Located on the banks of the Chao Praya River just outside of Ayuthaya and about 60km north of Bangkok, is the Royal Summer Palace. Apart from all the usual tourist attractions in and around Bangkok, there are some great lesser-known places to enjoy. This is one of them.
"Bang Pa-In Royal Summer Palace"
The complex which includes several buildings and ornate gardens was origonally constructed by King Prasat Thong in 1632. However due to other circumstances in Thailand at that time it fell into disuse. The site was practically forgotten and abandoned for much of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It wasn't until the middle of the 19th Century, when the king at that time King Mongkut, took an interest in the palace and so began a restoration. Most of the buildings which can be seen today were constructed sometime between 1870 and 1890 by King Chulalongkorn, who is revered for abolishing slavery and bringing European ideas to Thailand. He commissioned the first railway and established the first university. He also restored this great Summer Palace.
The gardens themselves are stunning, but the grounds also contain some particularly unique buildings that don't resemble traditional Thai architecture. The buildings are layed out in a somewhat European fashion around an ornate pond. Due to its location by the river, during the scorching summers it would receive a cool river breeze and thus out of the many palaces, became palace complex favoured by the Thai kings to escape the heat.
Wehart Chamrunt (Heavenly Light) a Chinese-style Royal Palace
Warophat Phiman (Excellent and Shining Heavenly Abode) the Royal Residence
Ho Withun Thasana (Sages' Lookout) a lookout tower
Aisawan Thiphya-Art (Divine Seat of Personal Freedom) a pavilion constructed in the middle of the lake.
When visiting the palace, you may notice what looks like a small Gothic church on an island across the river. The strange thing is that it isn't a Christian church, it's actually a Thai Buddhist temple called Wat Niwet Thamaprawat. I am not sure why they built it in this fashion.
The palace is only rarely used for official banquets and special occasions, and the rest of the time it is open for visitors. You can get there either by boat from Bangkok or its about an hours drive (60km). It makes a pleasant day trip. The palace is open to visitors from 8:30am-5:00pm and costs 100 baht to enter( about $3) Excuse the quality of my photos as they were taken on an iPhone 3G several years ago.
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