Ko Sichang District

Ko Sichang is a district of Chonburi Province, Thailand. It consists of the island of Ko Sichang and its adjoining islands. Ko Sichang is in the Gulf of Thailand, 12 km off the shore of Si Racha District.HistoryKing Rama IV, Rama V and Rama VI came to the island for rest. King Rama V built a summer palace, named "Phra Chuthathut Palace" (พระจุฑาธุชราชฐาน) after his son who was born on this island. The royal residence was abandoned in 1893 after the French occupied the island during a conflict with Thailand over control of neighboring Laos. In 1900, the palace was torn down and reassembled in Bangkok, where it is now named Vimanmek Palace.The British diplomat John Crawfurd visited the islands in 1822 during the mission described in his book Journal of an embassy from the Governor-General of India to the courts of Siam and Cochin-China: exhibiting a view of the actual state of those kingdoms. He reports that Francis Buchanan-Hamilton called the islands of Ko Sichang District the "Dutch Islands", and Ko Sichang itself as "Amsterdam", due to frequent visits by ships of the Dutch East India Company during the 17th century. American diplomat Edmund Roberts visited the district in the 1830s.