King Nangklao Monument, Bangkok — the square that replaced a cinema

Bangkok, Thailand · 1989–1990 · Monument and royal pavilion

At a glance

In 1989 a cinema was pulled down at the Phan Fa end of Ratchadamnoen Klang. The Sala Chaloem Thai stood in front of Wat Ratchanatdaram, and it was demolished for the view: with it gone, the Loha Prasat could be seen from the avenue. In its place the state laid out a square, Lan Phlapphla Maha Chetsadabodin (ลานพลับพลามหาเจษฎาบดินทร์), with a permanent royal pavilion for receiving visiting heads of state, and a bronze monument to King Nangklao, Rama III, unveiled on 21 July 1990.

It is a modern square, and it is worth knowing what it cost: a working cinema was removed so that a nineteenth-century temple could be looked at properly.

Key facts

• Thai names: พระบรมราชานุสาวรีย์ รัชกาลที่ 3 (monument to Rama III) and ลานพลับพลามหาเจษฎาบดินทร์ (Lan Phlapphla Maha Chetsadabodin)
• Before: the Sala Chaloem Thai cinema, demolished between March and May 1989 to open the view to the Loha Prasat
• Unveiled: 21 July 1990 (B.E. 2533)
• The statue: bronze, the king seated on a throne, one and a half times life size, on a two-tiered marble base; the king’s life is inscribed on marble panels, and a royal spire form rises behind the figure
• Sculptor: Suphon Sirasongkhram, Applied Arts Division, Fine Arts Department
• The name comes from the title Rama III held before he became king, Krom Muen Chetsadabodin
• The pavilion replaced a temporary structure and is used by the sovereign to receive foreign heads of state
• 31 March is King Nangklao Memorial Day, marked by a state ceremony of homage at the monument
• Coordinates: 13.755377, 100.504962

What you see

The king sits in bronze with a sword laid across his knees, against a backdrop of white marble cut into three tall points and carved with a fine floral pattern. It is a late-twentieth-century monument doing an old job: the three points are a royal spire flattened out, and the effect from the pavement is of a figure framed by a doorway that is not there.

Look past it and the reason for the square is on the skyline — the gilded chedi of Wat Saket on its artificial hill, floodlit above the trees. The low white wall with pointed merlons in the foreground is the old city wall beside Pom Mahakan.

Practical information

• The square is open ground at the foot of Phan Fa Lilat Bridge, on Ratchadamnoen Klang, and can be walked through at any hour. The royal pavilion is not open to visitors.

Sources

• Silpakorn University, Rattanakosin Island Information Centre (Wang Tha Phra branch library) — the demolition of the Sala Chaloem Thai between March and May 1989, the laying out of the square, the bronze by Suphon Sirasongkhram of the Fine Arts Department, its scale and marble base, the unveiling of 21 July 1990, the purpose of the royal pavilion, and the commemoration on 31 March.

Record researched and written by Luigi De Marchi for Cultural Heritage Online, 2026.

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