The Grand Palace

Asia » Thailand » Central Thailand » Bangkok
August 17th 2005

Published: August 17th 2005

Edit Blog Post

Rachael ORourke

The guardian demon

Hor Phra Rajphongsanusorn

What do I say about this place?

It's amazing.

It was built starting in 1782 by King Rama I. It is the centre of the royals' housing, throne halls, administration buildings of the government and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

It has:

the gorgeously gold Phra Siratana Chedi
the beautiful Royal Pantheon
a model of Angor Wat
guardian demons
of course, the Emerald Buddha
a great deal of beautiful halls
the Borom Phiman Mansion
the Wat Phra Kaeo Museum
the Royal Thai Decorations and Coins Pavilion
and a lot more gorgeous stuff

I can't describe this place to you. I'll just show you the photos.

Hopefully the photos will give you some idea.

If you want some more, I recommend http://www.palaces.thai.net

But if you do any kind of search for it, you'll find heaps of photos and a lot of information.
It is the most visited place in Bangkok, both by overseas visitors and locals.

You've gotta fight to get in to the place.

DRIVERS

For example, You've gotta fight the tuk-tuk drivers and

Phra Siratana Chedi

taxi drivers to leave you alone.

"Where are you going?"
"Here"
"I take you there"
"Umm, ..."

VENDORS

You've gotta fight the sellers to let you through. They are selling umbrellas and postcards and lots more.

There was a lady that wanted me to take this bird seed. I hated the pigeons all flying around me as it was. I certainly didn't want to attract any more attention, so I politely said now. And you know, they chase you down the street, really thinking if they hassle you you'll just give in. She even put this bag of bird seed between my back and my backpack, so i was "carrying" it, and said "Now, you pay."

I'm handling this stuff much better than I would have before. I'm getting very tolerant now and going in the reverse of what I used to - making sure I am "keeping face" that I found so hard to do in China sometimes. I just always do the opposite of what I feel like doing, and it ALWAYS works in your favour. I talk softly, I smile, ..... So I politely gave this lady the bird seed

Temple of the Emerald Buddha

back with a big smile and still kept on walking.

Everyone is selling something, right down to the people selling themselves as "guides". I considered that, and then I considered the audio guides ... but I ended up with neither. It was fine just walking around with my little map, with explanations on my map and on the buildings anyway.

GUARDS

I wanted to mention the guards. It was actually quite scary to walk past their areas.

They have guns...with bayonets on the end.

I mean,... yes, royalty lives here. And we are damn luckily to be let in to this gorgeous place anyway. But still, I was afraid of even tripping as I went past in case they thought I was suddenly coming at them or something, so I just kept my distance.

Additional photos below

Photos: 14, Displayed: 14