A Royal Trip and High Tea at Mrigadayavan Palace Hua Hin
There are many places to visit in Hua Hin and Mrigadayavan Palace is one of the most unique places to visit. We made a ‘royal trip’ to Mrigadayavan Palace Hua Hin in one of our trips to this beautiful coastal town in Thailand. Hua Hin is a popular town for the locals to visit during weekends as it is less than two hours drive from Bangkok.
The Mrigadayavan Palace is located at Cha Am in the province of Petchaburi and it is also near the Hua Hin airport. The Mrigadayavan Palace was the seaside palace of His Majesty King Vajiravudh or King Rama VI, who ruled Siam from 1910 to 1925.
To visit Mrigadayavan Palace Hua Hin, you can join tours or self drive. We self drive in Hua Hin and Cha Am in all our trips as it is easier, convenient and affordable. Many people didn’t know that the attractions in Hua Hin or Cha Am are quite far apart and if you want to hail taxis all the time, it will cost a lot. Hence, self drive in Hua Hin and Cha Am is the best way to travel around and there are car rental companies in the town or in the airport.
There are parking spaces near the Mrigadayavan Palace Hua Hin. There is an entrance fee and you need to wear decently as this is an official place and palace and hence you need to cover up before you enter the area.
You can’t bring your own food and drinks in to the royal residence. Visitors are not allowed to smoke, enter the beach area, residential area of the palace and making any disrespect pose while taking pictures inside the palace.
There are a few sections of the palace. When you enter the palace, the tea house and the botanical garden located on the left side while the Samosorn Sevakamart (throne hall), Samutphiman (Men’s Residence and Outer Court), Pisansakorn (Ladies’ Residence and Inner Court) and Learning Spaces are on the right side.
The Mrigadayavan Palace Hua Hin is designed by King Vajiravudh and meant to be a humble royal residence. The designs were implemented by Italian architect, Ercole Pietro Manfredi (1883 – 1973), and the palace was constructed from 1923 to late 1924.
King Vajiravudh visited the palace twice during his reign, once during the summer of 1924 for three months, and then two months in the summer of 1925, after which His Majesty passed away. As usage of the palace declined, the palace was subsequently abandoned for 30 years, until 1965, when His Majesty Bhumibol Aduyadej gave the Naresuan Camp’s Air Support Division the permission to use the grounds of the Palace.
The Botanical Garden features the monument of King Rama VI or King Bajiravudh at the center of the garden. You can hear the sounds of the waves of the sea when you are walking around this area.
The Tea House is the structure after the Botanical Garden. The Tea House is made of teak and it is a beautiful building overlooking the beach.
Visitors are not allowed to enter the upper floor of the Tea House. The Tea House offer high tea for visitors and we ordered a set while enjoying the view of the surrounding area.
The high tea comes with a choice of Maison Fondee En 1854 Tea and selection of Western and Thai desserts. The high tea is just a royal experience as we chilled here to enjoy the view and the surrounding area.
After the high tea, we went to visit the Mrigadayavan Palace. The palace is consists of the main groups of buildings: the Samosorn Sevakamart (throne hall), Samutphiman (Men’s Residence and Outer Court) and Pisansakorn (Ladies’ Residence and Inner Court).
The palace currently on its second restoration project and this is to restore the palace grounds and the surrounding coastal vegetation. The restoration is projected to end in time for Mrigadayavan Palace’s 100th year anniversary in 2024.
The project also aims to develop the landscape of the Palace to meet the requirements of the 1924 Government Gazette, which states that 2,200 rais (3.52km2) of palace ground should be conserved for forest and animal protection.
The Mrigadayavan Palace consists of 16 teak buildings connected by balconies and corridors, and 23 staircases, built in a manner combining the Thai method of elevating buildings on pillars and Western style and detail.
The Palace was built to have excellent ventilation, such as using casement windows and leaving space between the hip roof (panya in Thai) and the high ceiling for ventilation. The roof is covered by rhombus tiles, which keep out sunlight and rain. The niches at the base of the 1080 pillars are meant to be filled with water to keep out ants.
It is really windy in the Mrigadayavan Palace compound. Due to the restoration work, we didn’t really venture around the palace grounds.
The Mrigadayavan Palace architecture and design is unique and the after the restoration work, the palace will looks like brand new.
We spent more than an hour at Mrigadayavan Palace including the high tea. This is the real attraction of Cha Am and Hua Hin and the Mrigadayavan Palace is an eye opener. The seaside palace is well maintained and a symbol of the royal’s presence in this part of Thailand.
If you plan to visit Cha Am and Hua Hin, please take a A Royal Trip and High Tea at Mrigadayavan Palace Hua Hin.
Reference: http://www.mrigadayavan.or.th/
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