The Bangkok Folk Museum

The Bangkok Folk Museum was originally the home of the Suravadee family which was built in 1937. It’s tucked away in Soi Charoen Krung 43, off the famous Charoen Krung Road, the oldest road in Bangkok, built in 1860 during the reign of King Rama IV.

The family home was converted to the Bangkok Folk Museum to preserve the lifestyle of early Bangkok and also to record the history of Bangkok and the Bangrak district, where the museum is located. On 1 October 2004, the property was donated to the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority who now manages the place.

There are four buildings set in a lush garden in half an acre of land in the busy commercial Bangrak district near the Chao Phraya River.


The lush garden

Three of these building are open for public viewing. Ms Waraporn Surawadee, daughter of the original owners, lives in the fourth and it was through her dedicated efforts that the Bangkok Folk Museum was established.

The first building, which used to be the family home, is a two storey wooden building with a covered verandah at the back. The ground floor consists of an anteroom connecting to the dining room, guest room and library.


At the entrance to the house

There’s an air of nostalgia in the house where there’s a grandfather clock and an old gramophone that has to be started by a lever. On my first visit in 2004, an old 75-rpm record of “Would I Love You” by Doris Day and Harry James was still on the turntable. The record has been changed when I revisited the museum in August 2008.


Music of yesteryears

The dining room has a collection of European porcelain around the 1899 – 1913 period and old Chinese ceramics.

It's not an old palace, or a past royal residence, nor a teak house dragged from up-country and reassembled in the city - but that's its charm. 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.

Open: 10:00 - 17:00 (weekends only)
Where: 273 Charoenkrung Soi 43
Admission: free (contact owner Mrs Waraporn Surawadee 09:00 - 17:00 Monday to Friday for bookings).
Contact: +66 (0)2 233 7027

Royal Thai Air 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.

Open: Daily 08:30 - 14:30
Where: Phanon Yothin Road, just behind Don Mueang Airport
Admission: free
Contact: +66 (0)2 534 1764

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.

Open: 09:00 - 17:30 (Monday - Friday), 08:30 - 18:00 (weekends and public holidays)
Where: 43/2 Moo 1, Pinklao-Nakhonchaisri Road, Nakhon Pathom
Admission: 200 baht
Contact: +66 (0)3 433 2061 / 2607

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.

Open: 09:30 - 16:00 (Monday - Friday, closed on public holidays)
Where: 436 Mahachai Road, near Rommani Nart Park
Admission: free
Contact: +66 (0)2 226 1706

Jim Thompson House & Suan Pakkad Palace

Jim Thompson House is comprised of six lovingly maintained teak houses. The exterior is so very Thai: the lyrical tropical garden, the boldly upswept roof eaves, the spirit house offering protection in a shadeless corner. But step inside and you find a stunning home/museum that flaunts the exquisite taste and high-cultural leanings of its Asiaphile owner, Jim Thompson.

He was a former architect and US intelligence officer who after WWII fell in love, not with Thailand's beaches or its women but its lustrous, hand-woven silk. In between reviving this ailing cottage industry - which today thrives largely thanks to him - he spent his days snapping up Southeast Asian antiques. And not gaudy bric-a-brac, but some truly eye-popping paintings, pottery, furniture and sculptures.

Herein lies everything from decrepit old doorways rescued from a Chinatown street corner, to a 13th Century seated sandstone Buddha and crumbling Chinese stone lions. It's all stunning stuff. His taste was, is still, exquisite. And, ambling from room to room, it's clear from the 'oohs' and 'aahs' that others agree (as one American puts it while eyeing some Benjarong ceramics: "such an eye - and to think he was one of us!")

Home Improvements

It is clear also that while Jim Thompson was a huge fan of Thai art and customs (the threshold of each building is elevated to keep out evil spirits, for example), he was no slave to them. The stairways are found indoors. Black and white Italian tiling lines the entrance hall. And the decorative window panels, which traditionally face outwards, face in. This wasn't cultural irreverence - just home improvements.

