Siam Commercial Bank Talad Noi branch

 While I was looking to find the district office of Samphanthawong, I at first misread the map and only looked directly at the rim of the Chao Phraya river. Though I could not find the office there, I instead found a beautiful historic building, which one most easily can see when traveling on the river with the express boat. From the street it is a bit hidden, while the gate marking it a Siam Commercial Bank office is easy to notice, the building inside the compound is hardly been seen.

From the website Tour Bangkok Legacies I later learned that this building was built 1906–1910, and was designed by the famous Italian architect Annibale Rigotti (1870-1968). The same architect who also designed the Hua Lamphong railway station as well as the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall. When finished, the building became the headquarter and first branch of the Siam Commercial Bank (ธนาคารไทยพาณิชย์), which was established in 1906. Until 1971 the headquarters remained in this location.

Later in 1983, the building housed the Thai Bank Museum, which however was moved into the new headquarter building of SCB in 1996 as well. Yet I think this building would be a much better location for such a museum, both easier located for tourists than the bank headquarter in the northern outskirts but also more fitting into this historic building than a normal bank branch office.

In case anyone is wondering where all the money deposited at the bank is going - at the entrance of the compound is the most beautiful ATM I have ever seen, housed in a small building in same style as the 1910 building.

Museum Siam

One of the best museums in Thailand is the relatively new Museum Siam (มิวเซียมสยาม), located at the southern end of the Rattanakosin island in the former building of the Ministry of Commerce. I learned about it from the great website Tour Bangkok Legacies, where a lot of special places within Bangkok off the beaten track are featured. While it has only few original antique items - if you prefer to see that better go to the National Museum in the north of Rattanakosin -the way of presenting the history of Siam/Thailand is much easier accessible than in the older style presentation of the National Museum. And one big advantage of the latter - here photography in the museum is not only allowed, the clerk who sent me to the first room even explicitly notified me that I can take photos of everything. Also many exhibits are free to be touched for completely experiencing the items.

The first room is a big auditorium, where a short movie is shown as an introduction to the main theme of the museum - why is typically Thai. The movie also introduces the emblem of the movie, a red character in a frog style standing position. One will find many variations of the emblem in the later rooms, but very nice are those hanging in the staircase one has to go up to the third floor. But before the staircase one enters the first exhibit room, which is kind of a wild collage of all the cliches of typically Thai - Muay Thai, temple dancers, a spirit house, a street food carriage and of course inevitably a Tuk Tuk, ready to sit inside to pose.

Starting in the third floor with the early history - starting way before prehistory with the dinosaurs found in the Northeast, racing from the Lampang Man (Homo erectus) and the prehistoric remains, reaching the mostly mythological Suvarnabhumi country as the first main stop. Since Suvarnabhumi more refers to the whole South East Asia, on what later became Thai soil it had the first city states of the Dvaravati culture, which later became replaced by the first Thai city states.

With Ayutthaya being the most successful of these city states, the next room features beautiful boats hanging in the center and several dioramas depicting scenes from various times in this city - a royal cremation, a market, even a Christian church built by the western missioners. Another one room focuses on Buddhism, and one on the culture of war in these times.

One floor down the exhibitions continues with the map room, not only showing old maps like the famous Carte du Royaume de Siam et des Pays Circonvoisins and the first modern cartographic map of McCarty finished in 1897, but even more notable the depiction of the change of the boundaries of Siam is critical of the nationalistic use of these maps and - of course hardly possible in such a short presentation - shows many of the main points of the highly recommended book "Siam Mapped".

The various cultures in Siam at the beginning of the 20th century are shown in small windows with audio and video, and small items typical of them - I photographed the Chinese as the most iconic of them.

The contrast between the farming communities and the modern technology coming into Siam at that time is shown next, including the first postbox of Siam. Next step is already the nationalist Phibun regime, again (at least in English) the description of the displayed items is notable critical of the ideas of these times, where anyone who disagreed with the government policies was termed non-Thai.

A 1960s TV station where one can try to sit as a news announcer in front of the camera is next, and a bar of the about the same time. A time tunnel into the future is then the exit of the exhibition.

The only point I could criticize about the museum is the pricing - like many venues it does the infamous double pricing, whereas foreigners pay 300 Baht, while Thai only pay 100 Baht. It is worth the inflated price nevertheless, but would probably attract even more foreigner with a more fair pricing - and an English website would definitely help to spread to word better, inside the museum everything is bilingual already. Whereas many museums in the western countries have their exit directly into the museum shop, I completely failed to find the museum shop here and wondered why there's no merchandise with that nice emblem. Only after I checked the website again later I noticed that there is a museum shop, but it must be quite well hidden.

