|
The Royal Palace and Bang Pa-In has a history
dating back to the 17th century. According to a chronicle of
Ayutthaya, King Prasat Thong (1629 - 1656) had a palace constructed
on Bang Pa-In Island in the Chao Phraya River. A contemporary
Dutch merchant, Jeremias van Vliet, repor ted
that King Prasat Thong was an illegitimate son of King Ekathotsarot
(1605 - 1610/11), who in his youth was shipwrecked on that Island
and had son by a woman who be friended him. The boy grew up to
become a Chief Minister. After having usurped the throne, he
became known as King Prasat Thong.
The King founded a monastery, Wat Chumphon
Nikayaram, on the land belonging to his mother on Bang Pa-In
Island, and then had a pond dug a palace built to the south of
that monastery. The chronicle records the name of only one building,
the Aisawan Thiphayaart Royal Residence, which was constructed
in 1632, the year of the birth of his son, the future King Narai
(1656 - 1688). It is not known whether or not the palace was
in use till the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767.
However by 1807, when the Kingdom's best
known poet, Sunthon Phu, sailed past Bang Pa-In, only a memory
of the palace remained, for the site was neglected and overgrown.
The palace was revived by King Rama IV
of the Chakri dynasty, better known in the West as King Mongkut
(1851 - 1868), who had temporary residence constructed on the
outer Island that because the site of the Neo-Gothic style monastery,
Wat Niwet Thamprawat, which was built by his son and their, King
Chulalongkorn (Rama V).
The present-day royal palace dates from
the reign of King Chulalongkorn (1868 - 1910), when most of the
buildings standing today were constructedbetween 1872 - 1889.
Today the palace is used occasionally by
Their Majesties King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and Queen Sirikit
as a residence and for holding receptions and banquets.
 |
 |
 |
|
Ho Withun Thasana (2nd pic.): (The Sages Lookout)
The observatory was built by King Chulalongkorn in 1881 as a
lookout tower for viewing the surrounding countryside.
Phra Thinang Wehart Chamrun (3rd pic.):
The Chinese-style two-storey mansion was built by the equivalent
of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and presented to King Chulalongkorn
in 1889. Prince Ookhtomsky recorded that.
"It is really a palace of romance,
with ornamented tiled floors, massive ebony furniture, gold,
silver, and porcelain freely used for decorative purposes, and
delicate fretwork on the columns and on the windows. Evidently
we have before us the principal sight of Bang Pa-In. The Emperor
of China himself can scarely have a palace much finer than this!"
The ground floor contains a Chinese-style
throne; the upper storey houses as alter enshrining the name
plates of King Mongkut and King Chulalongkorn with their respective
queens.
This Chinese-style mansion was the favourite
residence of King Vajiravudh, Rama VI (1910 - 1925) when he visited
Bang Pa-In Palac. |
 |
 |
 |
|
Phra Thinang Uthayan Phumisathian (1st
pic.): (Garden of the Secured Land)
Phra Thinang Uthayan Phumisathian was the favourite residence
of King Chulalongkorn when he stayed at Bang Pa-In Palace, sometimes
as often as three times a year. Built in 1877 of wood in the
style of a two-storey Swiss chalet, the mansion was painted in
two toned of green. In the words of Prince Ookhtomsky, a Russian
officer who accompanied the Czarevitch, the future Czar Nicholas
II of Russia, on a visit in 1890, it was "furnished luxuriously
and with refined taste and comfort." Unfortunately, while
undergoing a minor repairs it was accidentally burnt down in
1938. The new building which replaced it was constructed in 1996
at the expressed wishes of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. The water
tank, disguised as a crenelated Neo-Gothic tower, is only part
of the original structure still in existence.
Memorial to Princess Saovabhark Nariratana
and Three Royal Children (2nd pic.):
In the year 1887 Princess Saovabhark Nariratana, a consort of
King Chulalongkorn, and three of his children died, so the king
had a marble cenotaph bearing their partraits built for them
near the earlier Memorial to Queen Sunandakumariratana.
Memorial to Queen Sunandakumariratana
(3rd pic.):
In 1881 Queen Sunandakumariratana drowned when her boat sank
in the Chao Phraya River while she was on her way to Bang Pa-In
Palace. King Chulalongkorn, overcome with grief, set up a marble
obelisk as a cenotaph to her memory. The King composed the dedication
himself in Thai and English. |
LOCATION:
OPENING HOURS: Open everyday from
8.30 a.m. - 4.00 p.m.
ADMISSION: Foreigners - 50 baht. Thai people - 30 baht and
20 baht for student.
INFORMATION: Call (035) 261044 |
Copyright information: All pictures by Nattawud
Daoruang. Information from brochures obtained at location.
Additional information by Richard Barrow and Nattawud Daoruang. |
|
