Joanna James
Among the skyscrapers and shrines of Thailand's capital city, that is lively Bangkok, is also a host of incredible museums adding to a fantastic city getaway. Make room for a couple of museums on your itinerary and treat yourself to a dose of fascinating history in the bustling Thai metropolis.
The first National Museum in Thailand and the main branch museum of the National Museums in Thailand, Bangkok National Museum basks in the glory of featuring Thailand's most extensive collection of arts and artefacts. Dating all the way back to the late 1800s, the gigantic museum was founded by King Rama V and occupies the former vice king's palace — the 18th-century Wang Na Palace in Phra Nakhon. Set in the vicinity of the world-renowned Wat Phra Kaew and The Grand Palace temples, the museum makes a great addition to your tour.
From the exterior of the courtly, neoclassical building, Museum Siam may look just like any other museum of art, sculptures, and other artefacts that you may expect to find in Bangkok. But step inside the 3,000-square-metre museum and you are in for a surprise. As the first national discovery museum in Thailand, Museum Siam treats you to an undeniably immersive experience, where a host of interactive elements, especially the juxtaposition of antique fixtures and technology combined with modern art, are designed to showcase the national identity, history, and evolution of the people of Thailand.
Art buffs who fancy laying their eyes on some striking works of art during their time in Bangkok, there's no better place to be than MOCA or the Museum of Contemporary Art to sate your appetite. The five-storey museum houses arguably the best collection of contemporary paintings and sculptures in Thailand, especially the magnificent modern-day Thai Buddhist art, including works of some of the most celebrated artists in the country.
At house number 273 on Soi Charoen Krung 43 is the charming Bangkokian Museum, from the outside of which, many would hardly believe a museum does actually exist in the place. Unlike the typical sprawling Bangkok museums, Bangkokian Museum is just two perfectly preserved Colonial wooden houses of the 18th and early 19th century. Not only does this hidden gem treat you to some quaint little artefacts of days of yore, but also to a moment of peace and quiet, where it's highly likely that you'd be the only person here.
Late James H.W. Thompson, as in Jim Thompson House Museum, was an American businessman, highly respected in Thailand for saving its dying silk industry in the 1960s, who left behind 6 traditional Thai teak wood houses, now known as Jim Thompson House. Get your fill of striking art and quaint architecture and retreat to a fine serviced apartment in Bangkok the likes of Chatrium Residence Riverside Bangkok.
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