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The
King
Prajadhipok
Museum |
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The
Historical Source of the 7th
Reign of the Rattanakosin
Period |
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By
Phantharak
Photos
by Anna
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| Wandering
around Thailand, you will, of course, be profoundly
impressed with both its historical and natural
attractions. But to make your visit to Thailand
worthier by learning and knowing more about the
country, you are recommended to make a museum
tour. |
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King Prajadhipok and
Queen Rambai Barni
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Being among knowledge enthusiasts,
I love to spend my leisure time visiting various
kinds of museum in Bangkok. Recently, I visited
a new interesting one--the King Prajadhipok
Museum, which is the museum of King Rama VII's
biography and historical events in his reign.
Do you want to visit the place? Follow me. I'll
take you there.
Walking eastwards along the Ratchadamnoen Klang
Avenue to the end of the road, you will come
to Phanfa Bridge. Across the bridge at the beginning
of Lan Luang Road, you will see a white Western-style
building with green windows and a dome-shaped
tower, located in front of a branch of Thai
Airways International PCL. That is it, the King
Prajadhipok Museum.
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The exterior of the registered
heritage building housing
the King Prajadhipok Museum
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| The
History of the Building |
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three-storey registered heritage building was
constructed in 1906, towards the end of the reign
of King Rama V (1868-1910). It was designed by
a French-Swiss architect, Charles Beguelin, in
Neoclassical style. The building is topped with
a dome-shaped tower with Greco-Roman motifs and
reliefs. At first, it was the building of John
Sampson Store, selling western clothing and custom-made
suites, then became the Suthadilok Store, selling
construction materials and sanitary ware, and
finally turned into the headquarters of the Public
Works Department (originally known as the Department
of Municipal Works) from 1933 onward. |
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The entrance to the
permanent exhibition halls
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In 2001, the
Department of Public Works presented the building
to King Prajadhipok Institute to be used as
a museum exhibiting the biography and achievements
of King Rama VII as well as the history of Thai
politics and government of his time, with the
official title "the King Prajadhipok
Museum".
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The full dress uniform of
an officer
of the First Infantry Regiment,
King Chulalongkorn's
Own Royal Regiment Guards
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The
Background of the King Prajadhipok Museum
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Formerly, the museum was called
the Parliamentary Museum which was under the
care of the Secretariat of the National Assembly,
and was housed in the basement beneath the King
Prajadhipok Monument, in front of the National
Assembly Building.
In 1980, Her Majesty Queen Rambai Barni of the
Seventh Reign kindly donated a total of 776
pieces of King Prajadhipok's personal articles
to the museum for public exhibition. After that,
the responsibility for the museum management
was turned over to the King Prajadhipok's Institute
on 26 April 2001, and the Public Works Department
agreed to house the museum in its building as
mentioned above. The King Prajadhipok Museum
was opened to the public for the first time
on 8 December 2002.
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Some Royal personal possessions
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| Exploring
the Museum |
After
knowing about the history of the museum and its
building, now let's go inside to explore it together.
The interior of this spacious building is luxuriously
designed. On the first floor, at the right corner,
there is the King Prajadhipok Studies and Archives
Centre where you can find historical documents
about the biography and activities of King Prajadhipok
and the historical incidents in the forms of microfilm
and videos.
Songs composed by His Majesty also can be found
here. Next to the centre is the Museum Shop. Here,
you can shop for books on Thai history, art and
culture, books and research works published by
King Prajadhipok Institute as well as gifts and
postcards. |
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One of the permanent exhibition
halls
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| Then
you can make a brief visit to the Temporary Exhibition
Hall, located at the other side of the floor.
The topics of the exhibition are particularly
related to King Prajadhipok, art, and culture
movement belonging in the reign, and Thai politics
and government at the time. |
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King Rama V and Queen Saovabha
Phongsri with young Prince
Prajadhipok on her lap
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| Permanent
Exhibition Halls |
There
is a total of nine permanent exhibition halls,
located on the 2nd and the 3rd floors. In each
hall, you will learn about the king's life in
various aspects -- the 1932 Revolution and the
Conferment of the Constitution, royal regalia
and personal effects, photographs, historical
documents, and films. The exhibition topics and
details are provided below
Succession to the throne The first
hall will show you the line of succession under
the Chakri dynasty, from King Phra Buddha Yodfa
Chulalok Maharat (King Rama I) to the current
reign (King Rama IX).
King Prajadhipok's life before the accession
The hall displays the king's youth, education,
ordination, marriage and government service.
Coronation
Visiting this hall, you will see the photos depicting
the coronation of Prince Prajadhipok as the king
of Siam.
Royal activities Here, you will
learn about the royal activities in the areas
of national development, religion, education,
military, communications and transportation, economic
difficulties, visits to his subjects in various
regions, and foreign relations. |
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The hall showing His Majesty's
taste in writing
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| Sesquicentennial
celebrations The hall displays the
construction of the Memorial Bridge (the Phrathom
Borommarachanuson Bridge, or commonly known as
Saphan Phut) and the King Rama I the Great Memorial,
and the renovation of monasteries and the Grand
Palace in preparation for 1932's celebration marking
the 150th anniversary of founding of the Chakri
dynasty. |
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The room provides visitors
with the
knowledge about the revolution in 1932.
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| The
revolution To acquaint you with
the history of Thailand's politics, this hall
shows you the change of governmental regime from
absolute monarchy to democratic constitutional
monarchy, orchestrated by the People's Party. |
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His Majesty's letter of abdication
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| Conferment
of the Constitution Visiting this room,
you will know about the king's prior intent to
bestow upon the nation a constitution and to institute
constitutional monarchy, and the conferment of
the Permanent Constitution of the Kingdom of Siam. |
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The section exhibiting Prince
Prajadhipok's study at Eton College
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| Personal
effects The
hall displays personal items concerning films,
music, sports, and writings that reveal the tastes
and personality of King Prajadhipok. |
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The model of Chalermkrung
Theatre
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Life
after the abdication Here, you
will learn about King Prajadhipok's life after
abdication and his death in England.
Besides the mentioned permanent exhibition halls,
a model of Chalermkrung Theatre is also exhibited
on the 2nd floor. The real Chalermkrung Theatre
(or Sala Chalermkrung), located on Charoenkrung
Road, was built in 1932 by King Prajadhipok, who
is also a movie enthusiast, in order to celebrate
the 150th anniversary of the founding of Bangkok.
Visiting the mini theatre in the museum, you can
see the films about King Rama VII and the Queen,
the history of Thai politics, and especially King
Prajadhipok's film making entitled "The Magic
Ring". You can ask the museum staff for the
film schedule.
If you have a plan to spend a day admiring beautiful
and interesting places on Ratchadamnoen Road such
as the Democracy Monument, Maha Chedsadabodin
Pavilion & Plaza, Loha Prasat, the Golden
Mount, and Mahakan Fort, don't forget to visit
the King Prajadhipok Museum. And you will learn
more about Thailand.
The museum opens from 9:00 am. to 4:00 pm. daily
except Mondays. There are wheelchairs available
for senior people and the handicapped. For more
information, please call 0 2280 3413-4.
Special thanks to the King Prajadhipok Museum
for allowing Thaiways to take photographs and
giving us useful information -Ed. |
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