Walking in the Royal Park Ratchaphruek

Today my parents and I went to the Royal Park Ratchaphruek, which opened in 2006 in honor of His Majesty’s 60th year as monarch and his 80th birthday. I actually was able to go on my last visit to Thailand soon after it opened in 2006. Unfortunately, all the pictures I took that visit were on the hard-drive of the first computer that died on me this year. I may have to recover them, because I think I had some really good ones and it would be kind of interesting to compare them to the ones I took today. (And I think I’ll go back again too.)

Basically, the park commemorates His Majesty’s reign, with sections devoted to his work in promoting agriculture and education, particularly in Thailand’s rural regions. There are also, apparently, sections sponsored by 23 “outstanding Thai corporations,” according to the pamphlet. I had wondered about the predominance of corporate advertising I saw, so that makes a lot of sense. (In fact, the beautiful Royal Pavilion – where I took dozens of photos - was sponsored by Singha, one of Thailand’s main beer manufacturers.)

There are also gardens representing 23 nations around the globe, from South Africa to Bhutan. That was my favorite part of the park when I visited in 2006, but we didn’t have time to walk through them today. The United States did not contribute; personally I think it was because of their disapproval of the 2006 coup. And if that is so, it was a rude gesture. Anyway. I would like to go back and walk through those sections again. I remember Turkey’s garden as particularly beautiful.

This visit I spent most of my time in the Royal Pavilion. It is lovely. I was snapping pictures very happily when my mom pointed me to the wall murals. I hadn’t looked too closely because usually they are scenes from religious literature or just landscape murals, but these were all of HM, painted from some of the pictures I have seen. The lighting wasn’t particularly good, but I took pictures of them all and I can’t wait to see them on the computer. The Queen and Crown Princess were also depicted in the murals.

I was fascinated by the religious component of the building. As much as the courtyard of the hospital in Bangkok felt like a shrine, this seemed more overtly shrine-like. In fact, throughout the park there were bells like those in a temple ringing in the breeze. I can’t remember what the significance is, exactly, (and actually, they kind of creeped me out since I associate them with a horror film I saw years ago), but I’m going to find out. I think they are prayer bells.

There were also rabbits depicted everywhere. My parents and I were wondering if the King was born in the year of the Rabbit, which turns out to be the case. It was kind of amusing to see giant concrete rabbits sitting in the grass.

The park was very beautiful. It only recently reopened, I think. HM designated it a royal park earlier this year. I hope that it attracts more visitors. When I was there before, it was horribly crowded. Today there were about 15 other people that I saw wandering around. With the Queen’s birthday next month I’m sure there will be more visitors though.