Past grandeur lives on | Bangkok Post: feature

Imagine yourself on a rice barge or steamboat chugging along the River of Kings, intermittently stopping off at the homes of a prince, a nobleman and a merchant, with the glistening spires of the Grand Palace and Wat Arun providing the backdrop for a fascinating journey back to old Siam. On Saturday, the much anticipated annual home and garden fundraising event organised by the Soroptimist International Club of Dusit is set to take guests on such a journey. The tour will offer a rare opportunity to experience the past grandeur of the rarely visited Chakrabongse Villa, the home of Prince Chakrabongse, son of Rama V; the Praya Palazzo, originally a riverside home of a nobleman at the court of Siam; plus the Chinese courtyard home of the Wanglee family _ all steeped in history and evocative of old Siam.

Over the years the Club has developed a reputation for innovative home and garden tours aimed at supporting the scholarship programme of more than 100 girls throughout Thailand. This year the selected homes reflect the life of a bygone era along the River of Kings, where for centuries the lives of the people intertwined as they plied the waterways which served as the lifeline of Bangkok. When the royal monopoly on goods was dropped in favour of tax concessions given to merchants for rice, ivory and wood a huge increase in the junk trade to and from China took place. Fortunes were made from trade aimed at satisfying the increasing demand for Chinese porcelain used in tamboon ceremonies among the various royal families. An exquisite collection of these ceramics can be seen in the houses included in the tour.

Chakrabongse Villa’s interior.