As were other personal touches like the chandeliers, a Chinese blue and white porcelain set on a European dining table (he wasn't into dining on the floor) and, my favourite, a porcelain bedpan in the shape of a cat. Jim Thompson disappeared mysteriously in 1967 while in the Malaysian highlands. But it's easy to picture him still sitting at the work desk in his study, looking out at the sun shining between the giant palm fronds. This is a museum, yes, but one with a stirring, ghostly aura.

Jim Thompson House
Address: 6/1 Soi Kasemsan 2, Rama 1 Road
Location: Opposite the National Stadium on Rama I Road. Accessible from BTS National Stadium station.
Tel: +66 (0)2 216 7368
Opening Hours: 09:00-17:00

Bangkok Children's Discovery Museum

A visit to this museum destroys all preconceived notions of a museum as a mothball-reeking, dead quiet place with 'do not touch' signs everywhere. Bangkok's Children Discovery Museum actually encourages a hands-on approach to learning. By presenting interactive displays, it calls on a 'discovery learning process', whereby children enter the experience and participate in the process of learning rather than remaining a passive (and bored) viewer - a perfect place for inquisitive young minds to figure things out for themselves, as well as for tinier tots just wanting to touch everything.

This museum gets kids excited and encourages them to ask questions about how the world works. Figure out how it all fits together, by looking at the parts and experimenting - that's the idea. Fun in the science gallery includes creating your own giant bubble from inside. Try to understand the nature of illusion by entering a tunnel of mirrors. In the 'life' section, examine the processes of the mind and body - experiment with the human kinetic processes yourself and check out your heart rate by scaling an indoor bicycle. Now put your coordination skills to the test by hitting the button corresponding to each different action... This is education at its most fun!

The mysteries of our magical world, demystified

Wonder what kind of music would come from the stars? What about other parts of the world? Test the different drums from all over the world. Listen to recordings of greetings in different languages, or discover what sounds go with which of the various instruments. What do different people wear? What kind of houses do they live in? This exhibition intends to foster in children a respect for diversity and a natural curiosity about the world around them. What is the grown-ups' world really like? Be one for a day. Kids can even join a cooking class and make some real yummy (Thai) food at My Little Kitchen. If they are rising starlets, let them have their own TV or radio talk show.

You can take to the wheel, not literally of course, but here you can test drive and see which buttons and levers do what. This installation has a real seat, with a gearbox, steering wheel and dashboard with the whole range of buttons and levers. There is even a car suspended in mid air so you can see the underside - what happens when you turn the wheel, and turn each switch. Notice how all the parts work in unison and even see how an accident can happen. Here is something that even adults can learn from. Where does electricity come from? And how much energy do we use? Marvel at how much each household appliance uses up in the 'energy gorging monster'.

Wat Yannawa

A very short distance south of Taksin Bridge is the rather urbanized temple of Wat Yannawa. The temple was built early in the 19^th century. It was quite popular with the Chinese who settled the neighborhood after Chinatown began to fill up. This is still a predominately Chinese neighborhood, which is why the information plaque is in Thai, English and Chinese.

The large gatehouse of the temple.

The temple's singular attraction is its very unusual wiharn in the shape of a Chinese junk. The wiharn was built on the orders of King Rama III, who saw steam ships replacing the old junks, and wanted the people to remember the old ships that had originally bought so much prosperity to the kingdom. The 'ship' is made out of concrete, with two chedis where the masts would normally be. The alter is in the wheel house above the stern.

The meeting hall with its roof-top pavilions.

The ubosot behind the wiharn is looking unkept and run-down compared to the freshly painted wiharn. The gatehouse as well as the two large buildings flanking the wiharn are all recent additions.

Being a sort of 'one hit wonder' the temple fell off the tourist map many years ago. A bit part of its current importance is owing to the fact that the temple's abbot is current the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand's main Buddhist school.

Getting There

Wat Yannawa is a very short walk south of the Taksin Bridge Skytrain station. Exit the station to Charoen Krung Road, turn right, and you'll soon come to the temple's large gatehouse.