Thailand National Museums In Bangkok
Bangkok Museums
[1] National Museum Bangkok
[2] Vimanmek Mansion Museum Bangkok
[3] Suan Pakkad Museum Bangkok
[4] Jim Thompson House Museum Bangkok
[5] Royal Barge Museum Bangkok
[6] Museum of Siam Bangkok
[7] Royal Elephant Museum
[1] National Museum Bangkok
The National Museum Bangkok is a must see tourist attraction:
- Firstly, the Museum houses Thailand’s largest and finest collection of Thailand art, including the collection of antiquities from the period of King Mongkut [ 1851-1868, that famous king from “ the King and I ” ].
- Secondly, the Museum is actually comprised of a series of buildings and structures, many of which are both historically important and architecturally significant. These include, Siwamokhapiman Hall which now houses the Thai History Gallery but which originally was built by the Prince Successor to Rama I, Buddhaisawan Chapel built in 1787 to house the Buddha image '' Phra Buddhasihing '',The Red House, made of teak and the home of the elder sister of Rama I, Issarawinitchai Hall which was the audience hall of the Palace of the Prince Successor and which now houses temporary special exhibitions, Pritsadang Bhimuk Hall which now houses the old weapons collection of the Museum and the residence of the second King of Rama IV, King Pin Klao. The collection of important buildings is interesting for its history as well as the architecture styles.
- Vimanmek Mansion is part of a whole complex of buildings in the Dusit Palace grounds.
- It was built by King Chulalongkorn [King Rama V, 1869 – 1910] as a summer retreat in 1901, and he resided here until 1906. After his death in 1912, the building was virtually unoccupied for a period of fifty years. In 1982, the hitherto neglected Mansion was renovated for use as a museum to commemorate King Rama V by displaying his photographs and collection of artwork and handicrafts of the Bangkok period.
- The Suan Pakkad Palace was assembled over a period of time beginning in 1952 by Prince and Princess Chaumbhot of Nakhon Sawan, a province in central Thailand. They decided to display to the public their vast personal collection of art and antiquities, including those that had been passed down to them though successive royal generations. This collection ranges from the pre-historic to the contemporary periods. To house the collection, seven historic Thai buildings were moved to the Palace grounds and reassembled. Some of these houses had belonged to the Prince’s great-great-grandfather, who was a Regent in the reign of Rama IV, [1851-1868].
- Jim Thompson’s House and gardens and its valuable collection of South East Asian Art are well worth a visit.
- Jim Thompson was an American architect who was stationed in Thailand in World War II as part of what was to become the Central Intelligence Agency. After the War, he returned to Thailand, and successfully resurrected the Thai silk industry by marketing the silks for the western world under the guise of the Thai Silk Company Ltd. This was to be an enduring success, which has continued to this day in spite of his untimely and mysterious death in 1967.
- The National Museum of Royal Barges is located on the north side of Bangkok Noi close to its entrance on the west side of Chao Phraya River. The preferable way to access it is by boat from the East side of Chao Phraya River. The back route through side streets can be confusing and not good.
- The National Museum of Royal Barges contains the most significant 8 of the 52 royal barges and provides information and displays historical and decorative objects associated with the barges and the Royal ceremonies.
- Museum of Siam was first opened in April 2008 and is located immediately south of Wat Pho on Rattanakosin Island. The museum building is a lovely 19 C building of classic proportions and the exhibition attempts to explain to Thai people their history and sources of their identity.
- For a foreign tourist the Museum is good and deals with issues, such as the 1940 's dictatorship and attempts to mold Thai people into the then prescribed way of being, as was then also happening in Germany and Italy.
- The principal themes of the display are the very first beginnings of human settlement in the region, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the nature and then purposes of war, Ayutthaya's destruction by the Burmese and the recreation of the new Siam capital in Bangkok.
- The Royal Elephant National Museum was once an elephant stable for the Kings. For Kings the rare white Elephants were a symbol. But there is much more to be understood by visitors. Elephants were the war machines of the past. The Vietnamese destroyed the Mongol invaders with elephants, the Burmese at Pagan were slaughtered by the Mongols who then found ways to destroy the Burmese elephant armies, the Siamese Tai waged war with elephants in the wars with the Burmese and the Khmer Empires. It was not until the Portuguese sold canons to South East Asia did war fare change.