BANGKOK – The government officials revealed images of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s bedroom on the 2nd floor of the Thai Khu Fa Building, Government House, which has already been renovated and decorated to be a residence for Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The accommodations will be ready on January 7, but Prime Minister Srettha said he is still busy. He will stay afterward.
Srettha will become the second prime minister to live at Government House after Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram, known as Marshal P, who served from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.
He explained why he will be staying at Government House because his current home is in the heart of Bangkok. His journey to Government House had to take him through city streets, which had an impact on traffic and people.
A private business has been working on the renovation for some time now, and it has already been completed by the end of December 2023. One of the Prime Minister’s office rooms was transformed into a bedroom.
The room’s interior decor mostly uses blue and white colours. A king-size bed in a cream hue is there, along with four pillows, white bed linen, a TV, a bedside light, a sofa, and cream-coloured curtains.
A mirror at the foot of the bed looks out into the lawn in front of Government House. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Thai clothes are put on a rack in a different bedroom section to make taking turns on assignments easier.
The hot water system in the bathroom has been installed, and the dining room and leisure area are connected by walking distance to the meeting room in the corner of the Thai Khu Fah building.
The Government House was originally called Baan Norasingha. Initially, King Rama VI intended to give this building to General Chao Phraya Ram Rakop as a family residence. The king commissioned the Italian architect Annibale Rigotti to design the main building in 1923. The Italian architect returned to Italy after the king’s death in 1925, while construction would remain incomplete.
The building became the prime minister’s office in 1941. Marshal P. assigned Italian sculptor and artist Corrado Feroci and architect Ercole Manfredi to complete construction.
Marshal P., who was a de facto military dictatorship run along fascist lines, promoted Thai nationalism and Sinophobia, and allied Thailand with Imperial Japan in World War II. He also attempted to transform Thailand into an electoral democracy from the mid-1950s onward, but was overthrown in 1957 and went into exile in Japan, where he died in 1964.
As a result, the next generation of leaders did not want to follow in his footsteps. Since then, no prime minister has resided in this building.
During the 2008 Thai political crisis, People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters besieged Government House. It was again besieged in December 2013 during the 2013–2014 Thai political crisis.