Also notable is the fact that this museum is the first one in Thailand which is present in the Web 2.0 - they're quite active on Facebook as well as Twitter; and there are two branch museums planned already, one in Lampang and one in Chanthaburi. When I come in either of these cities these museums will definitely be on my itinerary.

District museum Yannawa

When I read about Richard Barrow's test ride on the BRT, I was curious to try this new bus system myself. Looking at the route map, I noticed that along the route it has the BMA local museum of Yannawa district, though in between two widely spaced stations, so I had to do quite some walking to get there as well. Nevertheless, this new public transport opens up a new part of Bangkok for those who prefer public transport over taxis, even though these aren't expensive in Bangkok.

The trip to this museum was definitely worth it. Though the museum is a rather small one compared to some other of the district museums I visited, what made it a special visit was the caretaker. The nice woman not only showed me around the items on display, explained them in Thai (sadly I only got maybe 10% of what she told) and also helped me to take good photos by flipping open one Sanskrit manuscript. Not sure what it showed however, but it looked like something about astrology or the calendar. Since she noticed I was quite sweaty from the walk to the museum - it was a rather hot and very sunny day - she also gave me a bottle of water, and a small pack of cookies for snack. I even could get one of the very last copies of the brochures on Yannawa district which she found deep inside a drawer of her desk, hope it wasn't the last one kept for the museum itself.

She not only showed the museum itself, but also the temple where it is housed. Though Wat Khlong Phum (วัดคลองภูมิ) is none of the spectacular temples, it has some interesting sights as well. There are Buddha statues from Ayutthaya times, sadly locked behind bars to prevent theft but which also made photography very difficult; a quite old monk's quarter; the crematorium gave a great view with two failed skyscrapers abandoned in the 1997 Asian crisis in the background; and of course the bot and a viharn next to it also look great, too bad they weren't open to see inside.

My guide even wanted to make sure I will take the right bus to go to my next target, the Bangkok Folk Museum in Bang Rak district (to be featured here later), so she even went to the bus stop in front of the temple with me. I planned to continue my trip by walking to the next BRT station, and then walk within Bang Rak, but it took me a bit to explain my itinerary to her with my still bad Thai.

I had experienced several very good caretakers in the local museums, who very much tried to make my visit worthwhile, but the one in Yannawa topped it all. So if anybody visits this museum after reading my review, make sure to tell her it was "Khun Andreas" from Germany who made you go there.

District museum Samphanthawong

The district museum of Samphanthawong district, which basically is Chinatown, was originally located within Wat Traimit, the famous golden Buddha temple. It was however removed there in 2006 in order to make space for the massive rebuilding of Wat Traimit, which now has been fully opened. Within the temple it now has a new local museum on the history of Chinatown, the Yaowarat Heritage Centre, a museum I will try to visit in my next trip to Thailand.

The original district museum was however not completely abandoned, it was moved into the Pathum Kongka temple school, only one block away from its original location. To visit it, one however really has to know where to search, as there is no sign at the school entrance nor at the school building which houses the museum. When I went there, the school entrance was blocked by a goal net, as the students played soccer in the inner courtyard, so I had to ask me way through. I was guided to the office building to the right, the upper floor now houses the museum.

The main exhibit in the museum is a row of Chinese shop houses, one with traditional Chinese medicine, a rice trader and a general store. In the larger room it mostly has posters showing reproductions of historic photos with explanation, both in English and Thai, giving an overview of the Chinese community.

Given the much bigger, more elaborate and better located new museum, and even more the total lack of promotion by the Bangkok tourist office (who told Eric from the Tour Bangkok Legacies website that the museum is still in Wat Traimit even after he noticed it being gone) as well as the total lack of signs towards to museum, I doubt it will attract any reasonable number of visitors except those who were able to find the sparse information on it. Though the Song Wat road, at which the museum is located, has far less tourists walking by than on Yaowarat road, one or two English sign would increase the visitor numbers already a lot.

District museum Khlong San

The smallest of the Bangkok district museums I have visited so far is the on of Khlong San district, just across the river from Chinatown. It is located within the public library of Wat Anongkharam (วัดอนงคาราม), named Udom Wittaya library (หอสมุดอุดมวิทยา). I love libraries, just sadly it has only Thai books in this one so there was no point in browsing through the shelves - besides I was coming there in late afternoon and it seemed they were about to close soon anyway.

