Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the royal elephants each day. A pier was built here for the mahouts and the area became
known as Tha Chang Wang Luang, or “Elephant Pier of the Grand Palace”.
Na Phra Lan Road building originally used for housing visitors to the Grand Palace.
Behind the Tha Chang shophouses, almost invisible and accessed by a small gate, is the
campus of Silpakorn University. The compound is tiny, crammed with an odd mixture of
historic architecture, nondescript buildings from the 1950s and 60s, scattered sculptures,
and overhung by ancient trees and thronged with students. Silpakorn was the first uni-
versity of art in Thailand, and the cradle of modern Thai art. Tha Phra Palace, the architec-
tural centrepiece of the campus, is one of the oldest buildings on Rattanakosin Island. It
was built for Prince Kasattranuchit, a nephew of Rama
I
, and the prince lived here until his
death during the reign of Rama
II
. The king presented the palace to his son, Prince Ches-
dabodin, who was head of several government units such as the Harbour Department, the
Police and the Royal Treasury. Eventually the prince asended the throne as Rama
III
, and
handed over the palace to three of his sons in succession. One of them was Prince Jumsai,
who headed the royal craft departments, including the Stonework Department and the
Department of Ten Fine Arts Units. Interestingly, then, Tha Phra Palace's connection with
the arts dates back to the first half of the nineteenth century.
Rama
V
handed the palace on to Prince Naris, one of his brothers. Prince Naris, one of
Siam's great patrons of the arts, held positions including Minister of Public Works, Min-
ister of the Treasury, and Minister of the Royal Household, serving through five reigns
and passing away in 1948. He was the last prince to occupy this palace, eventually moving
away from the congestion of Rattanakosin for health reasons, having built Plainoen Palace
in the then pastoral surroundings of Klong Toei. After his death the prince's heirs sold Tha
Phra Palace to the government, and it was assimilated into the newly founded Silpakorn
University.
The palace adjoins the gracious old mansion that houses the Fine Arts Department,
and here for many years was a school that taught painting and sculpture to civil servants
and other students, who were accepted without fees. In the reign of Rama
VI
an Italian
