Phaya Thai Palace is one of the most charming palaces in Bangkok. And best of all, it is easily accessible to the public and free for visiting. It is now under extensive renovations to turn it into a full-fledged museum…
BANGKOK- On this Valentine Day, one of the most romantic places to be visited in Bangkok might be the former Phaya Thai Palace, near Victory Monument. Located in a garden, the building offers a charming contrast to the surrounding charmless towers and large administrative buildings. Phaya Thai Palace was carried out by King Rama V in 1909 as a cottage for retreats as the area still used to be countryside. It then became the residence of Queen Saovabha, then Queen Mother of King Rama VI. She stayed there under her death in 1920.
In the late twenties, the cash-strapped royal family started to sell many of their properties around Bangkok. King Rama VII ordered then to have the palace converted into an international hotel in 1926. Following the Siam Revolution of 1932 which turned Thailand’s absolute monarchy into a constitutional one, the hotel was then closed and became then Thailand’s first radio broadcast station. It finally ended up as a military-run hospital, a function it still has today.
This strange fate did not alter the charm of the place. With its long gothic style turret, it evocates more the kind of romantic residences built in Austria or Germany at the end of the 19th century.
In its mostly deserted halls, delicate frescoes with flower motives ornate the ceiling. They are currently under extensive renovation. The garden is also worth visiting despite the fact that it has lost most of its charming old-world atmosphere due to its partial transformation into a parking lot (a common fate to most gardens in Bangkok). Behind the palace, a Greek-style rotunda guarded by two statues evocate also Europe.
Tours are provided over the week end for free in Thai language but rooms are then opened to the public. Very charming are two unique structures: the Thewarat Sapharom Hall was built in 1910. With its colourful columns, oriental style frescoes, the building –which serves as an auditorium, blends art nouveau and Moorish styles. It is the only building still intact from its original 1910 construction.
Charming is also the Café de Norasingha in front of the main building. Built to serve originally as a reception hall for the King when he waited for his car, the small pavilion has been turned into an exquisite coffee shop with wood panels and art nouveau frescoes on its ceiling and walls. With its old wooden furniture and old pictures scattered around the pavilion, Bangkok’s only historical coffee shop evocates more Vienna than the Thai capital. Definitely the best place for a romantic retreat, far from the noise of the surrounding metropolis!
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
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