The museum is in the first floor, just up the stairs and then to the right. When I entered, I asked the clerk at ground floor for the location of the museum with those few Thai words I can say, so she directed me upstairs and gave a warning call to the one upstairs that it has a farang coming for the museum. I guess foreigner are a rare sight in there, like in all of these museums.

The central place of the museum area is taken by a portrait of Somdet Ya, the mother of King Bhumipol. She was educated in this temple, and close by the temple a Somdet Ya garden was established around a reconstructed house of your youth.

Other exhibits include old tools used by the main professions in the district, like those salt drying tools I photographed. There's also a bell from the Khlong Sa-Tha Chin railway - originally the Maeklong railway started in this district, now the endpoint is at Wong Wian Yai. Another nice antique exhibit is a metal shop sign; also shown are a few Khon masks manufactured in the district - Ban Khon Thai (บ้านโขนไทย) is located in Khlong San.

The museum is most worth if you combine the visit with the already mentioned nearby Suan Somdet Ya, and the temple Wat Pichai Yat, which I may write about later as well.

House of Museums

A very interesting museum in the western outskirts of Bangkok is the House of Museums (บ้านพิพิธภัณฑ์), where lots of everyday items of the 1950s and 1960s are collected and displayed.

On the ground floor is one corner with lots of toys, mostly tin toys, and since we went to the museum with our small daughter this corner we spend most of the time - she could not get her eyes off from the many toys, all so much different from those she is used to nowadays. There are further two old style shops, though while such a shop layout itself can still be found in Thailand away from the big malls of Bangkok, I could only wonder that so many of the old product packaging was kept by collectors. There also a small shop of old-style toys, though most in plastic already, as well as some treats. Also, directly at the entrance next to the counter are the books by Anake Nawigamune (เอนก นาวิกมูล), the founder of the museum and a very productive writer on many historical topics. Sadly the books are all only in Thai, only the photos inside might be of interest for those living behind the language barrier.

The first floor features a printing press, a barber shop, a photographer shop, and a kitchen, all with the historic utensils. Another room just has many mixed historic items, like a historic playing car, musical instruments, games, dolls. Even more interesting for me was the second floor, especially the office of a district officer as well as an old school room. Finally on the ground floor of the neighboring house is the workplace of a dentist, a Chinese gold shop (still looking much similar to the ubiquitous gold shops of Bangkok).

Though we spend more than an hour in there, we had to hurry through the last rooms since we had another appointment later the day. But as this museum is located close to the home of my brother-in-law, it won't be my last visit there for sure.

The museum is run by a private club and is therefore only open in the weekends when the members don't need to work. It is quite easy to find when driving yourself, from the city center on the highway to Nakhon Pathom (but don't use the elevated one which has only few exits), then right after the intersection with the ring highway change to Phutthamonthon Sai 2 to north, turn left at the end and shortly after at the sign left again.

District museum Thonburi

One of the local district museums I should mention here is the one of Thonburi. It is relatively easy to reach, has several nice exhibits, but most of all the caretaker was that much concerned about me getting most of the museum it was nearly annoying already. As she did not speak much English, she instead read the text on the plates next to the exhibits.

The museum is located in the 3rd floor of the temple school of Wat Prayurawongsawat, most famous for the replica mountain known as "turtle mountain". It is located right across the river at Memorial Bridge. The temple itself is also worth a visit, but one wouldn't find this museum at all strolling around on the temple grounds. It has a sign on the street outside the temple complex, but not a single hint inside to guide to the school. In the brochure of the temple it has a photo of a sign in front of the school, but I did not notice that one in there. So once I found the school building I asked at the kiosk in front and it quickly had someone guide me upstairs to the rooms occupied by the museum. Felt quite odd to pass the school rooms full with pupils to reach a museum.

The museum itself consists of two rooms, and since it was a very hot day and I was on a walking tour visiting several of these museums the fact one of it was acclimatized was quite comfortable. Since the district shares its name with the historical capital - though the actual palace back then is in Bangkok Yai now - and the former province covering the area west of the Chao Phraya river, these histories are prominently displayed on the posters. It was one of these posters where I learned that the former province hall of Thonburi is located just around the corner of the temple.

Of course the local artisans are featured as well, music instruments from (if I recall correctly) Lao settlers including audio recordings to listen, or the Khon mask shown to the left. Also, photos and descriptions of the main religious sites in the district are shown - apart from the Buddhist temples Wat Kanlayanamit and Wat Prayurawongsawat the Santa Cruz church and the only Mosque built like a Thai temple building are the most prominent ones. These alone already gave me enough ideas of places to visit next time I am out for a walking tour in Thonburi.

