King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) - Bangkok, Thailand
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 13° 43.798 E 100° 32.252
47P E 666248 N 1518392
When Rama VI first became King he was expected to issue a new Constitution...his delay brought about an attempted coup. The coup plotters had accused him of spending too much time writing and performing in plays than on the Constitution.
Waymark Code: WMKHB6
Location: Thailand
Date Posted: 04/15/2014
Views: 5
This statue of the King is located in Bangkok's Lampini Park.
The larger than life work depicts him standing in military uniform with his left hand steadying a sword to the ground. His right hand holds an object that looks like an over-sized pen. The 1942 piece is by the Italian sculptor Corrado Feroci.
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramentharamaha Vajiravudh Phra Mongkut Klao Chao Yu Hua (... or Phra Bat Somdet Phra Ramathibodi Si Sintharamaha Vajiravudh Phra Mongkut Klao Chao Yu Hua ..., or Rama VI (1 January 1880 – 25 November 1925) was the sixth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1910 until his death. King Vajiravudh is known for his efforts to create and promote Siamese nationalism. His reign was characterized by Siam's movement further towards democracy and minimal participation in World War I...
Vajiravudh as a writer
King Vajiravudh was one of Thailand's highly renowned artists, writing modern novels, short stories, newspaper articles, poems, plays and even journals. Among his works were translations of three Shakespeare plays - The Merchant of Venice, As You Like It and Romeo and Juliet and many other writing pieces to promote the ideology of Thai nationalism.
The King was one among those writers who introduced mysteries and detective stories to Thai literature circles. He translated Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot fictions into Thai language, and created the character "Nai Thong-In" as Siam's first consulting detective, using Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes as a model. He also translated Sax Rohmer's "the Golden Scorpion".
The King was also well-versed in Sanskrit and Hindu literatures, including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics. He translated many stories from the two epics into Thai and also wrote many plays with the inspiration from Hindu literatures. Indeed, he was quite influenced by Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and hero of the Ramayana epic, so much so that he systemized and promoted the use of the name "Rama" as the (English) reign names of all Thai Kings of the Bangkok (Rattanakosin) era. His own reign was dubbed as "Rama VI"."