BANGKOK — On the northern edge of Bangkok’s Chinatown is a fenced-in, six-acre lot filled with vacant two-story shops where the only sound is the yowling of abandoned cats.

Once a thriving market that specialized in auto parts and musical instruments, the lot has been bought by a developer in preparation for something bigger and flashier — a vision of what some people fear could happen to the rest of one of the world’s oldest Chinatowns.

Like other Chinatowns, this one has evolved over time as successive waves of immigrants and their descendants have come and gone.

But now it is facing a new round of changes spurred by the opening of two subway stations that will connect it more easily to the rest of the city, and real estate developers have started moving in.