CHINATOWN

MUSEUM

English for
Communication
Course
Reading Material

Traimitwitthayalai School
by: Suchon Keeratisuntorn
 Preface
This reading material has been created for

English for Communication course for M.6 students

of Traimitwitthayalai School focusing on enhancing

reading skills with localized multi-cultural contents.

The main goals of this material are to develop learners’

reading skills and reading strategies, to enhance learners in

English communication by implementing contextualized contents

which learners are already familiar with, as well as to raise

awareness of surrounding multi-cultures which are pervaded

nearby their hometown.

Traimitwitthayalai School
by: Suchon Keeratisuntorn
 Contents
Preface
Unit 1 Tourist Attractions
Unit 2 Clothes
Unit 3 Food & Drinks
Unit 1: Tourist Attractions
Do you know these
places?
Reading strategy 1:
Look at the pictures and let’s guess!
What are we going to read about?

Brainstorm note:
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 PLACES TO VISIT
Yaowarat Road The Guan Yin Shrine

Devasathan The Golden Buddha Temple

(Brahmin Temple)

Pre-reading:
• Have you ever been to any of these places?
• What do you know about these places?
• What will you see when visiting these attractions?
 Reading 1: Tourist Attractions
Places to Visit nearby School
Bustling Yaoworat Road in the center of Chinatown becomes
a culinary hotspot at night, with restaurants selling at the footpaths
onto the street itself. Apart from vibrant night life, there are still
places to visit for those who enjoy historical attractions which
portray how different religious belief and cultures are harmoniously
united together around our school.
The first place is Wat Traimit. Not only is Chinatown's number
one attraction, but it is also the site of the world's largest seated
golden Buddha, five and a half tons of gold, the largest gold statue in
the world, and worth some 250 million dollars! The statue's origins
are unclear, but it supposedly comes from the Sukhothai period and
was made somewhere in the 14th Century. There is now an excellent
new museum showing the history of the Thai Chinese, well worth a
stopover in addition to having a look at the golden Buddha.

Next, the Guan Yin Shrine, despite not being listed in most
guidebooks, is actually one of Chinatown's most colorful
attractions. Guan Yin is the Chinese Goddess of Mercy, and her
900-year-old statue stands on the altar inside the shrine.
Thousands of locals come to pray here, and especially at holiday
times, the shrine is full of incense and smoke and the atmosphere
is extremely otherworldly.
Another auspicious place which is one of the
most sacred Hindu sites in Bangkok is Devasathan
(Brahmin Temple). With a short walk from the The Giant
Swing, this temple features three shines, each one
dedicated to the Hindu gods Shiva, Ganesh and Vishnu.
Southeast Asia’s oldest Ganesh statue has also found its
home here. The temple was also built to hold religious
ceremonies.
 Unit 1: Post-reading Questions
Directions: Choose the best answer
according to the reading passage.
1. The passage is mainly about ……. (Main idea)
A. how to find good restaurants in Bangkok
B. directions to travel around Yaowarat Road
C. history of people who live near Chinatown.
D. information about religious tourist attractions in Bangkok.

2. What is the activity we can do at Yoawarat Road at night? (Details)

A. Attend Chinese opera show in the theater.
B. Visit and learn Thai history at the museum.
C. Enjoy strolling and buying street food.
D. Play sports along the street.

3. According to the passage, we could see many cultures in the same area EXCEPT……
(Details)
A. Thai B. Chinese C. Indian D. British

4. At which place can we find more than one statue according to the passage? (Details)
A. Traimit Temple
B. Devasathan
C. The Guan Yin Shrine
D. Wat Traimit Museum

5. Which of the following can be the best concluding sentence of the passage? (Summary)
A. In summary, Traimit Temple is the holy place where the biggest golden statue is.
B. In conclusion, many people come to the shrine to pray and make a wish.
C. To conclude, Hindus gods’ statues can be only found in Devasathan.
D. All in all, there are several historical religious places to visit around the school.
 Reading Strategy: Predicting

Predicting can be used before you read the passage.

This could help in activating background knowledge
and link them with the reading text.

Let’s practice
1. Look at the picture and the reading title.
2. Write vocabulary that relates to what you see as many as possible.
3. Try to make connection between each word and guess what you
are going to read.

