National Museum Bangkok

This guide to the National Museum Bangkok turns on a single night, January 2, 1875, when Prince Bovorn Vichaichan, the deputy king who lived in this Front Palace compound, slipped out under cover of darkness and ran to the British Consulate rather than face the young reformist King Chulalongkorn, who had just surrounded these walls with soldiers after a mysterious fire set the two royal factions against each other. It follows the two-month standoff that came next, and the demands Vichaichan made of the British for guarantees over his troops and revenues. You'll hear which side Britain chose, and what that meant for a rivalry that had been building inside this palace for years. Look around the halls where that standoff played out.