CITY PULSE | best of bkk
Closing the Chapter
End of the Road for Nancy’s Chandler’s Maps by Amy Poulton
D
id you know about the sunflower field that blooms between January and February on Kaset-Navamin? How about the chocolate factory and breakfast café on Soi Phromsri? Or the scuba diving school located next to a 230-yearold Chinese-style mansion on the Chao Phraya River? These little notes, scribbled in a whimsical hodgepodge across Nancy Chandler’s hand-illustrated maps are just a few examples of the little jewels of discovery that have turned these helpful navigation tools into treasured souvenirs.
18 | JUL/AUG 2019
Nancy’s maps aren’t just maps, they paint the city with heart and soul. And that’s why it’s so sad to report that, after 45 years, Nancy Chandler’s maps are coming to an end. The next edition will only be available as a PDF and the publishing company is closing its office. “In 1974, my mother was asked to illustrate a map of Sanam Luang area for the American Women’s Club of Thailand,” Nancy’s daughter, Nima, explains. “But once she got there, she was completely lost and couldn’t understand what
was where. Her first map was her finding her way out! “After the AWC’s magazine published her map, readers called in to demand a reprint for more copies, then Nancy started her own prints, and everything grew organically from there.” Nancy Chandler’s maps provided a lifeline to expats at times when there were few English maps available, especially outside of central Bangkok, and road names in English were still uncommon. As demands grew from the international community, it also came from tourists visiting the city. bangkok101.com
