Giant Swing (Sao Ching Cha)

The Giant Swing is a towering red frame of teak that rises about 21 m over a busy square in Bangkok’s old royal quarter. Two tall pillars are joined by a carved crossbeam at the top, but there is no seat: the swing itself has not been used for almost a century, and the frame now stands as a monument.

It sits directly in front of Wat Suthat, and the pairing of the red pillars with the temple’s tiered roofs behind is one of the best-known views in old Bangkok. The square is a traffic island ringed by shophouses selling Buddha images, altar furniture and other religious goods, so the walk here takes in a slice of the neighbourhood’s working life. The Tiger God Shrine is a short stroll away, and Democracy Monument and Wat Saket (the Golden Mount) are both within easy walking distance.

Photographers come in the late afternoon, and once a year, usually in early March, the setting sun lines up with the centre of the frame.

King Rama I raised the swing in 1784, two years after founding his new capital, in front of the Devasathan, the royal Brahmin shrine that still stands beside the square. It served the Triyampawai, a Brahmin festival honouring Shiva that was held at the turn of the year.

The highlight of the rite was a feat of daring. Teams of young men rode the swing in ever wider arcs, straining to snatch a bag of coins tied to a tall pole. Falls were sometimes fatal, and after a run of deaths the swinging was stopped for good in 1935.

The frame was moved a short distance to its present site in 1920. Weather and age took their toll on the timber, and the swing was completely rebuilt from six huge teak trunks between 2005 and 2006, then rededicated in a royal ceremony in 2007. Pieces of the old frame are preserved at the Bangkok National Museum. The Brahmin priests of the Devasathan still hold the Triyampawai at their shrine each year, without the swinging.