Taksin’s moat still exists and it is possible to follow its course all the way across the heart of Thonburi, a journey that can be accomplished on foot within an hour and which will pass some of the old city’s most historic sites, skirting the naval dockyards before the canal finally runs to ground just before reaching Klong Bangkok Noi, the waterway having been filled in at this point by Rama V for the building of Thonburi Railway Station. Wichaiprasit Fort, however, is visible only from the Chao Phraya River, and the landward approach will reveal only a massive gate guarded by what must be some of the friendliest-looking sentries in the business. The fort is the home of the Royal Thai Navy, which flies the flag of its commander-in-chief here and fires offsalvos from its cannon on state occasions. Taksin’s palace has been absorbed into the fort compound and is similarly off-limits except to the occasional specialist tour that has to be invited in. These invitations are very, very hard to get if you are a non-Thai. (They won’t even let me in, although possibly they can’t be faulted on that.) Now known as Wang Derm, or Former Palace, it was occupied after Taksin’s time by a succession of princes. Three sons of Rama II were born here, two of who would become king as Rama III and Rama IV, while the third would become Second King Pinklao. When the last royal resident, Prince Chakrapadibhongse died in 1900, Rama V granted ownership of the palace to the Royal Thai Navy, which manages it jointly with the Phra Racha Wang Derm Restoration Foundation. There are some architectural gems in here. Taksin had built the Throne Hall in Chinese style, and the Navy uses it as a reception hall and a conference centre. There is a large Chinese bell at the Throne Hall, the clapper being in the form of a dragon with a crystal ball in its mouth, while the bell stand is Thai in style, the capital of its pillar carved in the shape of a lotus flower and a naga that twists its body around the pillar. Two Chinese-style mansions are located close to the eastern gate of the palace, the inner one having been Taksin’s personal quarters and which is now used as Navy offices. A shrine to King Taksin is here, built late in the nineteenth century in a blending of Thai and Western styles, while nearby is a small modern shrine housing—curiously—whale bones that were found beneath the Taksin shrine when renovations were being undertaken.
The Navy in fact has a substantial frontage at Thonburi from the Bangkok Yai to the Bangkok Noi canals, denoting the importance that this stretch of water had for shipbuilding and military use from the Taksin era onwards. In the early years of the Ayutthaya period river barges manned by teams of rowers had been the chief element of Siamese shipping, as the capital was not a seaport and rivers and canals formed the main transportation highways. When wars erupted, the barges were fitted with cannons for battle. In 1608 the style began to change when King Ekatosarot requested assistance from the Dutch to send shipbuilders to build and equip a number of twoor three-mast brigs. By the latter half of the century the Siamese shipbuilding industry was flourishing, helped by the easy availability of timber, and both Western-style ships and Chinese junks were being built, along with oar-driven barges. Siam therefore had a good capability for building ships, and the vessels that Taksin constructed in the dockyards at Chantaburi in a very short period of time to fight the Burmese invader shows the degree of expertise there must have been. He was able, late in 1767, to move 5,000 men on a fleet of commandeered and new vessels along the Gulf coast, stopping on the way to quell unrest at Chonburi and then sailing up the Chao Phraya to Thonburi, which he took by force, executing the governor, Chao Thong-in, who had been placed in command by the Burmese. The fleet then travelled on to Ayutthaya and Taksin’s army attacked the Burmese at Pho Sam Ton, driving them back across the border. Thus the naval fleet played an important role in regaining Siam’s independence. In 1769, with Taksin now king and attempting to win back errant provinces, he led a fleet of 10,000 men with another 10,000 oarsmen to Nakhon Si Thammarat, in the south, where the governor had been unwilling to comply. The fleet passed through the mouth of the Samut Songkhram River, and was almost destroyed by a great storm, but the province was taken. Taksin ordered the building of another hundred warships for future battles.
A sailor image marks the jetty for those visiting the Bangkok Naval Hospital.
