National Assembly Hall

After lunch, we went to the National Assembly Hall, which was the parliament building constructed during the reign of King Rama V in 1907.

In Thailand, all kings are “Rama”, being designated by number. There’ve only been 9, so that system still works.

This building is very pretty, and looks like it was lifted right out of a European City. Whoever did the blueprint pulled it off the shelf and didn’t allow any Thai modifications. It’s built of Carrera marble which was imported from Italy, has copper domes and is pretty impressive.

Like many other buildings, it’s now primarily a museum and used only for important royal or formal ceremonies.

Rama VI added on not long after it was constructed, between 1907 and 1915. He put in the Throne Hall of the building, which is most famous for having been used as headquarters of PEOPLE’S PARTY during the 4 days of the People’s 1932 Revolution which transferred Thailand from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with a legislature.

There is little more boring than someone’s recitation of each and every display in a museum. Suffice it to say, there was lots of pretty stuff, but there were a couple of things that really stood out.

There’s an octagonal entry hall that is decorated with beetle wings.

That’s not a typo. This room is easily 20 feet across with 15+ foot ceilings.

They had samples of the bugs in a display case. They’re about an inch and a half long and kind of resemble locusts you see in Oklahoma, but with sleek Ferrari style lines and a multicolored iridized paint job. They are metallic colors from dark blue to bright red.

The display says that they are farmed in Thailand and must die a natural death in order to keep their colors.

You have to wonder if they’ve ever had doubts about their career path. Yes, it’s government service and a secure position with a good retirement, but there’s not much opportunity for family life there.

Imagine taking beetle wings and weaving them into patterns, like you would see in rattan furniture. That was the mats on the walls. Then take those same wings, in a variety of colors, and work them onto a 6 ft. tall crystal chandelier. It was stunning.

Apparently it’s not important enough to put a picture of it on the web, though, because we can’t find one and this was one of the places you couldn’t take pictures, a fact that they drove home by making you put your bag, your camera and your cell phone in a locker before you went in.

The rest of this building was nice – some amazing pieces of art from the Royal collection, a table set up for a formal state dinner, and then on the lower level were displays of embroidery. Apparently the Queen has quite an interest in cultivating that home business and has chosen to highlight some of the most impressive stuff in her museum.

It is awesome. Not a hobby either of us would choose, given how exponentially much more difficult it must be than a simple counted cross-stitch.

This complex had numerous buildings that had been divided into different museums – apparently one king was a photographer, there was a clock museum, there was a display devoted to textiles – but by mid-afternoon, we were getting “museum overload” and tended to pass by some of those things.

You can’t see it all; if you do, you can’t remember any of it.  Besides, if you talk about all of it, nobody reads your Blog.