Pitak Ratthatamanoon Monument

Rating: 4.5/5 (4 votes)

Open Days: Public space (no fixed opening or closing days like a tourist attraction)

Opening Hours: The surrounding area can be visited at any time

 

The Constitution Protection Monument, commonly known as the “Suppression of Rebellion Monument” or the “Lak Si Monument,” was once one of the most important political memory markers in eastern Bangkok. It stood at the intersection of Phahonyothin Road, near the junction of Ramintra Road and Chaeng Watthana Road, in Anusawari Subdistrict, Bang Khen District. The monument was built to commemorate a period of political conflict that led to armed confrontation resembling a civil war during the early years of the constitutional regime. Its design employed symbolic artistic elements that clearly reflected the political ideology of the state at that time.

 

The core idea conveyed through the Constitution Protection Monument was the “legitimacy of state power,” articulated through five key symbols: the military, the nation, religion, the monarchy, and the constitution. These artistic components were not merely decorative features of the urban landscape; they functioned as a political language through which the state narrated victory, stability, and the protection of the new political order, embedding these messages into the everyday lives of people passing through the area.

 

From the perspective of urban history, the “Lak Si–Bang Khen” area was not a peripheral zone of Bangkok. Instead, it served as a strategic frontline in multiple periods, whether as a military area, the location of Don Mueang Airport, a northern transportation corridor, or a zone supporting urban expansion after the political transition. Placing the Constitution Protection Monument at the center of a major road junction was therefore no coincidence; it was a deliberate act of planting state authority directly onto the city’s urban plan.

 

However, today the Constitution Protection Monument itself no longer stands at this location. Following the construction of the Lak Si underpass along Phahonyothin Road around 2018, the monument was removed from the center of the intersection and has not been reinstalled in its original position. What remains today is an urban space that has shifted from being a ceremonial monument plaza to a modern transportation structure, while still containing layers of historical memory beneath the surface.

 

Viewing this area today is therefore not about “seeing a monument,” but about standing at a point where political history, state power, and urban development once intersected with great intensity. The area around the Lak Si intersection now appears open, orderly, and streamlined due to the underpass and elevated road structures. Yet beneath this modern landscape lie traces of past state ideologies, once centered on the monument as a dominant visual focal point.

 

Getting There The Lak Si intersection area is easily accessible by private car, public buses, and nearby BTS Skytrain stations in the Bang Khen–Ramintra zone. For those wishing to understand the site from a historical perspective, it is recommended to walk around the area during daytime for safety. This location also works well as a starting point for exploring the “Lak Si–Bang Khen” district, which still offers temples, attractions, and dining spots that can genuinely be visited today.

 

By combining an “urban history” perspective with contemporary travel, the Lak Si–Bang Khen area emerges as a different way of reading Bangkok. Rather than a classic old town or conventional tourist district, it represents a city shaped by state structures, transportation networks, and transitions of power—still legible through its urban layout and surrounding environment.

 

 

A: No. The monument was removed from its original location around 2018. Today, only the urban space and transportation structures remain.

 

A: Because it reflects the overlap of political history, state ideology, and urban development in different eras of Bangkok.

 

A: Wat Phra Si Mahathat, Bang Khen, the Royal Thai Air Force Museum, or the Ramintra–Chaeng Watthana area are recommended, offering learning spaces, dining options, and accommodations.