Bangkok Museums

Bangkokian Museum

It's not an old palace, or a past royal residence, but a teak house brought from up-country and reassembled in the city. Situated not far from the Central Post Office, the Bangkok Folk Museum is a typical Bangkok family house, the only difference being that this one is typical of over 70 years ago.

Together its interiors and original household items, including traditional household utensils and items of ceremonial significance, present a 'living scenario of middleclass Bangkok citizens in the period of World War II'. Everything is classified and exhibited with the efficiency and precision of a much larger museum, and owner Mrs Waraporn Surawadee can arrange guided tours. Read More...

Opening Hours: 10:00 - 17:00 (weekends only)
Location: 273 Charoenkrung Soi 43
Tel: +66 (0)2 233 7027
How to get there: Taxi is probably the best way to go. You can take the BTS Skytrain to Chong Nonsi Station, or MRT Subway to Sam Yan Station, then continue on taxi.

Corrections Museum

Located on Mahachai Road, the Corrections Museum is the place to learn about the gruesome punishments meted out to offenders in Thailand in the not so distant past. It was once the site of the Bangkok Remand Prison, an old and overcrowded penal facility located in the heart of Bangkok. In 1990, the cabinet relocated it to Lad-yao and turned the site into a public park called Rommani Nart. Three blocks, a cellblock, a side of the prison wall and two watchtowers were preserved, and converted into this Museum of the macabre.

Grisly corporal punishment tools and weapons exhibit the severities of the old penal system, a sadistic system based on retribution through severe punishment and suffering (after seeing these you'll think twice about misbehaving while on these shores). Life-sized wax figures act out with painful precision execution scenes. A grim highlight includes a man-sized rattan ball pierced with nails pointing inwards. Hapless prisoners were placed inside and an elephant used to kick the ball around. Ouch! Less likely to revisit you in your dreams is the area exhibiting furniture and handicrafts made by prisoners from across Thailand - all available to buy. The building also shows how prisoners in the past lived day-to-day, and how prison guards brought offenders into custody.

Opening Hours: 09:30 - 16:00 (Monday - Friday, closed on public holidays)
Location: 436 Mahachai Road, near Rommani Nart Park
Tel: +66 (0)2 226 1706
How to get there: Taxi is probably the best way to go.

Forensic Museum

If you're into all things gruesome, this is for you. Preserved corpses of convicted killers, like Thailand's most famous mass murderer See-Uey, the Chinese cannibal, are exhibited alongside murder weapons, a gut-wrenching exhibition of autopsy photos and glass jars containing stillborn children pickled in formaldehyde. It's close to the museums of parasitology, medical history, and anthropology. The Museum of Anatomy next door, housed in an old 1930's building, contains a close-up and personal look at the human body. Often visited by medical students, it will prove fascinating for lovers of the macabre, horrifying for the rest. Read More...

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 16:00 (Monday - Saturday)
Location: 2nd floor, Adulaydejvigrom Building, Siriraj Hospital, 2 Phrannok Road
Tel: +66 (0)2 419 7000 ext. 6363, 6440
How to get there: Take the Chao Phraya Express Boat and disembark at the Thonburi Railway Pier (N11).

Human Imagery Museum

Thai artist Duangkaew Phityakornsilp and his team spent over ten years painstakingly creating the eerily life-like wax and fibre-glass figures that appear at the Human Imagery Museum and depict, with astonishing realism, scenes from Thai life and culture. Included amongst representations of daily life are farm labourers, slaves, chess players, even a man reading a Thai newspaper.

Other figures include a 'who's-who' of Thai nobility: Chakri Dynasty Kings, enlightened monks, poets, politicians, aristocrats and musicians. Some of the most prominent foreigners of popular history also appear in, what seems to be, the flesh. Sir Winston Churchill is there, along with the likes of Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi. Bangkok's very own Madame Tussauds, if you like - only less pop culture, more high culture. 

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:30 (Monday - Friday), 08:30 - 18:00 (weekends and public holidays)
Location: 43/2 Moo 1, Pinklao-Nakhonchaisri Road, Nakhon Pathom
Tel: +66 (0)3 433 2061 / 2607
How to get there: Taxi is probably the best way to go.

Kamthieng House

A beautiful, stilted 19th rice farmer's teak house transplanted from the banks of Chiang Mai's Ping River to Bangkok in 1964, Kamthieng House is now the headquarters of the the Siam Society - a place dedicated to preserving and promoting Thai culture and heritage.

Inside is a collection of agricultural and domestic items - woven fish baskets and terra-cotta pots among other items - which show the everyday lives of ordinary people in the past. The spirits of three ladies - previous occupants - are said to haunt the house and watch over it. The gardens, Lanna style, are landscaped like a northern Thai garden.

There's an excellent library (Siam Society members can borrow, but the general public can browse) which includes rare books about Thai history, palm-leaf manuscripts and old maps. Fondly attended by Bangkok's foreign intelligensia, The Siam Society is dedicated to providing information on all aspects of Thai culture, especially the regions, arranging regular lectures and study trips to historic sites and wildlife sanctuaries. Read More...

