Saranrom Royal Palace () is a former

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, located between

Grand Palace The Grand Palace (, Royal Institute of Thailand. (2011). ''How to read and how to write.'' (20th Edition). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. . ) is a complex of buildings at the heart of Bangkok, Thailand. The palace has been the officia ...

and Wat Ratchapradit. It served as temporary residence for some princes and as lodging for royal guests. It is now the site of the Museum of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Saranrom Park.

History

Saranrom Palace is a two-storey brick building designed by

Henry Alabaster Henry Alabaster (22 May 1836 – 9 August 1884) was a British-born diplomat who became an advisor to King Chulalongkorn of Siam. Early life and family Henry Alabaster was born in 1836, the son of James Chaloner Alabaster and Harriet Woodman. Hi ...

, deputy consul general to the British Embassy and advisor to the King. The construction started in 1866, Originally King Rama IV planned to retire to this palace to live in retirement as advisor on state affairs and decided to give the throne to his heir Prince

Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

but King Rama IV died in 1868 before completion of the construction. Early in the reign of

King Rama V Chulalongkorn (20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910), posthumously honoured as King Chulalongkorn the Great, was the fifth king of Siam from the Chakri dynasty, titled Rama V. Chulalongkorn's reign from 1868 until his death in 1910 was cha ...

, the king granted this palace to the princes as a temporary residence when they moved out of the

such as Prince Chaturonrasmi and Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse. Later on, the palace was used to accommodate foreign guests until the reign of King Rama VI, starting with

Prince Oscar Bernadotte Prince Oscar Carl August Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (15 November 1859 – 4 October 1953) was a Swedish religious activist, the second son of King Oscar II of Sweden and his consort, Sofia of Nassau. Born as a Prince of Sweden and Norway, h ...

of Sweden in 1884. Others such as

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

(when he was Tsesarevich of Russia),

Prince George of Greece and Denmark Prince George of Greece and Denmark (; 24 June 1869 – 25 November 1957) was the second son and child of George I of Greece and Olga Konstantinovna of Russia, and is remembered chiefly for having once saved the life of his cousin the future Em ...

, and Prince Fushimi Hiroyasu. King Rama VII transferred the palace to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

to use as headquarters. The Saranrom Palace was used in that capacity until 1992, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs moved to Sri Ayutthaya Building in Ratchathewi District. When Saranrom Palace was still the office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was once where the founding members of ASEAN 5 countries

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

signed

ASEAN Declaration The ASEAN Declaration or Bangkok Declaration is the founding document of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It was signed in Bangkok on 8 August 1967 by the five ASEAN founding members, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singap ...

on 8 August 1967 to establish the

Association of Southeast Asian Nations The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 Sovereign state, states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its ...

(ASEAN).

References

{{coord, 13.750340, 100.494477, region:TH_type:landmark, display=title Museums in Bangkok Former royal residences in Bangkok Neoclassical architecture in Thailand