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Subject: |
The front and back sides of two Chinese-style arches in
Bangkok's
Chinatown,
both located on
Charoen Krung
Road and erected to commemorate King Wachiralongkorn's 6th
birthday cycle and 72nd anniversary in 2024.
Design A or 2025/4, against a yellow
background: Front side of the Wachira Sathit Archway at the Thamrong-Sathit
Bridge over
Khlong Ohng Ahng
(fig.)
with the plate Wachira Sathit 72
Phansa
(วชิรสถิต ๗๒ พรรษา), which translates to ‘72 Years Firmly
Established like a
Wachira
or Diamond’; Design B or 2025/5, on a yellow background: Front
side of the
Wachira Thamrong
Archway at Mo Mi (หมอมี) Intersection with the
plate Wachira Thamrong 72 Phansa (วชิรธำรง ๗๒ พรรษา), meaning ‘Upholder of
the
Wachira
or Scepter for 72 Years’;
Design C or 2025/6, against a red background: Back side of
the Wachira Sathit Archway at the Thamrong-Sathit
Bridge over
Khlong Ohng Ahng
with the plate Dìng Kāng Fú Lóng (定康福龍), which translates to
‘The Stable, Healthy, Fortunate Dragon’; Design D or 2025/7, on a red background: Back
side of the
Wachira Thamrong
Archway at Mo Mi (หมอมี) Intersection with the
plate Yán Yǒng Yòu Zuò (延永祐祚), meaning ‘May Blessings and Longevity Extend
Eternally’. While the compound names of the gates partly reference the Thamrong-Sathit Bridge, they
also allude to
wachira—a term that, beyond meaning
vajra
or
sceptre, diamond, or
thunderbolt (fig.),
and serving as a royal emblem, is also a component of the name of
King
Rama X,
i.e.
Maha Wachiralongkorn.
Whereas the yellow background of designs 1 and 2 refers to
the colour for Monday according to the
sih prajam wan-system,
i.e. the day in which this monarch was born, the red
background of designs 3 and 4,
akin to Chinese culture, refers to
happiness, prosperity, good fortune, and protection against evil. |
