I have something to confess …

I have this uncontrollable urge to immediately condemn any form of “classical” European style in this part of the world.

I know, I know but you’ll be surprised with the prevalence of bungalows with Greek columns, Tudor facades and “Some Exotic Asian” roof, not only in Thailand but in all parts of Asia.

You may also be surprised that most of these houses are not products of 80’s Post-Modern historicity but comes from an unbroken lineage of rags-to-riches clientele who felt compelled to be Euro-centric once they consider themselves “upper-class”.

Looking at Hua Lamphong train station …. I have a feeling this culture goes WAY back.

This train station is built in the Italian Renaissance style in the early 20th century by a Turin-born Mario Tamagno. So at least it was designed by a European, but at that time I’m sure he would have felt the bubbling excitement of Art Nouveau and/or Art Deco.

But thanks to a genuinely Euro-centric monarch known as the famous King Chulalongkorn of Siam (Rama V of the Chakri Dynasty), these ideas are very much at home with his grand plans to “westernise” Siam. So I suppose even “Italian Renaissance” would appear to be progressive.

Here’s a closer look of him in his official (note: Western) uniform.

So you have a rapidly Westernising Siam, and the overwhelming presence of Britain in India, Malaya & Burma, Dutch in Indonesia and the French in Indochina – all of the sudden, European IS the aristocracy.

But why the eclecticism? King Mongkut (also known as Rama IV – the father of our good fellow above) has an interesting quote that far outlived him …

King Mongkut once remarked to a Christian missionary friend: “What you teach us to do is admirable, but what you teach us to believe is foolish”.

So you see, when it comes to matters of science and technology everything is just imported wholesale. When it comes to matters of culture and religion, it seems that opinions are reserved. And when opinions are reserved, the opportunity for hybridity and “fusion” (so to say) becomes inevitable.

Much like how the Europeans had to somewhat reconcile the Industrial Age with their older architectural habits with, for instance, the Art Nouveau/Deco movement – everyone else in other parts of the world was pretty much doing the same thing albeit with a more jarring consequence in the Far East because of the greater divide.

Of course, I am not attributing the mentality in the region entirely to Rama V, but I’m sure this anecdote is a good insight into how the story played out elsewhere in the vicinity. So here’s my mini-lecture (it could be utter rubbish) on early 20th century Siam architecture.

BUT … next time you are revolted by another Southeast Asian building with an absurd mix of “styles” ….. give it a little thought, it may be more deeply rooted than you think.