Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with three main transmission stations to supply the city, and it was built in 1979. Despite
its enormous pumping capacity, Lumpini's output can be controlled from a single desktop
computer. The distinctive water towers that supply the pressure have in recent years had
offices built into the previously empty space between the support struts, forming a prac-
tical and economic use of land to house the Thai Red Cross aids Research Centre, the Red
Cross symbol woven in a striking fashion into the wall of the compound.
Ratchadamri Road, leading north from Silom, had been completed in 1903, largely to
provide access to the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. The land on the opposite side of the road
to Chulalongkorn Hospital was an open field that had recently become popularly known
as Sala Daeng, after the red-coloured pavilion of the same name that formed a stop on
the Paknam Railway. Rama
VI
began in the early 1920s to plan what was designed to be
the greatest exhibition ever to take place in Siam. The first had been the National Exhib-
ition, held at Sanam Luang in 1882 to celebrate Bangkok's centenary, and other fairs had
been held over the years since at Dusit, and a series of large agricultural fairs had been
held adjacent to Sra Pathum Palace. Now the king planned a magnificent showcase for
the nation, to be held in its own exhibition grounds. He granted the Sala Daeng field for
this purpose, a huge area of 142 acres, and the grounds were landscaped to accommod-
ate the various pavilions to their best effect. Two lakes were dug in the northeastern and
southwestern parts of the park: the large lake and its islands near Ratchadamri Road was
to display the works of the Treasury, while the smaller one near Wireless Road was to be
surrounded by foreign commercial pavilions, Chinatown enterprises, and produce from
what was then known as Monthon Ratchaburi, the Ratchaburi Circle, five provinces close
to Bangkok. Each ministry was to have its own pavilion, while three exhibition halls for
major industries would be placed near Rama
IV
Road. Canals such as the Silom, Hua Lam-
pong, Ratchadamri and Saen Saeb canals would provide access, along with the roads, and
the government granted the concession for a new tramway, the Silom Line, that would run
from Charoen Krung Road to Pratunam. The Samsen tramway was extended from its Hua
Lampong terminus to Sathorn Road via Sala Daeng. The opening date for the exhibition
was set for 23
rd
January 1926. hen, on 25
th
November 1925, the king died, at the age of
44. The exhibition was officially cancelled on 1
st
January, and Lumpini Park, named after
the birthplace of the Buddha, became a public park in the manner of the great parks of
Europe. Corrado Feroci sculpted the statue of the king erected in 1941 at the entrance to
the park, and the open area around the statue is today used for public ceremonies.