During the reigns of Rama II and Rama III, with China trade fuel-ling Siam’s growth, junks were the most widely built vessels in Siam. The reign of Rama IV saw the new era of steamships, and the beginning of Western trade. The first steamship was built in Bangkok in 1865, 22.8 metres (75 ft) long and 9.14 metres (30 ft) wide, with a 15 horsepower engine. Warships in the reign of Rama IV also started using steam propulsion, first with side paddle wheels then with rear propellers. Eventually, the hulls were also changed from wood to iron. As the nineteenth century progressed, and the volume of Western shipping increased, shipbuilding and repair was undertaken on both sides of the river. During this period the Siamese military forces were regrouped along British lines. Before, there had been no navy. The fighting forces were regarded as soldiers, whether they went by land or water. Now, under Rama V, the Royal Navy was formed. (Language clings stubbornly to the old ways: the Thai word for soldier is taharn, and for sailor is taharn rua, or “boat soldier”. (A member of the Royal Thai Air Force is a taharn agaht, or “air soldier”.) Early in 1890, Rama V officially designated the land directly to the south of Wat Rakhang as the Thonburi Naval Dockyard, and a decade later Taksin’s palace was brought into the Navy complex, being designated in 1906 as the Royal Thai Navy Academy. After World War II it became apparent that Thonburi was no longer large enough to build and maintain modern fighting ships, and other Navy bases were opened at Samut Prakharn and Sattahip, near to Pattaya. This part of Thonburi, however, remains dotted with Navy buildings, including the Department of Naval Engineering, the Bangkok Naval Hospital, and the Royal Thai Navy Crematorium, which is attached to Wat Khrua Wan, a temple noted for having the most complete and best preserved set of Jataka paintings in Thailand.
When Rama I moved the capital across the river and Wang Derm ceased to be a royal palace, the two temples that had previously been encompassed in the compound by King Taksin were released to become public temples once more.
Wat Molilokkayaram stands at the mouth of Taksin’s moat, tucked in beside Wichaiprasit Fort, but to casual visitors it is almost invisible and indeed takes some effort to actually find. Approaching by road over the bridge across Klong Bangkok Yai, the temple is visible fleetingly as a huddle of red roofs, and a U-turn is required to enter the tiny lane that takes its name from the temple and which will lead the visitor over the moat and into the compound, which is surprisingly large, covering five acres of land. When Taksin established his court, this temple was already here. It was known as Wat Tai Talat, which means “the temple behind the market”, so there must have been a market here right against the walls of the fort. Taksin incorporated the temple into his palace boundary. Under Siamese tradition no monks are allowed to reside in a temple in a royal compound between dusk and dawn, the religious activities being reserved for the monarchy, but when Rama I moved the capital across the river he allowed monks to take up residence. The oldest building in the compound is the wiharn, which, oddly, Taksin used for storing salt, and the building is still known as Phra Wiharn Chag Klua. The wiharn is a mix of Thai and Chinese styles, with ceramic roof tiles, and gable spires and ridges decorated with stucco. Rama I built the ubosot, which has very fine Siamese painting on the interior walls and the ceiling, and beautifully carved and lacquered door and window frames. A library was later added, an unusual construction with masonry on the first level, a wooden structure at the second, and a chedi at each end. There are deep alcoves around the base housing statues in military uniforms, although they have badly deteriorated. The building is now living quarters for the monks.
The temple, which was upgraded to second tier royal status in the reign of Rama VI, has been a significant one for the Chakri dynasty. Rama II, III, IV and V all made additions and renovations, and Rama VI elevated it to the royal second tier. Most of the sons of Rama II, including the future kings Rama III and IV and Second King Pinklao, had their elementary study here. Wat Molilokkayaram has evolved over the years to become a study centre for the Pali language and in 1991 was appointed as the monastic educational institute providing Dharma education. Temples from elsewhere in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand send students here, where there are twenty teachers and up to two hundred monks and novices studying each year.
Wat Arun, of course, needs little introduction. It is one of Thailand’s