Far from the Madding (Bangkok) Crowd! The Summer Palace of Bang Pa-In…

Picture the royal barge making its way along the Chao Phraya River from Bangkok to the summer palace at Bang Pa-In. It’s 1880 and the boat is carrying Queen Sunanda – the 19 year old first wife of King Chulalongkorn – and their daughter, princess Kannabhorn, not yet 2 years old. The boat runs into difficulty and capsizes, all its occupants struggling in the deep water. Everyone is rescued. Everyone, that is, except the queen and princess. Under Siamese law, it is forbidden for commoners to touch royalty, on pain of death, so onlookers can only watch helplessly as mother and daughter drown. (The king was devastated at the loss and the law was changed soon afterwards to allow commoners to touch royalty when life was at risk).

Queen and Daughter, 1880

The original Summer Palace dates back to 1632, when Ayutthaya was the capital of Siam. Its river location served as a pleasant summer residence for the royal family until the capital was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767 and Bang Pa-In was abandoned.

It became overgrown and forgotten for almost a century until King Mongkut rediscovered its potential and began its restoration. But it was under Chulalongkorn’s reign (1868-1910) that the estate flourished. Chulalongkorn was a reforming King – credited with modernizing Siam. He abolished slavery, reorganised judicial and financial institutions and improved the country’s infrastructure. He travelled widely through Europe and was inspired by the elegance and architecture he saw there and thus planned modern boulevards and Western-Thai landmarks for Bangkok. This fondness for European style was extended to Bang Pa-In. (He also found time to sire 32 sons and 44 daughters with his 9 consorts and 143 concubines!!)

The King with a few of his sons at Eton (circa 1897)

The AISAWAN THIPHYA-ART (Divine Seat of Personal Freedom) is the only building on the Palace grounds built in traditional Thai architectural style. The pavilion was modelled on a similar structure at the grand Palace in Bangkok and is considered by many to be the most beautiful building in Thailand. Standing in the centre of a small lake, it was a favourite place for young royals to sit and read..

WEHART CHAMRUN (Heavenly Light) is a Chinese style two story mansion, gifted to King Chulalongkorn by the Chinese in 1889.

HO WITHUN THASANA (Sages’ Lookout) reaches 30 meters in height, requiring 112 steps to the top platform. The red and yellow observation tower was used to view the sky and surrounding countryside.

Bang Pa-In Royal Palace is located 60 km north of Bangkok and close to the ancient city of Ayutthaya. It’s rarely used nowadays by the royal family – just for special occasions and banquets. So tourists (and not many of those) have the place pretty much to themselves – golf buggies are available to help visitors cover the extensive site. The grounds are beautifully maintained with lawns, topiary, canals and ornamental ponds. There are several monuments and sculptures, including a marble obelisk commemorating the tragedy of 1880 which includes a poem written by the heartbroken king.

Opening Hours: 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Entrance Fee: 100 THB for foreigners /30 THB for Thai nationals. Golf Buggy 400THB per hour (seats 4 persons)