Vimanmek

In 1887, King Rama V of Thailand paid a visit to Europe and visited many different royal palaces. Upon returning to Thailand with his personal money, the king acquired a number of gardens and rice fields between the Padung Krungkasem and Samsen canals for the construction of the royal garden and named it Dusit Garden ^[3] .

The first permanent residence in Dusit Garden was Wimanmek Palace built in 1900 by order of King Rama V. Prior to this, the mansion was the Munthaturattanaroj Summer Palace on Sichang Island in Chonburi Province, which was disassembled, transported to Bangkok and reassembled in Dusit Garden, under supervision and the leadership of His Royal Highness Prince Narissaran Uwativong (Narissaranuwaddhiwongse) ^[3] . During the construction, not a single nail was used and the structural elements were fastened together with wooden dowels.

The celebration of the completion and opening of 72 rooms was held on March 27, 1901. After King Rama V moved his residence here and lived in the palace for 5 years until the construction of the new Ampon Satan residence was completed in 1906 ^[4] . In 1925, King Rama VI, near the end of his reign, gave permission to live in the Palace of Wimanmek, Her Highness Queen Indrasakdisachi . After the death of the king, she moved to another residence, Suanhong, which is located a little north of the Wimanmek Palace. Since then, Wimanmek Palace was no longer used as a royal residence and since 1932 for 50 years, has been used as a repository of royal property ^[3] .

In 1982, on the occasion of the celebration of the bicentennial of the capital of Bangkok, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit requested permission from His Majesty King Rama IX to repair the palace and make it a museum in honor of King Rama V ^[4] . Currently, the Wimanmek Palace is a museum and is open to the public.

Wimanmek Palace is the largest teak building in the world. Its architectural style reflects Western influence. It is built in neoclassical European Victorian style with Thai motifs. On the roof of the building are pointed spiers. The building consists of two rectangular wings. Each wing has a length of 60 meters and a height of 20 meters. The palace has 3 floors, with the exception of the part where the king lived, which is 4-storey and has an octagonal shape. The first floor was built with brick and cement, and the upper floors are teak ^[3] . The palace has 81 rooms, as well as outdoor terraces and verandas. Around the palace there is a garden with small canals, bridges, gazebos and other residences built for their wives and princesses.

Currently, Wimanmek Palace functions as a museum. The museum consists of 31 ^[3] (30 ^[1] ) of the 81 exhibition halls.

Among the exhibits of the Rattanakosin era, there are porcelain, furniture, betelite kits, the first typewriter with the Thai alphabet, hunting trophies, various paintings and royal photographs. There is also a room with a first shower and the first light bulb in Thailand.

The museum also posted original photographs of King Rama V of Thailand and Russian Emperor Nicholas II from Tsarskoye Selo and there is a room where photographs and paintings of other Russian personalities were posted, with whom members of the royal family had a relationship during the reign of King Rama V.

On the third floor are collected various things belonging to the king and his family. Jewelry, books, cutlery, weapons, telescopes and other objects that give an idea of ​​the royal person.

The museum also collected various gifts from monarchs and ambassadors from around the world to King Rama V.

The museum is open from 09:30 to 16:00 daily, including weekends and holidays. Entrance ticket costs 100 baht. You can also get tickets from the Royal Palace . Appropriate clothing is required to visit. Pants or a long skirt and a long-sleeved T-shirt. At the entrance, special sarongs are sold for visits. All bags, telephones and cameras are handed over to special storages. Photographing is prohibited inside the museum.

Since July 21, 2016 the museum is temporarily closed for reconstruction. End date is not known. ^[five]

• Wimanmek Palace is the world's largest teak building .
• The palace used to be on Sichang Island. In order to transport it to Bangkok, it was completely disassembled and then assembled in parts again.
• The palace was built without a single nail.
• Wimanmek Palace was the first building in Thailand to have electricity and an autonomous generator
• The first water shower in Thailand was installed in the palace. True, it was filled manually with water, buckets.
• The first elevator of Thailand was built in the palace, however, it was controlled by manual traction ^[2] .