Amidst the ever-changing landscape of Yaowarat, one of the most popular landmarks and a Thai-Chinese shopping district, a Chinese calligraphy shop run by Wichian Buasaeng (54), a Thai-Chinese calligrapher, is also facing significant changes.

Duilian (对联) is a Chinese couplet poem written lengthwise on two sheets of red paper with gold paint. According to Chinese and international customs, they are often hung in homes or on doors as Lunar New Year decorations to express happiness and hopeful thoughts for a better year.

Throughout 35 years in this calligraphy journey, after inheriting the craft from his adoptive father, Wichian reflects on a stark contrast in income when he opened his roadside stall compared to when he set up shop in "Charoenchai Alley," a centuries-old Chinese-Thai community.

"Making money on the roadside was easy back then. Sales were good; I'd be painting until 4 am every day. I used to work for ten days straight, from the first to the tenth day of the lunar month, sleeping only two hours a night, and set up folding beds at the stall to wait for customers. Now I mostly wait for customers,"

"There was a time when our regular clients stopped coming for several years because I moved my stall from the street. Some reconnected with me last year because they found me on social media or saw me on shows I appeared on. It's the media that brought me back to my old clients," Wichian added.

When asked about the impact of mass-produced printed calligraphy, Wichian said that ready-made Duilian simply cannot compare to his handcrafted work.

"My calligraphy has life, concentration, energy, and the spirit of the calligrapher. Sounds abstract, but it's real."

Shot for BenarNews Thailand