Bangkok photos - Old ships through the centuries

by Eric Lim
(Bangkok)

These are photos of some of the exhibits in the Thai Naval Museum which I visited in October 2010.

Photo 1 - King Taksin's navy off the coast of Chanthabur in 1767. After the fall of Ayutthaya, Phraya Taksin escaped with his troops and set up his base in the coastal province of Chanthaburi before he established his capital in Thonburi.

Photo 2 - Model of the royal yacht Regent. In 1871, King Chulalongkorn made the first overseas trip by a Siamese monarch when he sailed on the Regent to Singapore and later Batavia (Java).

Photo3 - HTMK Thonburi engaging the French Navy off the coast of Trat in eastern Thailand on 17 January 1941. This battle was during the Franco-Siamese War from November 1940 - January 1941 over the territories in present day Laos and Cambodia ceded to the French after the Paknam Incident in 1893.

Photo 4 - The timeless royal barges. In the foreground is the royal escort barge Ekachai with its mythical dragon at the bow.