A short and brief history about Maruekhathaiyawan Palace ( Mrigadayavan Palace) which is available from the website:
Originally, the King had a Palace built on Hat Chao Samran beach, a little more North, but he was unhappy with it and decided to demolish the building and use the teak wood to construct a new Palace facing the sea in Cha-Am district. The location was found convenient because Cha-Am was by then connected to Bangkok by rail and the area was beneficial to health with its forest and fresh sea air.It was constructed in the year 1923 under His Majesty King Vajiravudh, or King Rama VI. The beachside two-storeys palace is built with teakwood from the King’s demolished residence at Chao Samran Beach. As for architecture design, it is designed by King Rama VI and Italian architect, Ercole Manfredi who did the finishing touches.
Reason that the palace is also named as Palace of Love and Hope:
Mrigadayavan was known as the “Palace of Love and Hope” because when Queen Indrasakdi Sachi was pregnant, King Vajiravudh was extremely hopeful in anticipation of an heir. The king took great care of her throughout her pregnancy, but regrettably the queen miscarried. King Vajiravudh finally got a daughter, Princess Bejaratana, just one day before he passed away. Mrigadayavan Palace consists of 16 golden teak buildings which are divided into 3 groups. All are linked together throughout the palace by verandas on stilts to maximize the sea breeze and to ensure that the compound could easily be kept clean. Ants were controlled by niches for water around each concrete pillar and along the walls connecting to the ground.
We came to Maruekhathaiyawan Palace ( Mrigadayavan Palace) during the early morning on the 3rd day of our stay in Hua Hin. I was amazed by the well-maintained and clean Maruekatayawan Palace despite being almost 90 years old since it's built. More photos of the palace could be seen throught this blog. Before we entered Maruekhathaiyawan Palace ( Mrigadayavan Palace), the attire of visitors will be checked and those who were wearing sleeveless, skirt or shorts were required to rent a sarong at the counter. Each visitor will then be given a entrance pass with entrance fees [30baht] and we were reminded to keep silent while visiting this Palace.
The entrance passes to Maruekhathaiyawan Palace ( Mrigadayavan Palace)
The landscape garden and water fountain before the palace was seen.
The palace was painted in tiffany blue (some said it's light blue) and beige color with red rooftop.
Maruekatayawan Palace (Mrigadayavan Palace) is a beachfront palace and the atmosphere was very tranquil and harmonious. The unique part of this place is that the Palace of Love & Hope is of raised-floor style with 16 golden teak buildings and 3 pavilions which face the sea view.
When King Rama VI passed away in the year of 1925, Mrigadayavan Palace had been left empty until the year 1965. Under the order King Bumibol, Maruekatayawan Palace (Mrigadayavan Palace) was restored and opened to public. During our visit, there's on-going renovation of one of the section of Mrigadayavan Palace.
The source of water for the royal family in the past.
Red blossom flowers that reminded of Korea.
Corridor leading to a bathing pavilion of royal family
There's a signboard showing you to follow to go upstairs which is the other end away from the main entrance [ 30th baht entrance fees are incurred ]. The visitors are allowed to visit the 2nd storey but camera, phone and hat/cap have to be placed inside a white cotton bag to be carried up together. The palace is very big with the halls are linked together and connected by long corridors. The royal consort members’ residential halls are located on the right wing with the central group of halls is the royal residence of royal sitting/ relaxing rooms, accommodations for close royal servants called Phisan Sakhon Hall, and the reading room. Samoson Sewakamat Hall, a two-storey open pavilion is used as a meeting place and theatre occasionally.
There's limited information provided but still able to let us understand of events that happened at the palace. The signboards are available to show the purpose of the each pavillion of the royals.
Overall, it's a place that worth to be visited if you are interested in peeking the lifestyle of the Royals and history. The visit to this historical palace will not be taking long time unless you like to sit down along the beach to enjoy the breeze. We spent most of the hour to enjoy the scenery at landscaped garden.
