The objective of this research is to demonstrate the function of the city space based on how it has affected the transformation of social structure in Bangkok, Thailand, by examining modernisation projects conducted during the reign of Rama VI (1910–1925) from the viewpoint of nationalism and by spotlighting domestic and international affairs.

 Offering a definition of the spaces that were used for experimenting with the introduction of modernisation as ‘experimental spaces for modernisation’, two such projects are highlighted in the research. One is a modern miniature city ‘Dusit Thani’, hereinafter referred to as ‘DT’, where experimentation was conducted to introduce modern systems. Another is ‘The Plan for the Siamese Kingdom Exhibition’, hereinafter referred to as ‘SKE’, which planned on presenting the space from the perspective of the Siam Kingdom.

 By analysing these projects, the following three points were clarified.

 First, it was revealed that DT worked as a bridge that helped people to connect the current state of the Siam Kingdom with the ideal picture of modernised politics and society, while SKE worked to make people believe that the current state of the Kingdom represented the ideal picture of a modernised country.

 These real-world projects made it possible to provide affinity and homogeneity in Thai society and contributed to creating fictitious concepts as reality. These spaces came about because the Siam Kingdom at the time was a non-colonized modernising country. As a result, these experimental spaces for modernisation demonstrated the modern national statue, which was the ideal of the Siam kingdom.

 Second, one of the intentions of DT and SKE was to prevent a coup d’état internally, and one of the intentions of SKE was to externally prevent colonisation by presenting a picture of a modernised country. These experimental spaces for modernisation attempted to show that the Siam Kingdom was modernised nationwide as it was an absolute monarchy and a non-colony. In other words, the experimental spaces for modernisation were expected to prevent movement against the ideal modern state image.

 Lastly, DT and SKE indicated that the experimental space for modernisation and the adaptation of the concept of ‘population survey · map · museum’ related to the ideal modern national statue emerged. In other words, Rama VI, the ruler of DT, SKE and the existing society, attempted to make it clear to domestic and foreign parties that he could govern the ideal modern state. Therefore, in the process of forming nationalism, the experimental spaces for modernisation were attempting to demonstrate the legitimacy of the political situation, and the rulers of the existing society of an unmodernised country were appropriate for governing even after modernisation was achieved.

The Theravāda Saṅgha includes exclusive groups of monks called nikāya, or orders, whose members share specific monastic practices or ethnicity. Throughout history, conflicts between different nikāyas have repeatedly arisen and been settled. How have the authority and law of state saṅgha been involved in the onset and resolution of such conflicts? Drawing on the example Dawei monks in Myanmar and Thailand at the turn of the 20th century, this paper examines two incidents: 1) the intervention of the Supreme Patriarch of Myanmar to settle a conflict; and 2) the adoption of the modern Saṅgha Act of 1902 in Thailand, which created a conflict. In the Dawei region, the Gado Nikāya is one of the eight officially recognized “strict orders” of Myanmar and is well known today. When the order’s religious practices were obstructed by non-member monks at the end of 19th century, the Supreme Patriarch of Myanmar played a significant role in settling the conflict by recognizing the independence of the Gado Nikāya. In contrast, in 1913, the Saṅgha Act of Thailand, which strengthened the authority of the abbot of each monastery, resulted in stoking a conflict between Burmese monks at a Dawei monastery (in today’s Bangkok) and its Dawei abbot, although they had previously lived together without problem. These cases from the Dawei Saṅgha provide useful comparative insights into the relations between nikāyas and the hierarchy and governance of the saṅgha in two countries.