Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Tamnak Yai, started in 1901 and was completed in 1906. Tamagno has used rococo and
baroque styling, with a variety of window shapes and exuberant stucco mouldings, topped
with a mansard roof into which dormer windows have been set.
There is a second building, Tamnak Somdej, which was built later, around 1913, for
the prince's mother Queen Sukhumala Marasri. This time German architect and engin-
eer Karl Dohring provided the design, although Italian artist Carlo Rigoli created the in-
terior frescoes. During Prince Paribatra's thirty years of residence, Bangkhunprom Palace
became a salon for artists, writers and musicians. After the 1932 revolution, the prince
went into exile in Bandung, Indonesia, where he enjoyed gardening and music until his
death. The palace was turned into government offices and became the office of the cent-
ral bank in 1945, and since 1992 has housed the Bank of Thailand Museum. The second
palace behind the bank premises is Devavesm Palace, initially the residence of King Rama
V
's younger brother Prince Devawongse Varophakarn, and designed and constructed un-
der the supervision of British architect Edward Healey. The main mansion is neo-classic,
using elements of Greek and Roman architecture. After the revolution the Ministry of
Public Health was based in the palace before it was taken over by the bank, which now
uses the building for official receptions and as office space for the museum.
Northwards along the riverbank is Sukhothai Palace, the residence of Prince Prajad-
hipok, before he became King Rama
VII
. he prince was the seventy-sixth son of Rama
V
, and had been born in the Grand Palace in 1893. He was sent to study military science
in England. When he returned to Bangkok, he became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal
Guards, and later was appointed head of army general staff. His father being dead by this
time, the prince's brother had become Rama
VI
. The king granted the prince a parcel of
land out on Samsen Road, near to the green fields of Bang Sue, on the bank of the Samsen
canal where it joins the Chao Phraya River. The prince's mother, Queen Saowabha, built a
mansion on the land as a wedding gift for her son's marriage to Princess Rambhai Barni in
1918. It was named Sukhothai Palace after Prajadhipok's title, the Prince of Sukhothai. The
prince took up residence and lived there happily until 1925, when his brother died and he
somewhat unexpectedly became King Rama
VII
. He then moved to Amphon Sathan, one
of the earliest works in Dusit, and also one of the few not to have been designed by Itali-
ans, the architect having been a German named C Sandreczki.
Sukhothai Palace does not look especially palatial. It is a two-storey brick-and-mortar
building with English-style gables and eaves, and is flanked by two smaller mansions.
Covered pathways connect the buildings, and the whole effect is more of a country estate
than the residence of an heir to the throne. Although, of course, when it was built this was
