Palaces

History, Kingdoms & the Making of Siam

Lanna, Kingdom of the North: from Mangrai to Dara Rasmi, Chiang Mai between Ayutthaya, Burma and Bangkok

For nearly six centuries, the north of present-day Thailand answered to a capital other than Sukhothai, Ayutthaya or Bangkok. Founded in 1296 by…

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Cities, Territories & Cultural Landscapes

Rattanakosin Island, the historic heart of Bangkok: a capital shaped by water, contested by its memory

On 21 April 1782, on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya, a wooden pillar is planted in the ground. This act founds the capital of the new Chakri…

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Arts, Aesthetics & Creation

From the Ramayana to the Ramakien: how the Indian epic became Siamese

On the walls of Wat Phra Kaew, as on the stages of the *khon*, Phra Ram has been doing battle with Thotsakan for more than two centuries. Their story…

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