Phra Sumen Fort

Phra Sumen Fort stands on the east bank of the Chao Phraya River where Khlong Bang Lamphu meets it, at the northern tip of the historic Rattanakosin area in Bangkok's Phra Nakhon district. It was built in the reign of King Rama I, shortly after Bangkok became the Thai capital in 1782, as part of a ring of forts that guarded the new city walls and moats.

The original defences included fourteen forts set along the walls, each with its own name. Phra Sumen was the northernmost. Most of the walls and forts were taken down during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as roads replaced canals, and today only Phra Sumen and Mahakan Fort near the Golden Mount remain standing. The fort takes its name from Mount Sumeru, the sacred mountain at the centre of the Buddhist and Hindu universe.

The structure is an eight-sided brick and mortar bastion with two levels, finished in white plaster and topped by crenellated parapets with openings for cannon. A small watch pavilion sits on the upper level. The fort is not usually open inside, so most visitors see it from the surrounding grounds and the riverside.

Next to the fort is Santichaiprakan Park, a small public park opened around 2000 with a lawn, river views and a riverside walkway that runs south along Phra Athit Road. In the evening local people come to exercise and watch the sunset over the river.

The fort and park are free to visit and sit a short walk from Khao San Road and the Phra Arthit pier of the Chao Phraya Express Boat. Early morning and late afternoon are the most comfortable times for photographs.

Santichaiprakan Pavilion at the river end of the park

At the river end of the park stands the Santichaiprakan Pavilion, a small Thai-style sala built to mark King Bhumibol's sixth-cycle birthday in 1999. Its gilded roof and the white fort behind it make one of the most photographed corners of old Bangkok, especially at dusk when the Rama VIII Bridge is lit up to the north. Benches face the water, and the lawn draws joggers, tai chi groups and people practising juggling or slackline in the cooler hours.

Walking Phra Athit Road toward the Grand Palace

The fort sits at the top end of Phra Athit Road, a street of small cafés, bars and old shophouses that runs south toward Thammasat University and the National Museum. Walking that way takes about twenty minutes to Sanam Luang and the Grand Palace.

Mahakan Fort, the only other survivor of the old city defences, lies about 1.5 km east near the Golden Mount, so the two can be seen in one morning by foot or a short taxi ride. Because the fort itself is usually closed inside, a visit here is short; most people spend half an hour or so before moving on to the riverside piers.