Royal Barges National Museum and Steve Cafe & Cuisine

The visit of the Royal Barges National Museum is part of our Klong tour in Bangkok. 8 Royal Barges are kept in a gigantic hall.

History

Originally, barges were used to transport goods on rivers and canals. At the time, when Ayutthaya was the capital of the Siamese kingdom, the Chao Phraya River was regarded as the most important transport route.

Please watch the 4K UHD video here!!!

You are currently viewing a placeholder content from YouTube. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.

More Information

Unblock content Accept required service and unblock content

During the visit of a delegation of King Louis XIV with King Narai, barges used as transport vehicles. However, at that time they also were in use in the war, at royal ceremonies and at competitions. With the destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese, the Royal Barges were destroyed as well.

After the accession of King Rama I in Bangkok, he commissioned new barges. The largest one is Suppanahong that is adorned with a slender swan at the bow.

The barge is 150 m long, 12 m wide and requires 50 oarsmen, as well as 14 crew members. It was carved from a single piece of teak wood. Suppanahong is the personal barge of the king.

The latest one is Ananta Nagaraj with the seven-headed Naga at the bow. It was built in 1996 for the 50th throne anniversary of the incumbent king Rama IX.

In the meantime, the barges are used only for special ceremonies. From the beginning of the reign of Rama IX in 1920 up to now, they were used sixteen times.

Beside the barges, films are shown, e.g about the education of the oarsmen. In addition, some relics of historical barges are exhibited in the hall of the Royal Barges National Museum.

Steve Café & Cuisine

At the end of our tour, we were invited for lunch at Steve Cafe & Cusine . Delicious Thai specialties and excellent fish were served.

With a view to the Chao Phraya River one has the feeling, the fish want to jump willingly into the pan.

Steve cafe and cuisine — Our guide Mrs Tai with Steve

More about our Lunch At Steve Café & Cuisine

Disclosure: The tour was sponsored by Tourism Authority of Thailand and as always, all opinions about our experiences are our own!