Historic building - Temples - Museum - Top sights
Museums
Bangkok's many museums exhibit some of the most sublime, and strangest, collections of relics you can imagine, giving visitors a wonderful insight into Thailand's colourful culture and unique heritage. Some are housed in buildings just as interesting as their contents, like Kamthieng House, a 19th Century teak house and former abode of a rice farmer, the Bangkok Folk Museum and Jim Thompson's House. The best place to start has to be the National Museum, in Rattanakosin. Its collections spanning all periods of Thai history offer an unsurpassed introduction to the country's art and architecture. Be sure to allow enough time for your visit,
The National Museum
National Museum is home to a large and impressive collection of Thai art spanning many eras. It’s probably one of the most important repositories of Southeast Asian antiquities in the world with many impressive items on display covering Buddhist art spanning 1500 years. There are also displays on the history of Thailand, with information in English. Large enough to keep you occupied all afternoon, the museum has a wide ranging collection of artefacts covering all aspects of ancient and recent Thai history. Located beside the Grand Palace opposite the Sanam Luang ground.
Location: Rattanakosin
Open Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 9.00 am - 4.00 pm
Admission Fee: Thai 20 Baht, Foreigner 100 Baht.
Royal Barges Museum
this museum is home to the spectacular barges that are used by royalty for very special ceremonies. on the mouth of Khlong Bangkok Noi, walk from the Phra Pinklao bridge. Daily 9AM-5PM. This place displays several Royal Barges, and their ornaments used for waterborne state ceremonies. The ornately carved barges were crafted in the early centuries, taking the form of famous mythical creatures of the Ramayana epic. The most impressive is the Suphannahongse or Golden Swan, the red and gold Royal river procession for the Kathin (robe presenting ceremony) at Wat Arun. To Reach the museum you have to walk through an alley that snakes through a residential neighborhood. Simply follow the signs until you reach the museum and you won't get lost. B100, B200 if you want to bring a camera with you.
Location: Thonburi & Riverside
Open: Daily 9.00 am - 5.00 pm, Closed: Dec 31 & Jan 1
Admission Fee: Thai 10 Baht, Foreigner 30 Baht.
House of Museums
The House of Museums is located at 170/17 Mu 17, Khlong Pho Land, Soi Khlong Pho 2, Sala Thammasop Road, Thawi Watthana, Bangkok 10170. It is accessible by driving along Phutthamonthon Sai 2 Road toward the railway track or Khlong Maha Sawat. At the end of the road, turn left onto Sala Thammasop Road and follow the sign to the museum. The exhibition features a collection of old as well as modern items of various uses of both townspeople and villagers such as toys, books, stationery and kitchen and household utensils, forming a legacy of the past to be inherited by the present. The modern 3½-storey building of 3 chambers covers a total area of 232 square metres. The first floor lends an old atmosphere of shop houses before 1957 including a café, drugstore, barber’s, etc. There are rooms displaying alternate exhibitions on various topics, as well.
Location: Thonburi & Riverside
Open: Sat-Sun from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: Adult 30 baht, Child 10 baht.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre
Located on Borom Ratchonnani Road beyond the Southern Bus Terminal, this centre is a national institution responsible for systematic gathering processing and servicing of anthropological data scattered throughout the country. A variety of exhibitions on Social and Cultural Development in Thailand, Ethno-Archaeology, Thai Ceramic Collections, as well as the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Biography can be viewed.
Location: Thonburi & Riverside
Open: Mon- Sat from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m
Admission: Free
Siriraj Museum
Located on the 2nd floor of the Adulyadej Vikrom Building inside Siriraj Hospital, Thailand’s first medical institute. The museum comprises the Congdon Anatomical Museum, Songkran Niyomsane Forensic Medicine Museum, Prehistoric Museum, Pathology Museum and Traditional Thai Medicines Museum. The museums are old and dusty with little English signs, but still some foreigners like to visit them, especially the Forensic Medicine Museum for it's creepy collection of medical oddities similar to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia.
