Thai Band at Palace

 

There was a children's band playing traditional thai music at the palace.  it was really beautiful--the asian string instruments are so unique.  since everything was open, you could hear them playing throughout the whole palace so it made the whole experience really pleasant.  also, the room they were playing in was a big hall where the king would have performances.  the king at the time (i have NO IDEA which one it was, Rama 5, 6??) also wrote his own plays and would perform them for the queen.  he studied drama and literature in england. 

the palace was divided into the front end and the inner court.  the front court is where the king stayed (and all his people) and the queen and other women stayed in the inner court.  i dont know which queen it was, but there was an incredibly sad story about one queen who had two miscarriages and after the second one, her "queen" title was taken away since she couldn't produce a prince/future king.  i think she kept living there even though the king moved on to another queen--it sounds like such a horrible way to live.

hooray for  tragic thai royalty stories!