1888 Meyers map

[GWR]

1888 map of Bangkok - Meyers Konversations-Lexikon:-

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Karte_Bangkok_MKL1888_kl.png

Associated Article:-

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Karte_Bangkok_MKL1888_kl.png#filelinks

[ncr]

hmmmm.... I've seen that map somewhere else before (printed, if my memory doesn't betray me, but not in the original lexicon).

Well, we got an interesting array of things between Sathorn (where the map notes "docks and shipyards") and the river mouth: coconut and betel nut trees; orange (:confused: ) orchards in the Chao Phraya bend (is that area called Bang Krajao?); a "Burmese village"; sugar cane plantations all around Paknam; and ricefields. Well, that all changed a bit....

The "Hohe Pagode" (high pagoda) is certainly Wat Arun.
A "Faktorei" is not a factory, but an old word for an (overseas) trade organisation (like the various East India Companies).
But I would like to know what the "palace of the 2nd king" was?

[admin]

>But I would like to know what the "palace of the 2nd king" was?

I think that is the palace where the National Museum is now... ("The palace of Wang Na was occupied by the prince successors for five reigns, from King Rama I to V." http://www.pnm.my/motw/thailand/Museum.htm)

It was from the time before a "Crown Prince" system was in place...

Prince Vajirunahit was the first Crown Prince who passed away in 1894 at the age of 17.

from http://thailandforvisitors.com/central/bangkok/palaces/index.html
The Front Palace
In the Thai system of monarchy, the king traditionally appointed a viceroy or deputy king, who commanded the vanguard in times of war and assisted the king in the civil administration of the country. The deputy king, or Uparaja in Thai, was also the designated successor of the king. Naturally, such an important person needs his own palace, which must be second only to the king's in grandeur. The Front Palace, or Wang Na, was where the Uparaja lived. The palace was built at the same time as the Grand Palace, but when the post of Uparaja was eliminated by King Rama IV, his successor turned the palace into the National Museum.

[The Enforcer!]

Interesting that Bettel nuts were west of the river when Suan Phlu (Bettel nut park) is east!

The Enforcer!

[Ahoerstemeier]

The palace was built at the same time as the Grand Palace, but when the post of Uparaja was eliminated by King Rama IV, his successor turned the palace into the National Museum.
Actually it was Rama V (Chulalongkorn) who abolished that post when his vice-king Boworn Vichaicharn died in 1885. After that he only named his son as heir. This was probably a result of the Wang Na incident in 1874, when the power struggle between Rama V and the vice-king over the Rama V's reforms erupted.

[airlana]

hmmmm.... I've seen that map somewhere else before (printed, if my memory doesn't betray me, but not in the original lexicon).


maybe from this earlier thread 07-27-2005

The maps from 1870 show both No1 King and No 2 King Palaces.

Here's a couple of old maps of BKK with some detail of klongs

This first one has the caption:

"Perhaps the first unstylised map of Bangkok. Although this reproduction is poor, being based on a poor copy on transfer paper of the original, a reasonably good general impression of the city circa 1870 is conveyed and the annotations, where readable, yield a considerable amount of information available from no other source"

Small size map (http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/airlana/BangkokMap1870s.jpg)

The same map in large size 1.2MB (http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/airlana/th=%20Bangkok%201870%20Map.jpg)

[The Enforcer!]

when the post of Uparaja was eliminated by King Rama IV, his successor turned the palace into the National Museum.
I rather think it was H.M. Phra Pok Klao (Prajadhipok) who donated Wang Na to be the National Musuem.

The Enforcer!