5 Genevieve Fields - 2 months ago
For westerners keen to visit, the email reservation system doesn't work and the Bank of Thailand switchboard is in the Thai language. However, it's still possible. Show up 10 or 15 minutes before one of the three tour times. The security guards at the gate will stop you and ask for your name, showing you the guest list. If you're not on it, they will give you this phone number: 02 356 7766. when you hear the recorded message in Thai, press 3. this will connect you to a real person who can hear you speak English or connect you to someone who does. Tell them you'd like to join the tour; they'll warn you the tour is only in Thai but you can take pictures. They tell you to come through security in the building across the street, which is the Bank of Thailand museum and learning center. Someone will meet you there and give you a wristband. There's a good coffee shop there where you can wait before or after your tour. Walk across the street by yourself; the security at the palace gate will let you in with your wristband. There is one room you can't take pictures in, containing personal belongings of the royals who lived there. I don't speak Thai so I didn't understand this and got in a little bit of trouble, but they were nice about it. Tour is about an hour.