Location: Thonburi & Riverside
Jim Thompson’s House
The American who made Thai silk world famous. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances in 1967. The house is located on Soi Kasem San 2.
Jim Thompson is credited with the international revival of the Thai silk industry. His Bangkok home is one of the best preserved examples of a traditional Thai residence, with an outstanding collection of art and antiques from throughout Southeast Asia. Located near Siam Square (National Stadium BTS station).
Location: Patumwan
Open Hours: Daily 9.00 am - 4.30 pm.
Admission: Thai & Foreigner under 25 year old 50 Baht, Adult 100 Baht.
Thai Labour Museum
This museum is located at the former office of the State Railway of Thailand Labour Union on Nikhom Rotfai Road, Makkasan, Ratchathewi. It exhibits a historical background of Thai labour in 7 rooms: Room 1, slave labour and corvée system – the foundation of ancient Thai society – presenting the history of Thai labour since ancient times; Room 2, Chinese coolies - early hire workers - featuring their way of life; Room 3, labour and the country’s reforms in the reign of King Rama V – a major transitional period in Thai history; Room 4, labourers and the 1932 Revolution – labourers before and after the revolution; Room 5, from World War to the Cold War – Thai labour under critical situations during World War II and the Cold War; Room 6, from the 14 October uprising to the economic crisis – life of Thai workers during the pro-democracy period, women and child labour, truck drivers and boxers; Room 7, labour artist Chit Phumisak – dedicated to Chit Phumisak, a significant thinker and intellectual. The exhibition in each room is displayed through various media such as television, slides and computer, which make it more interesting and easier to understand. The museum also provides a library service with books and research reports about labourers and computer training for workers.
Location: Phahonyonthin
Open: Wed-Sun and Public holidays from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.,
Admission: Free
Sunthorn Museum
Situated at 82/10 Sukhaphiban 1 (off Phetkasem Road near Lotus Supermarket), this is a private museum operated by Mr. Sunthorn Chunothaisawat. It houses invaluable antiques from different periods such as BMW Motorcycles in the World War Periods, various types of old clock, lamps, children toys made out of zinc, Raios, Irons, type writers, Fans and sewing machines which are still maintained in good condition.
Location: Thonburi & Riverside
Open: Sat from 11 a.m.to 5 p.m.
Admission: 200 baht
Rare Stone Museum
Located on Charoenkrung Road between Soi 26 and Soi 28 in Bang Rak area, the museum features a fascinating display of over ten thousand rare stones from Thailand and all over the world. Exhibits include precious stones, fossils, crystals, stalactites and more. Collections of ashtrays and cigarette labels are also on display.
Location: Chinatown
Open: Daily from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.,
Admission: 20 baht
Bangkok Dolls & Museum
Bangkok Dolls & Museum Located at 85 Soi Ratchataphan (Soi Mo Leng) off Ratchaprarop Road. It was established by Khunying Tongkorn Chandavimol in 1956 after having completed a course on doll making from the Osawa Doll School in Tokyo, Japan. Her intention was to make as well as publicise Thai dolls. Bangkok Doll’s products are well recognised internationally and renowned among doll collectors. They won the first prize and the Honorary Gold Peacock Feather Award from the 3rd International Folklore Dolls Biennial 1978 in Poland. The place serves as both a museum and workshop where various kinds of dolls are displayed and made totally by hand, using mainly locally available materials. There are several categories of dolls such as Khon dolls, hill tribes, Thai rural lifestyles as well as Khon mask miniatures. There is also a corner in the workshop where a private collection of some 400 dolls from around the world are displayed.
Location: Phahonyonthin
The entrance is free.
Open: Mon-Sat from 8.00 am - 5.00 pm.
Rattanakosin - Riverside - Chinatown - Sukhumvit - Silom & Sathorn - Pathumwan - Ratchadaphisek - Phahonyothin - Around Bangkok