Overview of Dusit Thani Full-sized building on the top left corner is the Metropole Hotel, where townspeople could hold meetings

    King Vajiravudh of Thailand, who ruled as Rama VI from 1910 to 1925. is remembered for many notable achievements.The first Thai monarch to be educated abroad, he continued the many reforms that had been launched during the long reign of his father, King Chulalongkorn, and added more of his own, he established the first Thai university; introduced the use of surnames, instilled a new sense of nationalism in his subjects and gave them a new flag, the one that still flies today. Moreover he was a prolific writer, whose range encompassed poetry, drama, translations of Shakespeare, patriotic songs and journalism,
    One of his most novel undertakings, however, is seldom mentioned in history books and almost forgotten by most people today. This was the creation of an extraordinary miniature metropolis called Dusit Thani, the Heavenly City, described by a biographer as "one of the world’s most unusual expressions of political thought." 

    The idea may have originated as far back as 1905, when he was Crown Prince and living at Chitralada Palace, there he refashioned several rooms to form a setting in which he experimented with different forms of provincial administration. In 1918, on holiday at a seaside retreat near Phetchaburi that he called Haad Chao Samran -· the "Beach of the Lord of Happiness" he and a group of friends passed the time by constructing elaborate sand castles. enjoying it so much that they conceived the idea of doing something similar back in Bangkok in a much more sophisticated and permanent form.
    The result was Dusit Thani. The first structures were built at Suan Dusit Palace shortly after the visit to Haad Chao Samran. In 1919 it was moved to Phya Thai Palace, the former residence of his mother Queen Saowabha. and assumed its final form.

Phra Vajarin Rajanivet Palace modeled on major buildings in the Grand Palace

    The city covered one square acre of land in the gardens of the palace, tilled with buildings about two to three feet in height. There were private houses, palaces, Buddhist temples and monuments, government offices, military barracks, commercial establishments, hospitals. markets, a hotel, a bank and office buildings, along with tree-lined roads, a river and canals; there were also lush parks with fountains and water falls, a fire department and an electric company. Parties and ceremonies were regularly held in the little city, as well as almost nightly boat races on its winding river. Time in Dusit Thani was measured on a scale of l2l2, which meant that one month was equal to a year in the outside world.
    The buildings were intricately designed and constructed down to the smallest detail, in a variety of both European and native
styles to suit their owners” tastes, One house, for instance, had Moorish domes and arches. while another was graced by a Moghul garden complete with fountains in a formal pond and yet another was reminiscent of a Swissestyle chalet atop a small hill. A prominent religious monument known as Chedi Chang Lom, consisted of a lofty Khmer-style prang on a platform surrounded by elephant buttresses. Vajarin Palace. residence of the King, was a spectacular Thai-style complex surrounded by a moat. Residents, mostly personal friends of the King or members of the Royal Pages School, were allowed to select their own designs and vied for the honor of creating the most beautiful.

A miniature hotel of 12 buildings in Bangsai district, a short distance from the full-sized Metropole Hotel

    But Dusit Thani, with its electric lights and streets teeming with imaginary people, was more than a fanciful toy for grown-ups an "enchanted fairyland." as it was described by more than one participant. King Vajiravudh intended it to become a model society in several ways, as suggested in comments he made on the opening of the city's Municipal hall on 9 July, l9l9: "Our method of proceeding in this little city of ours will l trust be an example for Siam."
    The King personally drafted a constitution for the city. proclaiming in the preamble that its purpose was to promote the concept of self-government among Thai people. All the 200-odd residents, including women, were given the right to vote for a Chief Administrator. a post anyone is eligible to hold as long as he (or she) was seconded by another citizen. The Chief Administration then appointed a Committee of Administrators, among them a Finance Officer, a Public Works Commissioner and an "lnspector of Public Nuisances." This committee in turn elected a Council or Secretaries, responsible for conducting the routine activities of the government.

Landing Pavilion on the bank of Dusit Thani canal

    The city was divided into six administrative districts, each empowered to choose one representative and send him to the Committee of Administrators. Two political parties were created by the King: the Blue Ribbon Party was headed by himself. while the Red Ribbon Party was led by one of his courtiers. Some seven elections were held during Dusit Thani’s first two years. In addition, a competition was held every two Dusit Thani years to award 21 certificate for the best-maintained building.

    Dusit Thani had two daily newspapers, as well as a weekly magazine. Due to his literary concerns, as well as his conviction that the standards of Thai journalism were in need of reform, it is not surprising to learn that King Vajiravudh took a particular interest in these publications. He served as one of the editors of the Dusit Samit magazine. which generally consisted of about twelve pages of prose. poetry. and drawings. and contributed to it regularly. His Hua Chai Chai Num (The Heart of a Young Man). for instance, dealing with the impressions of a young Thai who returns to his homeland after a lengthy absence abroad as a student, was serialized in ten issues during 1917.

    Some outsiders, learning that the King had granted a constitution for Dusit Thani, were encouraged to think he might have similar ideas for his country. Such was not to be, however. Even if the King was inclined toward greater democracy, his conservative advisors were adamantly opposed to the idea; one of them wrote him. "The lower classes still do not have enough knowledge... anyone who wants a parliament is thinking only of the advantages for himself and not of those for the county."

Fedrabani Palace, a sample of exotic structure

    Even within the world of Dusit Thani itself, the problems of such a sudden, sweeping change were evident. The King tried to be an ordinary citizen of the model city, calling himself Nai (Mr.) Ram na Krunthep and listing barrister-at-law as his profession Nevertheless, his fellow residents found it  impossible to go this far in playing the game: they elected him as the first General Administrator, and he remained the unofficial general adviser to the government. Dusit Thani ended with King Vajiravudh’s death in 1925, at the age of only 44. The little city was dismantled, many of its residences carried off by their owners while others were consigned to palace storerooms and allowed to moulder away.

    A glimpse of what the city was like can be found at a museum devoted to King Vajiravudh’s reign in the compound of the National Library. There a few of the surviving buildings, carefully restored, are on display, along with some nostalgic old photographs revealing both the extent and the magic of the vanished world of nearly a century ago.