Get me to Wichaiya Prasit (Bangkok) Fort:

Built during the reign of King Nari the Great, the Wichaiya Prasit Fort, or Bangkok City Fort, is one of two such fortresses built to house a French military garrison in 1688.

Its smaller sister fortress on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya River, the Thonburi Fort, was destroyed in a battle between Thai (then Siam) and French troops during the reign of King Petratcha.

The Bangkok and Thonburi forts housed some 200 French troops, as well as a Siamese contingent provided by King Narai. French troops and officers were also deployed on the King of Siam’s ships to assist in the fight against pirates.

When King Nari became ill in 1688, the commander of the Elephant Corps, Phra Phetracha, capitalizing on anti-French sentiment, staged a coup d’etat by seizing the Royal Palace in Lopburi and putting the king under house-arrest, killing the king’s adopted son in the process.

When the French commander of the Bangkok fortress refused to hand it over to Phra Phetracha as demanded, he found himself besieged by some 40,000 troops and 100 canon.

The French troops abandoned the Thonburi Fort and consolidated themselves in the larger Bangkok Fort, destroying some of the Thonburi Fortress embattlements and all of its cannons prior to leaving.

After an initial period of combat during which both sides exchanged canon fire, a stalemate developed and after several months a truce was negotiated that saw the French abandon the Wichaiya Prasit fort and leave Siam, while the Dutch, who the French accused of aiding the Siamese, cemented their trading agreement with the country.

Get me to travel insight:
On the day after the departure of the French the 1644 Treaty and Alliance of Peace between Siam and the Dutch East India Company was renewed guaranteeing the Dutch the deerskin export monopoly they had previously, as well as renewing their export monopoly on Ligor for tin.


How to get to Wichaiya Prasit (Bangkok) Fort in Bangkok:
Wichaiya Prasit (Bangkok) Fort is now part of the navy's headquarters so it’s not open to the public. A ride on any of the Chao Phraya boat services between Memorial Bridge and Thien provides an excellent view though.