Victory Monument, Bangkok

Victory Monument, Bangkok (Thailand)

Victory Monument is a military monument in Bangkok Thailand. The monument was erected in June 1941 to commemorate the Thai victory in the Franco-Thai War. The monument is in Ratchathewi District northeast of central Bangkok at the center of a traffic circle in the intersection of Phahonyothin Phaya Thai and Ratchawithi roads.The monument is entirely Western in design. This is in contrast with another prominent monument of Bangkok the Democracy Monument which uses indigenous Thai forms and symbols. The central obelisk although originally Egyptian has been frequently used in Europe and the US for national and military memorials its shape suggesting both a sword and masculine potency. Here it is executed in the shape of five bayonets clasped together. Five statues representing the army navy air force police and civilian population are depicted in Western heroic style familiar in the 1940s in both fascist and communist states. They were created by the Italian sculptor Corrado Feroci who worked under the Thai name Silpa Bhirasi. The sculptor did not like the combination of his work with the obelisk and referred to the monument as the victory of embarrassment.