Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
drivers had to go round and round in this circle to demonstrate that they could drive. The
proximity of the Red Cross clinic would have been useful.
The second of the three roads is Phraeng Nara, named after Prince Narathip Prapan-
pong, and his palace is still standing. Prince Nara loved the performing arts and so de-
cided to build a theatre in the open court behind his residence: it was Siam's first Western
theatre and opera house. he prince made some bad investments and he was forced to sell
the property. Portions of the palace were subsequently rented out to a law firm, which still
operates on the west side of the building. The remainder became Talapat Suksa School,
which has now moved on. The palace is not large, but it must have been impressive in its
prime: three storeys high, and with a magnificent green-painted timber balcony overlook-
ing the street. Inside the high old rooms are carved wooden panels, and a spiral staircase
leads to the top floor. One room has been closed off, and the curious visitor will find it
stacked high with cobwebbed tables and chairs, a relic of the school.
And our third prince? Phraeng Sanphasat was the site of the palace of Prince San-
phasat Suphakij, who was chief of the Military Engineers Corps during the reigns of Rama
V
and Rama
VI
, and who built his palace in 1906. The prince was responsible for the royal
goldsmiths, and this area became known for its goldsmiths and very expensive gold and
jewellery stores, prominent amongst the latter being the German company Grahlert, who
had a large shop that once stood on the left of the road, decorated with symbols to indicate
its royal patronage. Most of the Grahlert goldsmiths lived in a small street nearby, which is
still called Company Lane, and there is also a narrow lane here named Trok Chang Thong,
the alley of the goldsmiths. This is where much of the splendid gold works commissioned
by the Siamese royal family were crafted.
After the prince's death in 1919 the palace was largely redeveloped but the area was
completely razed by fire in 1967, and even while the ashes were still smouldering the local
population was combing the ruins looking for gold dust and tiny fragments dropped over
the course of one and a half centuries. Contemporary reports say their haul was impress-
ive. But nowadays the only indication of royal splendour is the gate of the palace. Having
fallen to the flames, the gate was restored by the Fine Arts Department in 1976. A neoclas-
sical structure topped with a globe-bearing goddess, it now stands alone as the entrance to
nowhere. The replacement houses of Phraeng Sanphasat were built for expediency, and in
the rather graceless style from that era that we find all over Bangkok. They act as a salutary
reminder that history will owe much to the good people of Sam Phraeng. This area was
very much the centre of the gold business, for nearby is Thanon Tee Thong, meaning “the
Road of the Gold Beaters”, primarily where gold was beaten into leaf for merit making in
