Chum Saeng Old Town

Chum Saeng Old Town is a historic riverside market community in Chum Saeng District, Nakhon Sawan Province, central Thailand, at the confluence of the Nan and Yom Rivers. Known for well-preserved wooden shophouses, Chinese-Thai heritage and early 20th-century commercial architecture, it served as a major river trading port. Today it is noted for street art, preserved storefronts and as a filming location for Thai period dramas.

Visitors can expect a compact, walkable old market area along narrow streets near the Nan River, lined with two-story wooden shophouses, traditional storefronts, shrines and small local shops. The area features colorful street murals depicting local history, preserved facades, riverside views, a morning market, and cafes and food stalls. Exploration is on foot through the historic lanes around Chum Saeng Railway Station and the riverfront.

Chum Saeng developed as a river port and trading settlement at the confluence of the Nan and Yom Rivers, flourishing in the late 19th to early 20th century during the early Rattanakosin period. Chinese immigrants settled and established wooden shophouses and commercial buildings, making it a regional center for rice and goods trade transported by river and later by railway after the Northern Line extension.

The old town reflects Thai-Chinese cultural heritage with traditional shophouses, Chinese shrines, and long-standing merchant families. It preserves the commercial and community lifestyle of a central Thai river market town and is recognized locally for its cultural conservation, street art project and role in promoting heritage tourism.