A Former Royal Residence--Suan Pakkad Palace

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The former home of a prince and princess is now a museum. But, unlike the other homes I've visited recently, it's not set up as though they still live there.

Located in the heart of the city, the palace is surprisingly quiet. The first thing you visit, before the former palace, is a small museum filled with artifacts (pottery and bronze, mostly) from the ancient Banchiang civilization. Believed to be up to 6000 years old, some of the pieces are in surprisingly good condition. There are maps and good English descriptions for all of it. It's definitely worth a look.

I skipped the art gallery because I was anxious to see the palace itself. It's comprised of 8 traditional Thai houses surrounding a garden. Unfortunately, photography is only allowed in the garden. Even more unfortunate is that I happened to visit the day after a large celebration for Bangkok as the world's most visited city took place. The workers were still taking things down... in the garden. (Of course, I'd put this off for over a week, too.) It was noisy, crowded, and chaotic. It made it hard to get a real sense of what the palace was like.

Each of the houses has a variety of things to look at. Some are home to various cultural relics (instruments, monks' fans, Khon masks, art) and some have collections that belonged to the royal couple (royal dishes, gorgeous rocks and minerals, private chapel). Able to move at my own pace, I was able to pour over the things I found most interesting and breeze through other parts.

My favorite pavilion was the Lacquer Pavilion. It was built sometime in the 17th century, and after being found in need of some help, brought to Bangkok and restored as the princess's birthday gift. Inside are paintings depicting the life of Buddha and other ancient stories. Breathtaking would be an understatement.

All in all, it's a nice little visit. It's a beautiful place, and I imagine even more so on a quiet day.

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