B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Local Hua Hin and regional Thailand news articles and discussion.
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JamesWest
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Re: Transport of king statues to snarl traffic July 23-29

Post by JamesWest »

OK here is my recon story.

I went on the big bike to the Army base where the statues are.

But lets back up a bit. I took the big bike to Club Moto to order some accessories. While I was there, a very serious older Thai man dressed in a REAL army uniform, full combat fatigues with boots, pulled up on his motorcycle. I looked at his rank and he had one star on his collar. He looked pissed off. It turns out he had a very serious issue with his bike which I will not go into here. Just remember not to assume anything about any work you get done in Thailand. :shock:

Anyway, he had the same bike I do, only a few years older. I say this because my bike is not cheap by Thai standards so I am thinking this man has some cash like a high ranking Army man would. My girlfriend asked him how we can see the statues. He told her what to do. So we are now on our way.

He told us to go to the entrance just north of the new entrance that is under construction. This is on the West side of the highway going North just past the gas station (which is in the East side)

We pulled into the Army base and stopped at the gate. The guards took our ID cards and gave us passes. We got our ID's back when we left. We drove about 500 yards due West from the highway.

I did not take any photos of the base itself. We made a left turn and about 100 yards later we arrived at the construction site.

We got off the bike, and walked a short distance to the bluff over looking the site. There were two statues already in place. For scale, if you look at the photos the building behind the statues is slightly higher than two stories. The statues look very impressive. Sorry I only had my celphone camera so no zoom.

About five minutes later, I look back over my shoulder and see a group of Thai Army officers walking straight towards me. I am thinking, sh*t, somebody figured out we should not be here. Water boarding time. :shock:

The leader of this group was a three star general, who thought we were maybe a TV crew from Bangkok. He saw my girlfriend and thought she was the reporter and that I was some sort of VIP. 8) This is why I never dress like a beach bum or a tourist when I go on recons. He really thought we were working. :D

He was super friendly and asked me where I was from. I said "USA" He said "Oh, USA good. You look like military man" (I think that was a complement) The general said all the construction is being done by the military. The park is going to be huge and I am sure there will be many tourists coming to the park.

After about 15 minutes of my girlfriend translating it was time to go.

The Thai military could not have been nicer. :)

Here are some photos of the statues. I am about 100 yards back from the statues at the nearest point. The other photos are of the entrance. Really huge driveway leading from the highway.
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Re: Transport of king statues to snarl traffic July 23-29

Post by kendo »

jumusman wrote:Well one of the statues heads already broke because its simply too heavy, before they even got one here. Not a sign for good luck really is it...


I wouldn't necessarily agree with the statement of the head simply being too heavy. Crane driving, rigging and heavy load engineering is my profession. It was more likely how it was lifted or transported on the semi trailer. Underneath the head should have had timber bearers and some rubber mats to pack out the void.

James thank you for you report its certainly Made a load of progress.
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Re: Transport of king statues to snarl traffic July 23-29

Post by Khundon1975 »

The wife and family are driving down to Hua Hin from BKK today.

I phoned her mobile at 2.30pm (Thai time) and she said "the roads are packed and it has taken them almost 3 hours to get to Samut Sakorn" ! so they have decided to do the Thai thing and find a decent restaurant and lay up for a few hours R&R, then finish the journey late afternoon.
I think she said it is a public holiday or something in Thailand, so that would explain the amount of traffic on the roads today.

:(
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Re: Transport of king statues to snarl traffic July 23-29

Post by JamesWest »

kendo wrote:
jumusman wrote:Well one of the statues heads already broke because its simply too heavy, before they even got one here. Not a sign for good luck really is it...


I wouldn't necessarily agree with the statement of the head simply being too heavy. Crane driving, rigging and heavy load engineering is my profession. It was more likely how it was lifted or transported on the semi trailer. Underneath the head should have had timber bearers and some rubber mats to pack out the void.

James thank you for you report its certainly Made a load of progress.
yes if you look at the statue on the right, there are huge eyelets or hooks in the shoulders of the figures. The crane was tied into them to lift them straight up. If they were laying down on a truck without supporting the head, after a short distance I think the head may snap off. :shock:

But the statues are very cool, they look old and not cheap or fake and I am sure up close will be a big photo op for tourist.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by buksida »

Gen Prem presides over erection of King Naresuan statute on foundation in Hua Hin
Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda today presided over the erection ceremony of King Naresuan the Great statute to its foundation base at the Ratchaphakdi park.

