Demolition looms as Chulalongkorn walls off endangered Tubtim shrine

There was no forecast when the winds of change came blowing for the caretakers of an endangered downtown shrine.

The century-old Tubtim goddess shrine was surrounded with cranes and metal barriers today, where caretaker Penprapa “Nok” Sowsum told Coconuts Bangkok they had received no notice of the pressure campaign from landowner Chulalongkorn University.

“It was actually the construction head who came to us and said that they would set up a construction site,” she said, adding that he arrived with no idea of the Chinese-Thai shrine’s existence and was uncomfortable because he also worships the goddess it’s dedicated to.

Fished from Bangkok canal and sanctified by king, stubborn goddess defied fate for decades

In front of the shrine, newly placed banners announce that it will be moved within the next few days.

Reached for comment, a representative…