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:00 (Tuesday - Saturday)
Location: 131 Soi Asok, north of Sukhumvit on Soi 21
BTS: Asok
How to get there: From BTS Skytrain Asok Station (Exit 3), walk down Asok-Montri Road for about 5 minutes and the Siam Society is on your left.

Museum of Counterfeit Goods 

As a stroll through any of Bangkok's markets will demonstrate, Thailand has an inimitable knack for imitating things. Law firm Tilleke and Gibbins' Museum of Counterfeit Goods is further proof. Established in 1989, it exhibits piles of counterfeit goods accumulated over years of raids on behalf of clients. Prior to this, the goods, which are often used as evidence in court, had been stashed away in boxes, taking up precious storage space and serving no practical purpose whatsoever.

No more. Over 1,500 copycat items appear in 20 categories ranging from clothing, leather goods and footwear to electronics, households appliances, car parts and drugs - and much, much more. So much that they rotate objects on display every four months. Where possible, items appear alongside the genuine article, so visitors can play spot the difference and learn about the social and economic consequences of counterfeiting. Entry is only by appointment, but members of the public, law students and business people are equally welcome. Read More...

Opening Hours: 10:00 - 16:00 (Monday - Friday), by appointment only
Location: Tilleke & Gibbins, Supalai Grand Tower, 26th Floor, 1011 Rama 3 Road, Chongnonsi
Tel: +66 (0)2 653 5555
How to get there: Taxi is the best way to go. If you take the BTS Skytrain, disembark at Chong Nonsi Station and take a taxi to Rama III Road. Tilleke and Gibbins is located inside the Supalai Grand Tower.

Museum of Siam

A new-generation museum situated just south of Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha), Museum of Siam promises to be anything but boring. The museum’s elegant neoclassical façade painted in pastel yellow – already a curious addition to the otherwise low-key Pak Khlong neighbourhood – is a prelude of what’s to come once you step through its impressive main entrance.

The museum’s 3,000sqm floor space is dedicated to a permanent exhibition called ‘An Essay on Thailand’, which raises questions about Thai-ness and what it means to be Thai. It traces the origins of Thai ethnicity and Thai-ness from pre-history to the birth of Suvarnabhumi (golden peninsular), which is the area covering the entire Southeast Asia, to Siam and finally modern Thailand.

After watching a short but thought-provoking video, you will then be led to the top floor to begin your journey, and before you know it, several entertaining hours will pass by – and perhaps questions about what it means to be Thai answered.

The museum also features temporary exhibitions on various cultural topics, a knowledge centre with books, DVDs and journals on Thai history, archaeology, museum studies as well as an events hall, seminar and workshop rooms, a café and souvenir shop. Read More...

Opening Hours: 10.00 - 18.00 (Tuesday to Sunday)
Location: Phra Nakorn District, Rattanakosin Island, south of Wat Pho
Tel: +66 (0)2 225 2777
How to get there: Take the Chao Praya Express Boat to Rachini Pier (closest) or Tha Thien Pier (about 10 min. walk).

National Gallery

Housed in a former Royal Mint built during the reign of King Rama V, the National Gallery displays work by Thai artists from the 17th Century onwards. Inherited by the Department of Fine Arts in 1974, it includes permanent exhibitions of works by King Rama VI and H.M. King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, traditional murals from early periods in the capital's history, and pioneering Thai modern art.

Particularly evident is the influence of Western schools of art, like impressionism and cubism, on recent Thai artists. There is also an area featuring temporary exhibitions of art from home and abroad, everything from painting and sculptures to prints and installations. Read More...

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 16:00 (Wednesday - Sunday)
Location: 4 Chao-Fa Road, opposite the National Theatre, Rattanakosin
Tel: +66 (0)2 282 2639
How to get there: Taxi is the best way, although you can take the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Phra Athit Pier (N13), then walk back towards Phra Pin Klao Bridge, turn left at Chao Fah Road and continue walking for about 15 minutes and the museum should be on your left.

Philatelic (Stamp) Museum

This is an essential stop for any budding stamp enthusiast in Bangkok. It shows how the postal service developed in Thailand, exhibiting Thai and foreign stamps dating back to 1881, when the first Thai stamps were made in London using woodblock prints. Stamps and accessories are available to buy at very reasonable prices. History and art enthusiasts may also enjoy it, but bring a magnifying glass: up close, each stamp is a paper-thin slice of history, and a miniature work of art.  For more serious philatelists, there is an interesting collection of stamp books in Thai and foreign languages on display at the museum's library.

Opening Hours: 08:30 - 16:30 (Wednesday to Sunday)
Location: Between Soi 3 and 5, Pathon Yothin Road, Saphan Khwai
BTS: Saphan Kwai
Tel: +66 (0)2 271 2439
How to get there: From the BTS Skytrain Saphan Kwai Station (exit 1), the museum is housed inside the Sam Sen Nai Post Office.

