Heritage walk of Rattanakosin Island, Exploring Bangkok’s Royal Legacy

Heritage walk of Rattanakosin Island

Exploring Bangkok’s Royal Legacy

Also see: FAM tour of Thailand

The island of Rattanakosin has the Chao Phraya River on the west an on the other three side is the ring canal of Khalong Maha Nak. The canal was dug by Rama I (Reign 1782 – 1809) the founder of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (Also see: Fortification of Bangkok).

Bird’s eye view of Rattanakosin Island from Golden Mount, Bangkok

Today Rattanakosin is the hub of built heritage in Bankok and also house the Grand Palace, the royal residence of the Rattanakosin Kingdom. The canal measures 7.2 km and the island covers an area of 4.142 km², so the best way to explore the Rattanakosin Island is on foot. 

Fortification of Bangkok, tracking Bangkok’s Forts, City Walls and Moats

Fortification of Bangkok

Tracking Bangkok’s Forts, City Walls and Moats

Also see: FAM tour of Thailand

Today Bangkok is a modern city with a few ancient temples, but on closer inspection one can find an unique series of defensive mechanism which one protected the ancient city. The defensive mechanism consisting of forts, defensive walls and moats, which were constructed over a period of several centuries.

Phra Sumen Fort, Bangkok (Photo edit Deepanjan Ghosh)

The structures started coming up during the late Ayutthaya Kingdom (1351 – 1767) and continued till the present Rattanakosin Kingdom (started in 1782). Bangkok underwent rapid modernization beginning in the late 19th century, and by the 1920s most of the city’s original forts and walls had been demolished to make way for the construction of roads and buildings.