Friday, August 22, 2008

Vimanmek Mansion Ratchawithi Road, Bangkok



Located in the Dusit Palace area behind the old National Assembly Building, this three-storey European style mansion is the biggest golden teakwood building in the world. It was originally built in 1868 by command of King Rama V as a summer house on the island of Ko Si Chang off Chon Buri province. It was moved to Dusit Palace compound in 1901 and used as a royal residence.

After having been deserted for decades, it was renovated by order of H.M. Queen Sirikit in 1982 and opened to the public as the private museum of King Rama V with 31 exhibition rooms in total. Some rooms such as the bedrooms, the throne room and the bathrooms, are kept in the original condition, while the others are used to display art works. The collection consists mostly of photographs of royalty and other personages.

Also displayed are antique furniture, elegant Thai ceramics, precious china, European porcelain, splendid gift items from abroad and many other invaluable memorabilia.There are several other buildings in the compound that are worth visiting. Most of them display a variety of artefacts and precious art objects.

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