| For more than 100 years, the bronze statue of Queen Victoria has been a popular feature at the British Embassy in Bangkok. Now it’s going to become an attraction in a new shopping mall. Is that appropriate? Of course not. |  credit by www.telegraph.co.uk |
Despite valiant efforts by the British Club Bangkok to have the statue of Queen Victoria relocated within its grounds on Silom Road, their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. It will remain in its current location after diplomats vacate the sprawling compound and tropical gardens later this year. The site was sold by the British government in 2018 for 20 billion baht, a record sum for a Foreign Office sale, to the Central Group, which plans to build a retail and commercial complex on the site. The Queen Victoria statue will become a major attraction and retail theme in the shopping mall. British residents point out that the huge statue, which is inscribed with the words “Erected in loving memory by her subjects in Siam”, was paid for by the British community at the beginning of the last century and should not have been included in the sale of the embassy to the Central Group.
The statue was first erected in front of the British Legation in Charoen Krung Road in 1903 and was moved later when the British Embassy relocated to Wireless Road in 1923.
It’s not only Brits who are outraged at the decision to leave behind this popular icon, describing it as utterly disgraceful, indefensible and even undignified. Thai people, with their deep respect for royalty, are also upset at the commercialization of a former monarch. A few years back, the British community was deeply upset when the front of the embassy grounds were sold off to the Central Group to make way for a shopping mall and hotel. They were further outraged when the remainder of this historic compound was then sold to the same company. Now they face another indignity with the loss of the Queen Victoria statue.
One has to wonder whether much thought went into this most recent outrage. It is a decision with so little merit. Both seller and buyer of the statue should reconsider their position on this important issue. Happily, the War Memorial, another British Embassy landmark that also dates back to 1923, will find a new home at the British Club.
The statue was first erected in front of the British Legation in Charoen Krung Road in 1903 and was moved later when the British Embassy relocated to Wireless Road in 1923.
It’s not only Brits who are outraged at the decision to leave behind this popular icon, describing it as utterly disgraceful, indefensible and even undignified. Thai people, with their deep respect for royalty, are also upset at the commercialization of a former monarch. A few years back, the British community was deeply upset when the front of the embassy grounds were sold off to the Central Group to make way for a shopping mall and hotel. They were further outraged when the remainder of this historic compound was then sold to the same company. Now they face another indignity with the loss of the Queen Victoria statue.
One has to wonder whether much thought went into this most recent outrage. It is a decision with so little merit. Both seller and buyer of the statue should reconsider their position on this important issue. Happily, the War Memorial, another British Embassy landmark that also dates back to 1923, will find a new home at the British Club.
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