุฬาฯ), is a public and autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally fo ...

, and is famous for its restaurants.

Location

Sam Yan Intersection is where Rama IV (which runs in a roughly east-west direction) meets

Phaya Thai Road Phaya Thai Road ( th, ถนนพญาไท, , ) is a major road in Bangkok, Thailand. It begins at the south side of Victory Monument in Ratchathewi District and continues until Sam Yan Intersection in Pathum Wan District, where it inters ...

to the north and Si Phraya Road to the southwest. Originally consisting only of an

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections ...

, the Thai–Japan Flyover Bridge, constructed in 1992, now allows Rama IV traffic to bypass Sam Yan, as well as the eastward

Henri Dunant Henry Dunant (born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 182830 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, and social activist. He was the visionary, promoter, and co-founder of the Red Cross. In 1901, he received the ...

and Sala Daeng intersections. The intersection area is served by the

Sam Yan Station Sam Yan station ( th, สถานีสามย่าน, ) is a Bangkok MRT rapid transit station on the Blue Line, located underground between Sam Yan intersection on Rama IV Road near Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. Nearb ...

of the MRT, which connects to the Chamchuri Square complex and Samyan Mitrtown in the intersections' northeastern and northwestern corners, respectively. Wat Hua Lamphong sits on the intersection's southeastern corner, while the large

campus of Chulalongkorn University The campus of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok occupies an area of in the city centre's Pathum Wan District. It accounts for just over half of the of land owned by the university, the rest of which is commercially developed or used by other ...

lies alongside Phaya Thai Road to the north of the intersection. Tai Sia Huk Chou Shrine, a white Chinese shrine dedicated to

Sun Wukong The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...

is on Phaya Thai Road front of Chamchuri Square.

History

The neighbourhood known as Sam Yan lies in the northwest corner of the intersection. The university began developing the area's real estate for rent in 1963, and until the late 2000s, the neighbourhood consisted of various

shophouse A shophouse is a building type serving both as a residence and a commercial business. It is defined in dictionary as a building type found in Southeast Asia that is "a shop opening on to the pavement and also used as the owner's residence", a ...

s which held many well-known restaurants. At the heart of the neighbourhood was Sam Yan Market, a permanent foodstuff marketplace established in 1965, whose cheap upstairs restaurants were popular with students. In 2008 the university, which owns and manages the area's real estate through its Office of Property Management, began work on development plans which required the demolition of old establishments at the immediate intersection. Sam Yan Market was relocated a few hundred metres away to the northwest nearer

Suphachalasai Stadium The National Stadium of Thailand ( th, สนามกีฬาแห่งชาติ or กรีฑาสถานแห่งชาติ) is a sports complex located in Pathum Wan District, Bangkok. Founded in 1937 with the construction of ...

, and most shop owners followed. The plot of land was finally developed into the Samyan Mitrtown mixed-use project by Golden Land Property Development, and opened in 2019. The name "Sam Yan" can be translated as "three quarters", probably referring to the meeting point of the three roads. Sam Yan, together with the adjacent Suan Luang neighbourhood (also on university land), continues to be well known as a gastronomic destination. Sam Yan, together with Suan Luang, was named the "coolest neighbourhood" in Bangkok by '' Time Out'' magazine in 2020.

References

{{Chulalongkorn University Neighbourhoods of Bangkok Road junctions in Bangkok Property Management of Chulalongkorn University Pathum Wan district