Description

Essentials about the Victory Monument Bangkok in brief

Anyone interested in Thai history should see the Victory Monument, located within a large traffic circle to the northeast of the city center in the Ratchathewi district. The monument commemorates the temporary reintegration of formerly Siamese-ruled areas in Cambodia and in Laos as a result of the French-Thai War in 1940 and 1941.

The history of the Victory Monument Bangkok

In fact, the battles around the turn of 1940/41 were very short and remained without decision. 59 Thais lost their lives in the process. The final decision on the whereabouts of the disputed territories was made by Japan, which put its foot down and stopped the fighting because it did not want a war between two military allies in Southeast Asia. In the process, Thailand received less territory than it expected and France had to give up more than it wanted to concede. Nevertheless, the Thai regime under Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsongkram decided to celebrate a great victory. Thus, the Victory Monument was commissioned and erected within the year 1941.

The architecture of the Victory Monument Bangkok

The Victory Monument is European in style throughout and thus stands in marked contrast to the nearby Democracy Monument, which also features indigenous stylistic elements. The fact that it stands in the middle of a large traffic circle where two main traffic arteries intersect meant that, according to the ideas of the ruler of the time, residents and visitors to the capital were to be deliberately forced to drive around the monument – comparable to the Arc de Triomphe on the Place de l’Étoile in Paris.

The central obelisk, about 50 meters high, is in the form of five bayonets wrapped around each other. On a pentagonal base are five statues symbolizing the branches of the armed forces: A soldier for the Army, a sailor for the Navy, a pilot for the Air Force, a policeman for the Police and a civilian volunteer for the Civil Administration. They bear the heroic features of the contemporary fascist and communist conception of art and were designed by the Italian sculptor Corrado Feroci. However, the artist did not agree with the arrangement of his statues in front of the obelisk and later called the installation “victory of embarrassment”.

The monument became an embarrassment in a more political sense in 1945, when the Allied victory over Japan forced Thailand to return the conquered territories to France. In any case, many Thai consider the monument an inappropriate symbol of militarism and a relic from the time of a now discredited regime.

Website

Unavailable.

Opening hours

None.

Admission fees

None.

Address

Getting there

By public transport:

Sky Train BTS Sukhumvit line: Stop Victory Monument

Bus lines 8, 12, 14, 18, 28, 29, 34, 36, 38, 39, 54, 59, 62, 77, 97, 125, 140, 157, 163, 171, 172, 177, 183, 187, 201, 204, 503, 509, 515, 529, 536, 538 and 539: Stop Victory Monument

By car:

The nearest parking garage is 111 Soet Loet Punya Garage.