Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of Siam Square, and indeed, to the traffic congestion. The Skytrain and its associated elev-
ated walkway is the best way to travel here.
Henri Dunant, in case you were wondering, had nothing to do with Chulalongkorn
University. He was the Swiss founder of the Red Cross. he Thai Red Cross lies on the
other, southern side of the university campus, between the university and Rama
IV
Road.
In 1893, a territorial dispute between France and Siam over land along the Mekong River
flared into a brief war that resulted in many casualties on both sides. There was no char-
itable organisation available to offer medical aid to the soldiers and civilians, and a lady of
the Siamese Royal Court, Thanpuying Plien Pasakornravongs, gathered together a group
of female volunteers and proposed to Queen Savang Vadhana that the king's permis-
sion be sought to set up “The Red Unalong Society of Siam” for this purpose. King Chu-
lalongkorn's response to the proposal was favourable, for he understood how the society's
creation could further help the progress of Siam. Funds totalling 443,716 baht were col-
lected, and Queen Savang Vadhana was appointed as patron, Queen Saowapha Bhongsri
as society president, and Tanpuying Plien as society secretary. The names Red Unalom
Society and Red Cross Society were used alternately until 1910, when the former disap-
peared and the name Siamese Red Cross Society was adopted. Later this was changed to
the Thai Red Cross Society, and the organisation was officially recognised by the Interna-
tional Committee of the Red Cross in 1920.
The Snake Farm within the Red Cross compound, formerly the Pasteur Institute, is
now known as the Queen Saowapha Memorial Institute, and was set up to produce anti-
venom serum for snakebite victims nationwide. The Pasteur Institute of Paris helped to
develop this facility, which was opened in 1923 by Queen Savang. It was only the world's
second snake farm, the first being in Brazil. Venomous snakes are milked daily to make
snakebite antidote, one of Bangkok's oldest and most popular tourist attractions. The
Chulalongkorn Faculty of Medicine at Siriraj Hospital evolved to encompass several dis-
ciplines, including dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary science, and eventually many of
these were carved away to form what is now the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital,
part of Mahidol University. Chulalongkorn's Faculty of Medicine and Chulalongkorn
University Hospital today stand on a large area of land immediately to the south of the
Royal Bangkok Sports Club, the hospital having been opened in 1914.
Sandwiched into a piece of land between the Club and the Faculty is the Lumpini
Pumping Station, drawing its water supplies from the Bangkhen Water Treatment Plant,
in the north of the city, and using four massive pumps to deliver water supplies to the sur-
rounding area. Lumpini is one of twenty distribution stations that operate in conjunction
