Wang Klai Kang Won Palace
Graciously built beside Hua Hin Beach by King Prajadhipok, Rama7, Wang Klai Kang Won served as an alternative summer palace for His Majesty and Queen Rampai Phanee. Designed with a European architectural feel, the original name was "Suan Klai Kang Won" and "Phra Tamnak Piamsuk", meaning "The Garden Far From Worries" and "The Royal Residence Full of Happiness".
Wang Klai Kang Won Palace - Hua Hin - ThailandBesides the royal residence and beautifully manicured ornamental gardens full of kinds of plants and objects d'art from Java, one must also be sure to see the beautiful collection of shells in the shell museum.
King Prajadhipok (King Rama VII) built the Klai Kangwon Palace at Hua Hin as a summer home for Queen Rambai Barni. The palace was designed by Prince Iddhidehsarn Kridakara, an architect and the Director of the Fine Arts Department, and officially opened in 1929.
Originally, Klai Kangwon comprised three mansions, each facing the sea. The two-storey buildings housed the royals, while smaller houses in the vicinity were for the entourage. The architecture of the palace is basically Spanish, designed to admit the cooling sea breezes.
A formal garden in front of the mansions has stone sculptures from Bali, sundials, nautical instruments, lamps and other ornaments. A section is given over to topiary-bushes sculpted and trained into interesting shapes.
Their Majesties the King and Queen still stay at Klai Kangwon Palace when on trips to Prachuab Khiri Khan and surrounding areas.
See also: Klai Kangwon Palace
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Klai Kangwon Palace stands by the sea in the Hua Hin District of Prachuap Khirikhan Province. King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) has graciously built it as a summer palace for Queen Rambai Barni by using money from Privy Purse. He ordered Prince Iddhidehsarn Kridakara, an architectural graduate from the Ecole Des Beaux Arts in France and the director of the Department of Fine Arts, to design and supervise the construction.
This beachside palace was formerly used as a royal summer residence by King Rama VI during the 1920s. The palace was designed by an Italian architect and built of golden teak.
The life, times and vastly different residences of Rama VII are on view in a photo exhibit, ‘At Home with King Prajadhipok’
Royal-watchers have a rare chance now through August to delve into the often grand, often moving lives of Their Majesties King Prajadhipok and Queen Rambai Barni.
The King Prajadhipok Museum is exhibiting old and uncommon photos of the seven residences occupied by Rama VII – the last absolute monarch of Siam – in “At Home with King Prajadhipok”, until August 31.
The Hua Hin railway station is one of oldest railway station in Thailand. Its most striking feature is the unique Royal Waiting Room in Thai architectural style. The Royal Waiting Room was built in the reign of King Rama VI in order to welcome the King and his entourage.
Hua Hin is about 200 km south of Bangkok on the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand.
Can be easily accessed by road (2 and half hour drive from Bangkok) - Taxis available here.
Prachuap Khiri Khan is located some 281 kilometers south of Bangkok. After the old town was abandoned during the fall of Ayutthaya, a new settlement was established in 1845 in the reign of King Rama IV. The province, today, is more famous for its natural charm of beaches and mountains than historical attractions.
Bangkok is one of Asia’s most cosmopolitan cities. Created as the Thai capital in 1782 by the first monarch of the present Chakri dynasty, Bangkok is a national treasure house and Thailand’s spiritual, cultural, political, commercial, educational and diplomatic centre.