Siamese modernity through three country palaces in Phetchaburi.
40
Issued Date
2006
Resource Type
Language
eng
Rights
Mahidol University
Suggested Citation
Sompong Amnuay-ngerntra., สมพงษ์ อำนวยเงินตรา (2006). Siamese modernity through three country palaces in Phetchaburi.. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/32876
Title
Siamese modernity through three country palaces in Phetchaburi.
Author(s)
Abstract
This article investigates an interpretation of three respective Siamese
leaders’ visions of modernity through the medium of three static palaces
in Phetchaburi: Phra Nakhon Kiri (the Hilltop Palace) of King Mongkut,
Phra Ram Ratchanivej (the Gunner Palace) of King Chulalongkorn, and
Mrigadayavan (the Seaside Palace) of King Vajiravudh. The architectural
forms of these three palaces have a great value in setting out what is
known about the three kings’ intentions, values, and personalities
influenced by ‘the West’ during the transition of Siamese modernisation
until the end of royal absolutism in 1932.
To complicate any research methodology, the evidence of the three kings’
political visions is relatively abstract and difficult to interpret properly. In
a sense as a detective, the study attempts to seek clues based on past
socio-political phenomena and to sort out to what extent political visions
are embedded in the architectural forms of the country palaces, and why?
At the hilltop palace, King Mongkut used hierarchically traditional
architecture as a means of bolstering national pride and legitimising
claims to the right of kingship. Simultaneously, a political position of
Siam as a modern state was manifested through the European-Sino-
Siamese hybrid architectural style in the mid-nineteenth century. Also,
the bell-shaped pagoda within the site complex reflects his religious
reforms for the sake of upgrading monastic practices and purifying the
canon. His reformed Buddhist sect, Thammayut, is characterised as a
rational, intellectual, and humanistic approach. Such religious reform was
integrated with scientific knowledge, which he had learned in his contact
with the Christian missionaries while in his monkhood and later as king.
King Chulalongkorn created a modern nation-state in response to the
aggressive expansion of European imperialism, especially in the 1890’s.
Being influenced by Kaiser Wilhelm II’s palace in Germany, the king
manifested his ‘global views’ of civilisation and modernisation through
the Jugendstil or Art Nouveau architectural style at the Gunner Palace.
Also, the site reflects the Siamese-German diplomatic relationship while
countering the colonial powers, especially France and Britain.
The seaside palace discourses the conceptual synthesis of Siamese and
Western cultural experience whereby parallel to his nationalistic policy.
King Vajiravudh enthusiastically attempted to revive the spirit of
traditional architecture coupled with Western amenities and modern
technology. This royal veranda bungalow also reflects the king’s
personality, lifestyle, and taste influenced by English culture through his
formative education in Britain.
The empirical study yields three major insights.
1. There is a first methodological problem as it is impossible to
directly ask questions of the three kings but one must rather find and
document the material evidence of past socio-political situations and then
deduce their visions. However, the study of political vision is relatively
abstract and difficult to be interpreted validly and reliably because of
incomplete and imprecise information, a strong reliance on inference, and
difficulty in scientific method. Therefore, how to impute intentions,
values, and personality from architectural buildings that now have no
'life'? How to validate the research result?
2. The study encompasses a wide range of specialties and
subdisciplines that attempt to foster an understanding of the transit of
Siamese modernity. To understand the complex interplay between the
three kings and three palaces, it is important to have holistic knowledge
of other disciplines, especially socio-political history and architectural
history in Thailand. So how to write three, essentially disconnected
stories of three reigns as a continuum? How to bridge the gaps between
political policies, personalities, and architectural expressions?
3. Underlying there is an epistemological problem: the way of seeing
the world changed radically over these 74 years (1851-1925). There were
absolute shifts in the way that Thai knowledge and modernity were being
constructed variously in accordance with and in reaction to Western
influences.
Description
International Symposium on Architecture in the Land of Suvarnabhumi (ISALS), August 3-4, 2006, The Royal River Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.