Lost Palaces,Lost History: The Wang of Bangkok’s Rattanakosin

Siam’s practices of polygamy variously bemused and shocked European visitors to the kingdom in the nineteenth century; however, especially in the case of the early Chakri monarchy, there was always also a strong political rationale to such customs. Multiple liaisons would yield multiple sons who could subsequently serve as defenders of both realm and dynasty; later, as the nation evolved, they could form a pool of ministers and administrators. Multiple daughters, in turn, were always useful in shoring up support from a restive nobility. Sons in particular, however, presented a real estate challenge as they had to be housed in appropriate style and this called for a profusion of both small and large palaces, wang, throughout the old historic city of Rattanakosin. From the locations of wang and their degrees of splendour one might have been able to read the evolving politics and political economy of early Bangkok, also the always evolving role of the monarchy, except that most have been swept away for more mundane urban development. Yet enough evidence remains for the story still to be pieced together, thereby throwing some light on currently fraught debates over the political context and role of the monarchy.