Dusit

From Banglamphu, you can get to Dusit by taking the #70 bus from Rajdamnoen Klang and getting off outside the zoo and Elephant Museum on Thanon U-Thong, or the #56 from Thanon Phra Athit or Thanon Phra Sumen and alighting at the Thanon Ratchasima entrance to Vimanmek Palace; alternatively, take the express boat to Tha Thewes and then walk. From downtown Bangkok, easiest access is by bus from the Skytrain and subway stops at Victory Monument; there are many services from here, including air-con #510 and #16, both of which run all the way along Thanon Rajwithi.

Vimanmek Palace and the Royal Elephant National Museum

Breezy, elegant Vimanmek Palace (daily 9.30am-4pm; compulsory free guided tours every 30min, last tour 3.15pm; B100, or free with a Grand Palace ticket, which remains valid for one week) was built by Rama V as a summer retreat on Ko Si Chang (see p.200), from where it was transported bit by bit in 1901. The ticket price also covers entry to a dozen other specialist collections in the palace grounds, including the Support Museum and Elephant Museum described opposite. All Visitors are treated to free performance of traditional Thai dance daily at 10.30am and 2pm. Note that the same dress rules apply here as to the Grand Palace. The main entrance to the extensive Vimanmek Palace compound is on Thanon Rajwithi, but there are also ticket gates on Thanon Ratchasima, and opposite Dusit Zoo on Thanon U-Thong.

Vimanmek Palace

Built almost entirely of golden teak without a single nail, the coffee-colored L-shaped Vimanmek Palace is encircled by delicate lattice work verandas that look out onto well-kept lawns, flower gardens and lotus pounds. Not surprisingly, this “Celestial Residence” soon becomes Rama V’s favourite palace and he and his enormous retinue of officials combines and children stayed here for lengthy periods between 1902 and 1906. All of Vimanmek’s 81 rooms were our out of bounds to male visitors, accepts for the king’s own apartments in the octagonal tower, which were entered by a separate staircase.

On display inside is Rama V’s collection of artifacts from all over the world, including becharong ceramics, European furniture and bejeweled Thai betel-nut sets. Considered progressive in his day, Rama V introduced many new-fangled ideas to Thailand: the country’s first indoor bathroom is here, as is the earliest typewriter with Thai Characters, and some of the first portraits paintings-portraiture had until then been seen as a way of stealing part of the sitter’s soul.

The Support Museum

Elsewhere in the Vimanmek grounds a dozen handsome, pastel-painted royal residence have been converted into tiny, specialist interest museums, including collections of antique textiles, photographs take by the king, royal ceremonial paraphernalia and antique clocks. The most interesting of these is the Support Museum Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall, which is housed in another very pretty building, formerly used for meetings and banquets, immediately behind (to the east of) Vimanmek. The support Museum showcases the exquisite handicrafts produced under Queen Sirikit’s charity project, Support, which works to revitalize traditional Thai arts and crafts. Outstanding exhibits include a collection of handbags, baskets and pots woven from the lipao fern that grows wild in southern Thailand; jewelry and figurines inlaid with the iridescent wings of beetles; gold and silver nielloware and lengths of intricately woven silk from the northeast.

Chang Ton Royal Elephant National Museum

Just behind (of the east of) the Support Museum, inside the Thanon U-Thong entrance to the Vimanmek compound, stand two whitewashed buildings that once served as the stables for the King’s white elephants. Now that the sacred pachyderms have been relocated, the stables have been turned into the Royal Elephant National Museum. Inside you will find some interesting pieces of elephant paraphernalia, including sacred ropes, mahouts’ amulets and magic formulae, as well as photos of the all-important ceremony in which a white elephant is granted royal statues.

In Thailand the most revered of all elephants are the so-called white elephants – actually tawny brown albinos – which are considered so sacred that they all, whether wild or captive, belong to the king by law. The present king, Rama IX, has twelve, the largest royal collection to date. Before an elephant can be granted official “white elephant” status, is has to pass a stringent assessment of its physical and behavioral characteristics. Key qualities include a paleness of seven crucial areas – eyes, nails, and palate, and hair, outer edges of the ears, tail and testicles – and an all-round genteel demeanor, manifested, for instance, in the way in which it cleans its food before eating, or in a tendency to sleep in the kneeling position. The expression “white elephant” probably derives from the legend that the kings used to present certain enemies with one of these exotic creatures. The animal required expensive attention but, being Royal, could not be put to work in order to pay for its upkeep. The recipient thus went bust trying to keep it.

Dusit Zoo (Khao Din)

Across Thanon U-Thong from the Elephant Museum is the side entrance into Dusit Zoo, also known as Khao Din (daily 8am-6pm; B30, children B5), which was once part of the Chitrlada Palace gardens, but is now a public park; the main entrance is in Thanon Rajwithi, and there’s a third gate on Thanon Rama V, within waling distance of Wat Benjamobophit. All the usual suspects are here within walking distance of Wat Benjamabophit. All the usual suspects are here in the zoon, including big cats, elephants, orangutans, chimpanzees and a reptile house, but the enclosure are pretty basic. However, it’s a reasonable place for kids to let off steam, with plenty of shade, a full complement of English-language signs, a lake with pedals and lots of footstalls.

Wat Benjamabophit

Wat Benjamobophit (aka Wat Bencha; daily 7am-5pm; B20) is the last major and nineteenth-century European design, with its Carrara marble walls – hence the touristic tag “The marble Temple” – complemented by the bots’ unusual, stained-glass windows, Victorian in style but depicting figures from Thai mythology. Inside, a fine replica of the highly revered Phra Buddha Chinnarat image of Phitsanulok presides over the small room containing Rama V’s ashes. The courtyard behind the bot houses a gallery of Buddha images from all over Asia, set up by Rama V as an overview of different representations of the Buddha.

Wat Benjamabophit is one of the best temples in Bangkok to see religious festivals and rituals. Whereas monks elsewhere rend to go out on the streets every morning in search of alms, the Marble Temple the ritual is reversed, and merit makers come to them. Between about 6 and 7.30am, the monks line up on Thanon Nakhon Pathom, their bowls ready to receive donations of curry and rice, lotus buds, incense, even toilet paper and Coca-Cola; the demure row of saffron-robed monks is a sight that’s well worth getting up early for. The evening candlelight processions around the bot during the Buddhist festivals of Makha Bucha (sometimes written Maha Puja) (in Feb) and Visakha Bucha (in May) are among the most entrancing in the country.

Wat Bejamobophit is just a two-hundred-meter walk south of the zoo’s Thanon Rama V entrance, or about 600m from Vimanmek’s U-Thong gate. Coming by bus #70 from Banglamphu, get off at the crossroads in front of the Rama V statue and walk east along Thanon Sri Ayutthaya.