Silpakorn University, Wang Tha Phra

Why go

For travelers interested in Thai modern art, the campus explains how formal training in painting, sculpture, architecture and archaeology took shape. Its founder, Silpa Bhirasri, links European academic methods with Thailand’s twentieth-century artistic institutions. The setting is most rewarding when considered alongside the nearby historic precinct, rather than as a standalone monument.

What to look for

• Connect the university’s name with Silpa Bhirasri, the Italian-born sculptor Corrado Feroci.
• Note how an art school expanded into faculties of painting, sculpture, architecture and archaeology.
• Place the Wang Tha Phra campus within Bangkok’s dense royal and museum quarter.

The full story

Silpakorn University grew from Thailand’s School of Fine Arts, established under the Fine Arts Department in 1933. Its development owed much to Corrado Feroci, an Italian sculptor who came to work for the Thai state and later became a citizen under the name Silpa Bhirasri. He expanded instruction beyond government officers and helped turn the school into Silpakorn University in 1943. Painting and sculpture formed its first faculty, followed by Thai architecture, archaeology and decorative arts. That progression matters because it charts the creation of modern, formal art education in Thailand. The Wang Tha Phra campus could not expand indefinitely within Bangkok’s historic center, so the university later opened campuses elsewhere, including Sanam Chandra Palace in Nakhon Pathom and a campus in Phetchaburi. The original site nevertheless remains closely associated with the fine arts. Its location near the Grand Palace places a modern university beside the architecture, collections and institutions that shaped the subjects it teaches.

Useful to know

• Confirm public access and exhibition details with the university before entering the working campus.
• Treat it as a specialist stop and combine it with nearby museums or the Grand Palace area.
• Respect teaching spaces and any security limits on photography or entry.

Your next visit

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