This was a summer palace built by King Rama IV. Later King Rama V used in a many occasions but found in unsuitable in the rainy season. Towards the end of his reign he ordered a new palace to be built near the river in Phetchaburi to be called Phra Ram Ratchaniwet. Also known as Praratchawang Ban Puen it is a masterpiece in architectural design, an elegant palace in Baroque early 20th century design. It was designed by German architect Karl Siegfried Doring who had earlier designed the Kaiser’s Summer Palace. Unfortunately while King Rama V laid the foundation stone in 1910 he never lived to see the palace completed. While his son Rama VI used the palace during the 15 years of his reign, thereafter it fell into disuse as no agreement could be reached regarding its future. Oddly it took a war to keep it functional as the army requested use of the building and surrounding land in the early years of WWII. Today the army still occupies the land it was granted then, except that it later transferred the palace building and immediately surrounding ground into the care of the Fine Arts Department.