Democracy Monument

This monument was built when Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram was the Prime Minister of Thailand. It was M.L. Pum Malakul’s design which won a designing award of the government. This project was run by an Italian sculptor, Corrado Feroci, who later became a Thai citizen and used the Thai name as Silpa Bhirasi. Mr. Sittidej Saenghirun was the assistant artist.

• 1. The wings are 24 m. high, and this is also the radius of the base of the monument, marking the fact that the 1932 coup took place on the 24^th of June.
• 2. The centre piece of the monument is a carved representation of a palm-leaf manuscript box holding the Thai Constitution of 1932 on top of two golden offering bowls above a round turret. The 3 m. height refers to month 3 in Thai culture ( June) when the first Coup d’Etat occurred in Thailand.
• 3 The central turret is 3 m. high, representing the month of June, which is the third lunar month. There were originally 75 small cannons around the outer ring of the monument, representing the year of the coup, 2475 B.E.
• 4. The bas-reliefs at the base of the monument are propagandistic in their design. They depict the armed forces both as champions of democracy and as the personification of the Thai people.
• 5. Six swords that are surrounding the monument refer to the Six Rules of People’s Party
• 6. Fountains in the form of naga face outwards at the base of the 4 wings. The naga or serpent refers to the serpent year in which regime change occurred.

The Democracy monument was commissioned to build in 1939 to commemorate the 1932 Siamese Coup d’Etat. It was built when Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram was the Prime Minister of Thailand. This monument was M.L. Pum Malakul’s design which won a designing award of the governement. This monument is also the mark of 0 KM of Bangkok and Thailand. From the past, it symbolizes democarcy and is also the place for staging mobs and protests for many times.

มาลินี คุ้มสุภา.อนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตยกับความหมายที่มองไม่เห็น. กรุงเทพฯ : วิภาษา, 2548.

สุทธิรัตน์ แก้วอาภรณ์. “อนุสาวรีย์ประชาธิปไตย : ในบริบททางศิลปกรรม” (การศึกษาโดยเสรีในแขนงวิชาประวัติศาสตร์ศิลปะ ภาควิชาประวัติศาสตร์ศิลปะ คณะโบราณคดี มหาวิทยาลัยศิลปากร ประจำปีการศึกษา 2548.)