[4] Construction of the palace began on 6 May 1782, at the order of King Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I), the founder of the Chakri dynasty, when he moved the capital city from Thonburi to Bangkok.

[5][9] Over the next few years the king began replacing wooden structures with masonry, rebuilding the walls, forts, gates, throne halls and royal residences.

[6][7] To find more material for these constructions, King Rama I ordered his men to go upstream to the old capital city of Ayutthaya, which was destroyed in 1767 during a war between Burma and Siam.

To the north of the Grand Palace there is a large field, the Thung Phra Men (now called Sanam Luang), which is used as an open space for royal ceremonies and as a parade ground.

[18][19] During the reign of King Phutthaloetla Naphalai (Rama II), the area of the Grand Palace was expanded southwards up to the walls of Wat Pho.

However, during the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV) the name Phra Boromma Maha Ratcha Wang or 'Grand Palace' was first used in official documents.

[22] As the main residence of the monarch, the palace was also the seat of government, with thousands of inhabitants including guardsmen, servants, concubines, princesses, ministers, and courtiers.

The growth and centralization of the Siamese state also meant that the various government ministries have grown in size and were finally moved out of the Grand Palace to their own premises.

King Rama IV later added two arch-ways at the north and west side of the walls called the Thevaphibal and Thevetraksa Gate respectively.

The throne hall was constructed in Thai style as a royal audience chamber, for receiving foreign ambassadors and for conducting important state businesses and ceremonies.

This unusually shaped wooden throne is in the form of an octagonal prism and is decorated with golden lacquer, topped by a white seven-tiered umbrella.

Its purpose was to display gifts from foreign nations; however when this building became dilapidated King Rama V replaced it with a Chinese-style pavilion which was again dismantled and rebuilt.

In accordance with ancient tradition, the hall was built for the use of Mon monks to create Holy water, which was then sprinkled around the palace ground every evening; this practice was discontinued during the reign of King Rama VII for financial reasons.

[62][63] After a trip to Singapore and Java, in the East Indies (present day Indonesia) in 1875, King Rama V brought back with him two Englishmen, the architect John Clunich and his helper Henry C. Rose to design and construct the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall.

However at the insistence of Chao Phraya Si Suriyawongse (Chuang Bunnag), his Chief Minister, the King decided to add the gilded spires and Thai roofs.

The Thai roofs are decorated with the same green and orange tiles as the other throne halls, in order for the new building to blend in harmoniously with the existing skyline.

[68] This stylistic innovation was more than an artistic coincidence, as it was supposed to convey a significant political message of Siamese resistance to Western imperialism, both in terms of sovereignty and style.

From another perspective, the building itself epitomizes the internal political struggle between the ideas of Westernization and modernity (led by King Rama V) and those of the traditional ruling elites (as espoused by some of his early ministers).

[62] Many of the European-made chandeliers inside the Hall initially belonged to Chao Phraya Si Suriyawongse; however they proved too big for his own residence and he eventually gave them to King Chulalongkron as gifts.

[72] Recently the King welcomed more than 21 world leaders inside the room during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC Summit) held in Bangkok in 2003.

[79][80] After the construction of the Grand Palace, King Rama I ordered that a copy of the ancient Phra Thinang Sanphet Maha Prasat (พระที่นั่งสรรเพชญมหาปราสาท) should be built at the same site.

It was made during the reign of King Rama IV, in order for the palace women to attend important ceremonies through the window but stay behind a screen, separating them from men arriving from the outside.

[96] A miniature model of Mount Kailasa (เขาไกรลาสจำลอง; RTGS: Khao Krailat Chamlong), the mythical abode of Shiva, was built during the reign of King Rama IV.

Sometimes lasting seven days of festivities, the tonsure ceremony involved a purifying bath and the cutting of the traditional topknot hair of the royal child.

[105][106] Under the supervision of foreign architects, namely the German C. Sandreczki, the Boromphiman Throne Hall became the most modern building within the Grand Palace; it was also the first to be designed to accommodate carriages and motorcars.

He lived in this palace with his younger brother Prince Bhumibol Adulyadej (later King Rama IX) and his mother Princess Sri Sangwan.

[115] Later King Rama VI had the statues removed and rehoused at the Prasat Phra Thep Bidorn in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha compound, where they would be more accessible to the public.

During the reign of King Rama IV, the women of the palace were for the first time allowed to leave; however they were required to obtain permission from the directoress first and were strictly chaperoned.

It was established at the instigation of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to hold certain architectural elements, which had to be replaced; various artefacts and Buddha images that were donated to the Grand Palace by the general public.

[136] These included certain architectural elements, which were removed from various buildings within the Grand Palace during different renovations, as well as were the stone Buddha images and Chinese statues.