Victory Monument

Victory Monument is the five-sided obelisk on the traffic circle where Ratchawithi, Phaya Thai and Phahon Yothin roads converge in Ratchathewi district. Unveiled in 1941, it commemorates Thailand’s military campaign in the Franco-Thai War of 1940-41, and today it doubles as one of Bangkok’s busiest transit interchanges — free to see, open around the clock, with no ticket booth or gate.

The obelisk itself is shaped like five clasped bayonets rising from a stepped base. Around it stand five bronze statues representing the army, navy, air force, police and civilian population — the work of Italian-Thai sculptor Silpa Bhirasri (born Corrado Feroci), who later founded what became Silpakorn University. The monument is inscribed with the names of 656 soldiers, police officers and civilians who died in the conflict with Vichy French forces over disputed territory in Indochina. It was commissioned under Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s government, part of a run of nationalist public monuments Thailand built in the early 1940s — the same era that produced Democracy Monument a few kilometres south.

Watch out: There’s no ground-level crossing at the circle itself. Reaching the monument or moving between its corners means using the elevated concrete walkways that link the BTS station, the surrounding pavements and the shopping complex beneath — following traffic on foot at street level is neither quick nor safe given the volume of vehicles converging from five directions.

Most visitors experience Victory Monument in transit rather than as a standalone stop: it’s the interchange point for BTS Skytrain riders heading to Bangkok’s northern districts, and city buses fan out from here across the capital. That transit role is actually the more useful reason to know the place — the monument itself takes only a few minutes to look at from the walkway above.

Insider Tip: The sois radiating off the circle, particularly toward Soi Rangnam, are a genuine local destination for boat noodles — small bowls of rich, dark broth sold cheap and fast from vendors who’ve worked the area for decades. It’s a better reason to linger here than the monument itself.

Victory Monument sits around 2km from Erawan Shrine and about 4km from Democracy Monument, its architectural sibling — neither more than a short BTS or taxi ride away.