Smartphones Street food Coffee

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 Unit 1: Activities

Situation: Your friends come to visit Bangkok. They are from

many countries where there are different religious believes.
You have to plan a trip to visit historical attractions in
Bangkok.
Directions:
• Get into groups.
• Plan a trip for your friends.
• Choose 3 places in Bangkok map.
• Write the brief description of each place.
 Unit 2: Clothes
Fashion Runway

Pre-reading:
• What are the differences among these costumes?
• Where can we buy these clothes near the school?
 Reading 2: Clothes
Pahurat: Traditional Clothes Variety
Pahurat

Ya
ow
ar
at
Ro
ad

When looking at the area near our school, you all can find various kinds of clothes shops nearby
with different types of outfits available. In this unit, we will take you to explore a wide range of traditional
clothing around Chinatown area of which stories are from mixed cultures including Thai, Chinese, and
Indian style.
Strolling through Yaowarat Road, numerous colorful
clothes racks and stalls can be easily found whether during the
day or night especially in Lunar New Year festival. These iconic
traditional Chinese clothes are one of memorable parts of
Chinatown scenery apart from its renowned street food.
However, if you walk until the end of Yoawarat Road, there is
one place at which another kind of outfits is sold.
Just a stone’s throw from Chinatown, Phahurat is packed
with finest textile-related shops featuring fabrics, tailoring tools
and accessories and ready-made clothing as well as traditional
Thai, Chinese and Indian costumes. It is also known as Thailand’s
Little India as most of the residents are of Bharata descent. One of
the landmarks of Phahurat is Thailand’s oldest Sikh temple, the Siri
Guru Singh Sabha.
As you can see, there is wonderful fusion of clothing vendors widespread nearby
our school area. In addition, these places represent how different cultures are peacefully
blended together in just a small district that you can walk around and get a variety of outfit
styles in a day.
 Unit 2: Post-reading Questions
Directions: Choose the best answer
according to the reading passage.
1. What is the main idea of the passage? (Main idea)
A. There are various traditional style of clothes sold nearby Yaowarat road.
B. Chinese outfits are very popular among foreign tourists in Bangkok.
C. The oldest Sikh Temple is located nearby Wat Traimit.
D. Pahurat is the largest area where all kinds of textile is sold.

2. Which of the following is NOT TRUE about Little India? (Details)

A. It is the place where many types of clothes are sold.
B. Visitors can find various kinds of fabric.
C. Pahurat is another name for this area.
D. There are only Indian people who live around this place.

3. Which of the following DOES NOT relate to the word ‘clothes’? (Details)
A. outfits B. costumes C. fabrics D. vendors

4. At Pahurat, people can easily buy many things EXCEPT…………. (Details)

A. stones
B. textiles
C. tailoring tools
D. cloth accessories

5. Which of the following can be the best concluding sentence of the passage?
(Summary)
A. In summary, travelers are able to explore Indian style outfits at Pahurat.
B. All in all, Bharata descents are considered the landmark of that area.
C. In conclusion, Chinese red clothes are very famous during Lunar New Year.
D. To conclude, multi-cultures fusion can be seen through various style of
clothing around the school area.
 Reading Strategy: Context Clues

Context clues are hints found within a sentence,

paragraph, or passage that a reader can use to
understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar words.

Let’s practice
1. Read the following sentences.
2. Guess the meaning of the underlined vocabulary.
2. Write the words which has the same or closet meaning.

1. The Golden Buddha, made of five and a half tons of gold, becomes the largest
golden statue in the world.
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2. Phahurat is packed with finest textile-related shops featuring fabrics, tailoring
tools and accessories and ready-made clothing.
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3. Charoenkrung is where people can enjoy a wide range of culinary from exotic
restaurants, artistic café, to street food stalls.
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Unit 2: Activities
Bangkok’s Fashion Week
Situation: Bangkok’s Fashion Week is coming.
Our school takes part in costume
design competition.

Directions: Design a new student uniform that

shows our school’s identity and cultures which
well-blended in the area around the district.
Unit 3: Food & Drinks
Do you know these
kinds of food?
Reading strategy 1:
Look at the pictures and let’s guess!
What are we going to read about?

