Phayathai Palace : The legend of a royal farm
Dating back to 1908, soon after the century, King Chulalongkorn purchased a piece of land near Samsen Canal adjacent to the Phayathai rice fields to be used for recreation and crop experimentation. A building was then constructed there named the Phayathai Residence.
The 16-hectare area was a combination of a temporary residence for the king and a working farm. The area next to the royal residence was used as a vegetable garden, flower garden, lotus pond, and chicken farm for producing eggs. The area south of the Sanghee Bridge was used as rice fields. A theatre for royal ceremonies was established there, and it was also sometimes used as a stage for dramatic presentations. In the harvest season, Queen Prasipatcharin, King Chulalongkorn’s mother, always came to join In the farming work from morning until noon. The Payathai Residence and farm was like a pilot project for rice growing. The Royal Plowing Ceremony was held there in former times.
In the late period of king Vajiravudh (King Rama VI), the palace was modified to serve as a hotel named Hotel Phayathai. For five years the hotel served foreign guests who came for state visits or on business trips. The price of a deluxe room (The king’s former bedroom) was about 120 baht a night, which is equivalent to about 10,000 baht at the present time.
The European style pal
ace comprises five buildings. First is the 3-story Vaikun Thepayasathan, which used to be King Chulalongkorn’s privetw quarters. There were beautiful celing paintings painted by an Italian artist both in the king’s bedroom and inside the Piman Chakri Building, which contained the king’s writing room and meeting room complete with a fireplace. The Srisutanivat Building was used especially for welcoming all the female guests, because in the old days men and women were separated by tradition. The Thevarajsaparom Building was an occasional meeting room and theatre. Lastly, the Udomwanaporn Building , a brick building two stories high, was the queen’s quarters.
Although it started out as a farming area, Phayathai Palace is now used as an administrative building for Phramongkutklao Hospital. Parts of the buildings are open to the public, Coffee lovers can enjoy a cup of their favorite brew at the Norasing Coffee shop Building. Phayathai Palace is open from Monday-Saturday with no entrance fee, situated at 315 Rachavithi Road, Bangkok 10400