The ceremony was attended by Army commander-in-chief and deputy defence minister Gen Udomdej Sitabutr.

The bronze statute of King Ramkhamhaeng the Great has already been erected on the foundation in the park which is within the compound of the Army Non Commissioned Officer School in Hua Hin district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province.

A 500-ton crane was used to lift the huge statute of the king to erect on the foundation.

Tomorrow and the following day the statutes of King Narai the Great and King Taksin the Great will be erected on the foundations.

Seven statutes of the ancient kings will be erected at the Rajabhakdi park.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/gen-pr ... in-hua-hin
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by centermid7 »

I'm going to have to try to get out there within the next week or so after they have them all set as I would like to see what they have done "up close".

Once the park is open then I would expect their dual pricing scheme not to mention that it would very "amazing" if anything in writing included any English.

The Thai tourists will love it - or at least act like they do - everyone else maybe not so much.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by joelle »

could it be possible to have some détails on how to get there from cha am as I have no idea where it is
please
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by dtaai-maai »

Good morning, Joelle. T'as bien dormi? :laugh:
Go through HH toward Kao Takiab, go right, over the flyover; after 3-4 kms you will see the left turn to Suan Son beach (which you should visit while you're there, if you haven't been before!) where there is a petrol station. The army barracks and park are there on the right.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by Nereus »

dtaai-maai wrote:Good morning, Joelle. T'as bien dormi? :laugh:
Go through HH toward Kao Takiab, go right, over the flyover; after 3-4 kms you will see the left turn to Suan Son beach (which you should visit while you're there, if you haven't been before!) where there is a petrol station. The army barracks and park are there on the right.
I would like to know also. I know where the petrol station, and the beach, are, so which one of these directions is correct:
JamesWest wrote:He told us to go to the entrance just north of the new entrance that is under construction. This is on the West side of the highway going North just past the gas station (which is in the East side)
:? :? :?
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by Big Boy »

Just keep going past the petrol station. It's a huge construction site on the right - impossible miss. Even more so no with 7 giant bronze statues standing there.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by JamesWest »

to be clear, it is on the right side of the road (west side) going SOUTH from HH.

going SOUTH it is not past the petrol (gas) :) station, but just a little before it on the opposite side of the road.

or another way to to think of it, the other side of the road from the ocean which is on your left going SOUTH.

GPS coordinates of entrance to Army base. 12.507845, 99.967203

Approx location of park entrance under construction. 12.501571, 99.968115

Construction is too new to show up on Google maps.

please use extreme caution on this highway. it is really dangerous. :)
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by fabman »

Its quite easy to spot . Just more or less opposite the sea pine garden ( army beach )

It looks a huge place and you can see the statues in the distance.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by Geko »

[img]More%20KIngs%20_01.JPG[/img]

Looks like two kings installed on plinth's, the previoulsy damaged one (on the left) is repaired see the welds around its right shoulder and fourth having top and bottom halves welded together on the low loader.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by Geko »

The Army today (03/08/15) continued to transport the bronze statues of King Rama I and King Rama IV to the Ratchaphakdi park in Hua Hin district of Prachuab Khiri Khan for installation on the foundations.
Two crane were used in the transport of the statue of King Rama I from the molding factory in Pathum Thani province, using Bang Yai and Eastern Ring Road via Bang Bua Thong and Rama 2 road.

For the 30-ton bronze statue of King Rama IV, Army personnel transported the statue from Ayutthaya using the Highway 347 bypass from Bang Pahan district to Pathum Thani and join the convoy of King Rama I to Hua Hin together.

Meanwhile decoration of King Taksin the Great statue has been progressing well with 90% work being completed. The statue is expected to be installed on the foundation base inside the park by August 5.

Also the repair of King Narai the Great which was broken while being transported from Lopburi has been finished and was expected to be installed on the base tomorrow.

So far the bronze statues of King Ramkhamhaeng and King Naresuan have been installed on the foundation bases inside the Ratchaphakdi park in Hua Hin.

Altogether seven statues of the Thai great kings will be installed at the park.
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Re: B700m park to honour Thai kings in Hua Hin

Post by HHTel »

Wouldn't these statues need protection from lightning? Most large bronze statues around the world are protected by copper lightning rods. I wonder if this has been thought of. Maybe installed after erection. After all lightning in this part of the world brings trees down every year.
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