King Chulalongkorn Memorial Building

The Siamese King Chulalongkorn ( Rama V ) in 1897 and 1907 made two trips to Europe. During the first, he visited Venice, Milan , Geneva, Rome , Warsaw and St. Petersburg , from where he went to Sweden at the International Exhibition of Industry and Design in Stockholm. After the exhibition, the Swedish king Oscar II wanted to show the other parts of Sweden to the Thai king, choosing two offers for the trip. One concerned a trip to the northern region, and the other a trip to the south and to Norway. King Chulalongkorn chose the north, because from there they delivered timber to Siam.

Starting from the city of Hernösand and traveling through Sollefteo and Ragunda, he took a boat to the small village of Utanede to return from there through the city of Sundsvall to Stockholm ^[1] . A trip through Utanede left a mark on the history of the village. After the visit, the authorities of the Ragunda commune decided to rename the Bispgården road, on which the king’s path passed, in his honor.

In 1992, an ensemble of Thai folk dance arrived in Sweden with a tour. Its participants took the initiative to build a memorial Thai pavilion with a statue of King Chulalongkorn in Sweden through the efforts of two countries.

The Swedish side approved this proposal. Funds for the construction were raised for several years. On July 19, 1997, a ceremonial laying of stone took place next to the road on which the king passed. The construction of the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Building was started in August 1997. The building was built and opened on July 19, 1998, on the 100th anniversary of the visit of King Chulalongkorn to Sweden.

The building was donated to the Swedish government, which in turn donated it to the municipality of Ragunda. Every year on July 19 and October 23, celebrations are held near the building. Currently, the building has become one of the main attractions of the commune.

The building is a typical one-story Thai pavilion with an area of ​​10 x 10 meters and a height of 28 meters. The multi-pitch roof is supported by 24 snow-white columns. The building has four entrances, decorated with gold leaf worth three million Swedish crowns or 14 million Thai baht .

• Fredrik Kullberg: Sveriges 100 märkligaste sevärdheter. Ponto pocket 2013, s. 43.

• thaipaviljongen.se - official site of the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Building
• Corner of Thailand in Sweden
• Sweden celebrates the anniversary of the visit of Rama V
• HOLMSTAGÅRDEN