Brainstorm note:
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Arts & Culinary
Lead-in: Look at the following pictures and vocabulary.
What are differences between two pictures?
Can you get the meaning of these words?

traditional VS modern

Pre-reading:
• Have you ever eaten food & drink around school?
• What kind of restaurant and café do we usually see?
• Why does Charoenkrung become famous
in food & drinks?
 Reading 3: Food & Drinks
Charoenkrung: Heaven of Arts and Culinary
Bangkok city is famous for street food vendors that foreign tourists from all over the world want
to come and try once in a lifetime. When thinking about food stalls that are widespread in almost every
corners of Bangkok, Charoenkrung, the first road of the country lying through many well-known
attractions with its diverse people & cultures and rooted histories, is where people can enjoy a wide
range of culinary from exotic restaurants, artistic café, to street food stalls. This unit will take you to
explore awesome places alongside Charoenkrung, and you will be fulfilled with wonderful food and
drinks that should not miss.
For main dishes, numerous types of food are waiting for
hungry visitors. You can find various restaurants or street
vendors with generic Thai food such as noodle soup, rice dishes,
or Thai-style a la cart that you can order as creatively as you wish
as long as the ingredients are available. Most of these vendors
sells traditional food and snacks of which recipe is originated
from Thai-Chinese cultures with long history.

After finishing your main course, now it is time for desserts and drink. Walking alongside
Charoenkrung especially near Talad Noi’s small alleys, you could find countless dessert cafes that
serve a variety of beverage and bakery. Usually located in antique buildings, these shops try to
preserve the old-fashioned decoration while they represent modern style of food and drinks that
reflect strong multi-cultures in this area. The charming local assets are plenty for creators to
develop, recreate, and add more value to it. The blend of local heritage and contemporary function
added a more creative vibe to the district.
 Unit 3: Post-reading Questions
Directions: Choose the best answer
according to the reading passage.
1. The article mainly tells about …………. (Main idea)
A. what people around Charoenkrung Road believe in and pay respect to.
B. Charoenkrung where a variety of food and drinks from several cultures are mixed.
C. Wat Traimit Witthayaram which is located on Charoenkrung Road.
D. Cafés around Charoenkrung area which are becoming popular.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about Charoenkrung? (Details)

A. It is the first road of Thailand that lies along with Bangkok River.
B. With its long history, there are many attractions along Charoenkrung Road.
C. Only expensive and luxurious hotel restaurants can be found at Charoenkrung.
D. People usually come to Charoenkrung because of its traditional cafes.

3. Which of the following DOES NOT relate to the word ‘traditional’? (Details)
A. old-fashioned B. antique C. heritage D. modern

4. Which of the following show how multi-cultures are mixed in the same area? (Details)
A. Charoenkrung Road is always crowded with heavy traffic.
B. Visitors who come to Charoenkrung normally wear stylish costumes.
C. There are a variety style of food and drinks vendors such as Chinese, Thai, or Indian.
D. Old and new decoration cannot get along well in the same district.

5. Which of the following can be the best concluding sentence of the passage?
(Summary)
A. In summary, travelers are able to explore Chinese food at Charoenkrung.
B. All inall, a long history area can be developed while maintain its original styles.
C. In conclusion, tourists will surely get beautiful photos with antique buildings.
D. To conclude, multi-cultures fusion can be seen when old things are removed.
 Reading Strategy: Summary

In summarizing readers have to recap the main ideas of a text

in their own words which is also called the gist.
Readers determine the main detail such as who, what, setting,
and events that have happened in the story, text, or chapter

Steps to Summarize
1. Read the whole passage carefully to fully understand.
2. Take notes about the main idea and supporting points of each paragraph.
3. Connect the ideas of each paragraph and form a sentence to cover them all.

Paragraph 1 Paragraph 2 Paragraph 3 Paragraph 4

Chinatown + Traimit Temple + The Guan Yin Shrine + Devasathan

We can see that every paragraph’s main ideas are about places nearby our school with
many cultures such as Thai (temple), Chinese (shrine) and Indian (Bramin temple), and
different religions can be found, so we might summarize the passage as follows:

• There are many tourist attractions around our school of which many cultures and
religious believes are peacefully blended together.

Directions: Practice summarizing the unit 2 & 3 reading passages.

Unit 3: Activities
Food Blogger
Situation: A famous foreigner chef from US is visiting our school.
You have to prepare a meal for him.
Choose special dishes, a welcome drink, and desserts from
local street vendors, restaurants, and café around Charoenkrung
that show identity of our school area where different cultures
are mixed together.

menu description cultures/styles

……………………………………………………………………………… Thai

……………………………………………………………………………… Chinese

……………………………………………………………………………… Indian

……………………………………………………………………………… Other…

……………………………………………………………………………… Thai

……………………………………………………………………………… Chinese

……………………………………………………………………………… Indian

……………………………………………………………………………… Other…

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Thai
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Chinese
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Indian
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Other…