The Clock and watch museum (no the other one)

Well who would have thought that Thailand would be a burgeoning bastion of bim bams! A horological, historical, happening? A clock collecting cotillion? Well no one that I know of. At any rate here in the Swissotel Le Concorde a section of the third floor is set off as a museum for the clocks and watches of the owner of the hotel. I have yet to meet him but - enjoy the following pictures of the museum. Note there are no clock factories in Thailand, In fact many swiss watch companies put out special edition watches for the king's 80th birthday-- the only time they were allowed to use the royal crest of Thailand. You can see these probably on the internet. The following, however, you wont find anywhere but here!

There is one more real old clock museum in Bangkok- originally all the clocks owned by King Rama V and collected in the 1900s, and as well the clocks collected by his Grandson the current King of Thailand. This explains why you find old European, Japanese, and even Korean clocks in many temples in Bangkok. Many are donated by businessmen to one of the WATs that were built by the king as a measure of respect to him.

The reign of King Rama V can be called the golden era of clocks. During His 42 - years reign, King Rama V visited Europe twice, in 1897 and 1907. From these trips, His Majesty brought back several types of clocks of be used in the palace.

Following are pictures from the Swissotel's owner's museum! CLick on any of them to make them larger.