THE BANG PA-IN PALACE

The Bang Pa-In Palace History

The Royal Palace at 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, reported 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 the 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 and a palace built to the south of that monastery. The chronicle records the name of only one building, the Aisawan Thiphaya-art 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 a 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 heir, 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 constructed between 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.

The Outer Palace

Similar to most Thai royal palaces, the compound is divided into two sections, the Outer and the Inner Palace. Whereas the Outer consists of buildings for public and ceremonial uses, the Inner Palace is reserved for the King and his immediate family. Formerly the Inner Palace was forbidden to male members of the court.

The principal buildings in the Outer Palace are the following: Ho Hem Monthian Thewarat, Saphakhan Ratchaprayun, Phra Thinang Aisawan Thiphya-Art, Phra Thinang Warophat Phiman.

Ho (Shrine) Hem Monthian Thewarat (Golden Palace of the God King).

Ho Hem Monthian Thewarat is a small stone structure in the form of a Khmer-style prasat ( residence of a king or god with a corncob-shaped super-structure ) built by King Chulalongkorn in 1880 and dedicated to King Prasat Thong of Ayutthaya, the literal translation of whose name is King of the Golden Palace, because a miniature Khmer-style prasat of gold was discovered during his reign.

Saphakhan Ratchaprayun (Assembly Hall for Royal Relatives).

As its name implies, this colonial-style two-storey structure was built in 1879 for King Chulalongkorn’s brothers and their suites.

Phra Thinang (Royal Residence) Aisawan Thiphya-Art (The Divine Seat of Personal Freedom).

Phra Thinang Aisawan Thiphya-Art is a Thai-style pavilion with four porches and a spire roof built by King Chulalongkorn in the middle of an outer pond in 1876. It is a copy of the Phra Thinang Aphonphimok Prasat in the Grand Palace, which was built by his father, King Mongkut, as a pavilion for changing regalia before mounting a palanquin.

King Chulalongkorn named this building Aisawan Thiphya-Art after King Prasat Thong’s original pavilion. This pavilion now houses a bronze statue of King Chulalongkorn in the uniform of a Field Marshal which was set up by his son King Vajiravudh ( Rama VI ).

Phra Thinang (Royal Residence) Warophat Phiman (Excellent and Shining Heavenly Abode).

Phra Thinang Warophat Phiman is a Neo-Classic style one-storey mansion built by King Chulalongkorn in 1876 as his residence and throne hall. The audience chambers and anterooms are decorated with oil paintings depicting significant events in Thai history and scenes from Thai literature. The series of historical paintings was commissioned by King Chulalongkorn in 1888. The private apartments of this building, which are located in the Inner Palace section, are still used by Their Majesties whenever they reside at Bang Pa-In Palace.

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