Prasart Museum

As a young man, founder Prasart Vongsakul was so upset that many of his homeland's treasures were being sold abroad that he vowed to one day build a museum for the people. The result is this eclectic, ever so slightly eccentric assembly of buildings, all replicas of influential Thai palaces, houses and royal residences. Some date as far back as the Ayutthaya period. Highlights include the Red Palace, a re-creation of a Thai-style teak house that King Rama I built for his sister in 1784, and a colonial-style mansion that dates back to the 19th Century and exhibits King Rama V's European tastes. Other interesting structures include a Chedi, Goddess Guan Yin Shrine and a Lopburi-style chapel.

Set in a lush tropical garden that exudes peace and serenity, it also serves as a centre of education and research for those interested in Thai antiquities. Pieces from the Ayutthaya and early Rattanakosin periods are on display, including several Sukothai Buddha images, and items of furniture. In the teakwood library is a collection of ancient books and manuscripts. The garden also contains several Sukhothai period terracotta pieces, alongside rare Thai and foreign plants.

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 15:00 (Friday - Sunday), call for an appointment first
Location: 9 Krung Thep Kreetha Road, Soi 4, Bang Kapi
Tel: +66 (0)2 379 3601
How to get there: Taxi is probably the best way to go.

Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall

There is no better suited location for the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall than its current location on Ratchadamnoen Klang Road. This tree-lined boulevard, flanked by period-style buttercup-yellow buildings, is where the history of Bangkok – the capital of Rattanakosin Kingdom –begins.

At the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, you can learn all about Bangkok’s history, culture, architecture and people from the nine exhibition areas that capture its two centuries of existence in one entertaining journey from the first to the fourth floor.

Like Museum of Siam, the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall belongs a new generation of museums where interactive multimedia technologies are used to enhance the visitors’ learning experience. You will discover Bangkok of the bygone era, as well as the modern cosmopolitan that it has become, through various visual presentations and moving images; embark on a virtual journey along the khlongs (canals) and rivers of yesteryear; take a peek of what’s inside a handful of historic buildings now closed to the public; and many more that will leave you with a sense of appreciation for the city we all know as Bangkok today.

Opening Hours: 11:00 - 20:00 (Tues - Fri), 10:00 - 20:00 (Sat, Sun, public holidays)
Location: Ratchadamnoen Klang Rd., Rattanakosin (east of Democracy Monument)
Tel: +66 (0)2 621 0044, +66 (0)2 226 5047-48
How to get there: Taxi is the best way to go

Royal Thai Air Force Museum

Established in 1952 to preserve not only military aircraft, but also equipment from the beginning of aviation, the Royal Thai Air Force Museum displays one of the world's finest collections of rare and antique military aircraft. This is the only place to see the one-of-a-kind Hawk 3 fighters, which once participated in the Corsair and Franco-Indo Chinese War.

The only remaining Japanese Tachigawa trainer can also be seen here. A Bomber Model II (Paribarta), the first aircraft designed and built solely by Thais, sits proudly next to international wonders like the Spitfire. Nierports, Breguets, Boeing P12-Es and carriers complete the exhibition, while modern jet fighters and royal helicopters add an exotic touch. Other interesting features include simulators, electronic aviation devices and a hypobaric (low-pressure) chamber used for testing the pilot's physical readiness. The museum souvenir shop is a treasure-trove of air force mementoes such as model aircrafts, books, T-shirts and watches. Read More...

Opening Hours: Daily 08:00 - 16:00
Location: Phanon Yothin Road, just behind Don Mueang Airport
Tel: +66 (0)2 534 1764, (0)2 534 1853, (0)2 534 2113
How to get there: Taxi is the best way.

Silpa Bhirasri Memorial & Museum

Many who've lived in Bangkok their whole lives don't know who Silpa Bhirasri is. Without exception though, they've seen his work. He was an Italian-born sculptor who first came to Thailand in 1923 to work for the Department of Fine Arts. Today he's regarded as the father of modern art in Thailand, and his works are on display in public places throughout the city. Many iconic and impressive landmarks and monuments were cast by his able hands, and some of his best-known works include the Democracy Monument and statues of King Taksin, King Rama I and King Rama VI.

This memorial and museum at Silapakorn University is located in the building he not only lived, worked and taught in, but also designed. It maintains the original atmosphere, with paintings and sculptures as well as implements used on show. Works of several of his pupils are also displayed, including famous painters Fua Haripitak, Khien Yimsiri and Saway Tantisuk.

Opening Hours: 09:00 - 12:00 (Monday to Friday, closed on weekends and public holidays)
Location: Fine Arts Department, Silpakorn University, Rattanakosin
Tel: +66 (0)2 223 6162
How to get there: Taxi is probably the best way, but you can also take the Chao Phrya Express Boat to Chang Pier and walk to 10 minutes to Silpakorn University.