Grand Palace, Wat Po, night and floating markets… these are usually the places that are recommended to travelers in Thailand. I definitely agree! However, if you have extra time (and I recommend you make time), visit at least one museum in the country. Initially, I planned on visiting five museums (uhmm yes) but because I kind of got lost at one point (Lol!!) and I had no more time, I got to visit only two of them which for me, was all worthy!
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre
Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC) is just a walking distance away from big malls such as MBK and Siam Center. It’s an art center, museum and mall in one. However, compared to the previously mentioned malls, the good thing about it is that it’s not crowded.
The last three floors of the art center is the museum area. It has modern art pieces and sculptures. The works are really good but the place gives a creepy feeling for me because it’s so spacious. Also, in order to go to the next floors of the museum, you need to pass by the spiral staircase… made me dizzy! Cameras not allowed in that area though so no pictures… sorry!
More pictures (click to check description) of BACC below:
Jim Thompson House and Museum
Jim Thompson, to which the house museum is named after (obviously), is an American who fell in love with Thailand in the late 1940’s. He then decided to live there. He played an integral part in the revival of the silk industry in the country which was almost being abandoned at that time. Years after, he visited Malaysia and mysteriously vanished. Now, the house which he designed himself has been transformed to a house museum.
This museum is actually my favorite. There are English, Japanese, Chinese and French (?) tour guides and they are really friendly. They do their best to answer questions as well. The story of Jim Thompson is quite interesting too… especially the astrology background behind the making of his home and his sudden disappearance.
In some areas of the museum, picture taking is not allowed. For me, that’s a good thing because if I post everything here, you’ll miss out on all the fun, right? Check out the photos with description below:
National Museum
Thailand’s National Museum is the biggest museum I’ve ever been so far. It’s MASSIVE! I can’t recall how many buildings were there… 15, maybe? One for paintings.. one for Buddha statues… one full of paintings.. one for artifacts… There were just so many things for one kind. You need at least half day to see everything.
If you plan on visiting the museum, try to ask for a tour guide. Most of the items don’t have descriptions. Also, go with a friend. Good thing I was touring the area with Lisa, a German I met at Jim Thompson Museum. She was so nice and we got to chat a lot while walking from building to building. If I was alone, I could have just visited just half of the area.
More pictures of National Museum below:
I hope that you have now taken into consideration visiting museums in your next travel (hopefully in Thailand) after reading this. On my next blog entry, I will be sharing about the lovely street art in Bangkok. Thanks for reading 🙂
musings & adventures 
