Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Taksin's moat still exists and it is possible to follow its course all the way across the
heart of Thonburi, a journey that can be accomplished on foot within an hour and which
will pass some of the old city's most historic sites, skirting the naval dockyards before the
canal finally runs to ground just before reaching Klong Bangkok Noi, the waterway hav-
ing been filled in at this point by Rama
V
for the building of Thonburi Railway Station.
Wichaiprasit Fort, however, is visible only from the Chao Phraya River, and the landward
approach will reveal only a massive gate guarded by what must be some of the friendliest-
looking sentries in the business. The fort is the home of the Royal Thai Navy, which flies
the flag of its commander-in-chief here and fires offsalvos from its cannon on state occa-
sions. Taksin's palace has been absorbed into the fort compound and is similarly off-limits
except to the occasional specialist tour that has to be invited in. These invitations are very,
very hard to get if you are a non-Thai. (They won't even let me in, although possibly they
can't be faulted on that.) Now known as Wang Derm, or Former Palace, it was occupied
after Taksin's time by a succession of princes. Three sons of Rama
II
were born here, two
of who would become king as Rama
III
and Rama
IV
, while the third would become Se-
cond King Pinklao. When the last royal resident, Prince Chakrapadibhongse died in 1900,
Rama
V
granted ownership of the palace to the Royal Thai Navy, which manages it jointly
with the Phra Racha Wang Derm Restoration Foundation. There are some architectural
gems in here. Taksin had built the Throne Hall in Chinese style, and the Navy uses it as
a reception hall and a conference centre. There is a large Chinese bell at the Throne Hall,
the clapper being in the form of a dragon with a crystal ball in its mouth, while the bell
stand is Thai in style, the capital of its pillar carved in the shape of a lotus flower and a
naga
that twists its body around the pillar. Two Chinese-style mansions are located close
to the eastern gate of the palace, the inner one having been Taksin's personal quarters and
which is now used as Navy offices. A shrine to King Taksin is here, built late in the nine-
teenth century in a blending of Thai and Western styles, while nearby is a small modern
shrine housing—curiously—whale bones that were found beneath the Taksin shrine when
renovations were being undertaken.
The Navy in fact has a substantial frontage at Thonburi from the Bangkok Yai to the
Bangkok Noi canals, denoting the importance that this stretch of water had for shipbuild-
ing and military use from the Taksin era onwards. In the early years of the Ayutthaya peri-
od river barges manned by teams of rowers had been the chief element of Siamese ship-
ping, as the capital was not a seaport and rivers and canals formed the main transporta-
tion highways. When wars erupted, the barges were fitted with cannons for battle. In 1608
the style began to change when King Ekatosarot requested assistance from the Dutch to
