Bangkok Grand Palace

My first free day was spent sleeping in the morning, and then visiting the Grand Palace in the afternoon. Before visiting the Grand Palace I headed straight for a Tourist Information office and picked up some maps. On the way from the office to the Palace I bumped into a crazy (in a good way) German man who goes by the name of Tobius (Toby). He kept me very entertained as we toured the palace together. A few Koreans took a photo or video-ed me, as I happen to be wearing the T-shirt with the Korean flag on it. I have found an interesting virtual tour on the net for this palace (and some other places that I did not visit), the link to which is the title of this blog.

The following information is from the Thailand For Visitors website, http://thailandforvisitors.com/central/bangkok/ratanakosin/prakeo/:

For just about 150 years, Bangkok's Grand Palace was not only the home of the King and his court, but also the entire administrative seat of government. Within the crenelated walls were the country's war ministry, state departments, and even the mint. Thai Kings stopped living in the palace full time around the turn of the twentieth century, but the complex remains the seat of power and spiritual heart of the Thai kingdom.The palace complex, like the rest of Ratanakosin Island, is laid out following the general outline of Ayutthaya palaces. The Outer Court, near where you enter the complex today, housed the government departments in which the king was directly involved, such as civil administration, including the army, and the treasury. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha takes up one corner of the complex next to the outer court.In the middle is the Central Court, where the residence of the king and the halls for conducting state business were located. You are allowed to look at the fronts of the buildings in the central court, but only two of the throne halls are open to the public, and only on weekdays.Behind the central court was the inner court. This was where the king's royal consorts and daughters lived. The inner court was like a small city entirely populated by women and boys under the age of puberty. Even though no royalty currently reside in the inner court, it is still completely closed off to the public.