Captain Bush Lane

During the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV), the Chao Phraya riverside area south of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, just outside the boundaries of the city proper, was settled by European expatriates.

A subsequent official investigation found that the area was the site of a public latrine, that some locals kept pigs, which contributed to the smell, and that the temple's old graveyard was being used as an open refuse dump.

The Prince subsequently recommended the relocation to King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who reluctantly approved, although it took around a decade in total before the temple was re-established as Wat Kaeo Chaem Fa (วัดแก้วแจ่มฟ้า) at a new site on Si Phraya Road, donated by the Privy Purse in exchange for the former grounds.

The northern plot of land was rented to Louis T. Leonowens' trading company, who built offices and warehouses, while the southern plot was rented to the French beverage company Societe Francaise des Distilleries de l'Indochine, which built a building to serve as its office, and later to the Department of Industrial Works, whose lease expired in 1994.

[3] Today, Captain Bush Lane is home to the Portuguese Embassy, the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel (on the former site of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank), as well as several arts and antique shops.

A bridge crossing Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem where the lane meets the end of Si Phaya Road links it to the adjacent neighbourhood of Talat Noi.

[6] According to Twentieth Century Impressions of Siam, a reference book published in 1908, "The United Club ... may perhaps be considered the most popular resort for foreign residents in Bangkok."

The club was described as occupying large premises, including well laid-out grounds, on the corner of Charoen Krung and Si Phraya Roads (the latter having been built in front of the property in 1906).

With a membership of 225 in 1908, the club's facilities included dining, reading, card and billiard rooms, as well as a bowling alley and several tennis courts.

It is a one-storey elongated rectangular building with load-bearing walls supporting a high gabled roof of corrugated metal sheets on a large timber frame.