Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Ban Dok Mai has given its name to one of the more whimsical of the surviving royal
palaces, Ban Dok Mai Palace, which was built in 1902 by Rama
V
for his thirty-fifth son,
Prince Purachatra Jayagara. The prince had been presented with his new home at age
21, but he didn't have much time to enjoy it, for his father packed him off to Cambridge
University, in England, where he studied civil engineering. On his return to Bangkok he
became head of the railway system, which was then being developed by British and Ger-
man engineering companies. He expanded the system and built the first bridge over the
river, thus allowing southern trains direct access to the capital, and later as communica-
tions minister he built the Memorial Bridge.
Prince Purachatra resided at Ban Dok Mai Palace for most of his adult life, leaving it
only in 1932, after the revolution that ended Siam's absolute monarchy. A few years pre-
viously he had become interested in the potential of radio, and in 1927 had purchased a
small transmitter and used it to make experimental broadcasts from his home, before set-
ting up the radio station at Phayathai Palace, on the fringe of Dusit. In 1932, broadcast-
ing was moved to Sala Daeng, on what was to become Wireless Road. After the revolu-
tion Purachatra went down to Singapore, where he died four years later. he palace sub-
sequently passed into the hands of the government, and an offshoot of the Ministry of In-
dustry now resides there. At a leafy part of Luang Road, behind a pretty row of shophouses
and approached under an inconspicuous archway, the palace backs onto Ban Dok Mai. It
is a lovely old structure, more like a country house than a palace, with its fine window de-
tailing and faded-rose stucco. Most striking is the third storey that was added some years
after the palace had been completed: it doesn't exactly chime with the original architec-
ture, but in a very distinctive way complements it, adding an eccentric touch that might
well have given its original designer hysterics, but on the other hand might have delighted
him. As is the way of government departments anywhere, whenever they have the run of
a distinguished old building, the palace has been allowed to deteriorate, but even so it still
has dignity.
At the junction of Bamrung Muang and Worachak roads is a rather elegant building
with a neat pepper-pot tower and, looming behind, two huge water towers. This is
Bangkok Waterworks, a project started by Rama
V
to provide the city with clean drinking
water, but not completed until 1914, four years after his death. The water-works them-
selves were out at Samsen, next to the electricity station that was built at the same time to
provide their power, and the two towers here were built to store the over-supply of water
when consumption slackened during the night. They are made of ferro-concrete and are
30 metres (96 ft) high. “A spiral staircase is placed in the middle of each tower, and at the