Phra Nakhon district museum

The most beautifully located district museum (พิพิธภัณฑ์ท้องถิ่น) is the one of Phra Nakhon district, the central district of Bangkok. Prior to its merger with Thonburi, the Bangkok province was named Phra Nakhon after this central district. The museum is located directly next to the district office on Samsen road. It is therefore close to the popular tourist area of Khao San road.

The museum is in a wooden house in traditional Thai style, the former residence of Phraya Borirak Ratcha (พระยาบริรักษ์ราชา), who was a palace guard for King Rama V till Rama VII. In one room in the second floor it has some portrait paintings of the former home-owner.

The other rooms show various exhibits connected with the local history, the traditions of the citizen like local products, like the baskets and other wickerwork as shown in the photo.

When visiting this museum, also take a look at the district office itself located at the other exit of the lot towards Samsen Soi 3. While most of the administrative offices are located within a modern office building, there's also a historic building which probably was the original district office - however in real I don't know anything about this building, it only look worth to take a photo.

Wat Rakang

Wat Rakang Kosittharam Mahawihan (วัดระฆังโฆสิตารามวรมหาวิหาร) is one of the 32 temples in Bangkok Noi district, but one of the most significant. And since I love to explore the city by walking, this temple makes a good target as it's just 3 kilometer away from where I normally stay. I have thus visited there twice, and only lack of time and lots of other targets made me skip this tour the last two times I was in Bangkok.

The main feature of the temple is the bell tower, because those bells gave the temple its name - Rakang (ระฆัง) is the Thai word for bell. The temple got its name when the original bell was moved to Wat Phra Kaeo by King Rama I, and the king sent back five new bells as the replacement. These bells were hanging in the bell tower in the southeast of the compound, but are now in Wat Phra Sri Rattanasattadaram in Bangkhen district, so the bells seen here are replacements of the replacements.

The bot is also well worth to go inside, it not only has a big Buddha statue like most temples, but even more noteworthy are the murals on the walls. Though a bit weathered already they are still worth looking at. Since 1949 they are registered as a national heritage site.

Around the bot are several small and large chedis, and one can see that temple is also a popular place for the final rest - in the walls and chedis it has many urns with the photos of the deceased. I have however only taken one photo of the largest of these chedis.

Another noteworthy building is the library, at first look an inconspicuous wooden building hidden between the trees next to the bot. In my first walk there I hardly noticed it, only to learn later about its significance. Sadly during my second visit the building was under reconstruction, so the photo shows more of the scaffolding than the actual building.

Towards the river is a large temple market, mostly selling those stuff Buddhist need for making merit - incense sticks, flowers, buckets full of items for the monks, animals to set free to gain "tambun", but of course also some small food stalls. But if you are looking for a "normal" market, just walk north next to the historic Patravadi theater towards Sirirat hospital. The last part of this walk then inevitably leads you through that market.

Apart from walking there, the temple is quite easy to reach as it is located very close to the Chao Phraya river. The Wat Rakang pier (photo) itself is only used by ferries or hired boats, but the nearby Phran Nok pier is serviced by the Express boats, and then walk from that pier towards Wat Rakang through the market.

District museum Bangkok Yai

One of several district museums I visited recently is the one of Bangkok Yai district. In fact I went the three times, the first time I was really too late, the second time I was there half hour before the closing time I read at the local museums database. But actually this had its good as well, because when I then returned there with my wife she could talk with the guide who was very talkative. And additionally to the district museum we could listen to a concert by the school orchestra which was preparing for a public performance few days later.

I was a bit cheating with the introductory photo - that one does not show the district museum, but the Rit Narong Ron museum (พิพิธภัณฑ์บ้านคุณหลวงฤทธิณรงค์รอน). This building was the home of Khun Luang Rit Narong Ron, who as being childless donated his land to become the public school which now bears his name. We couldn't see much in there as upstairs was locked, but it is a well-preserved old styled house. The district museum however wasn't built inside there, but in a large school room next to it.

The first exhibit is the mockup of the Vichaiprasit Fort, located at the mouth of Bangkok Yai canal to the Chao Phraya. On the wall it has posters with information on Wang Doem Palace, the palace of King Taksin and later residence of several other royals.This is now located within a Navy complex, so it was new to me that it is possible to visit it - next time in Bangkok it will be quite high on my list. But for me as a technology guy the old printing press and the original Thai types was even more interesting. It was within this district where Dan Bradley started printing in Thailand with the first newspaper Bangkok Recorder.

Further exhibits include a boat loaded with fruits, as the hinterland of the district was filled with orchards and only at the rim of the river and the canal it had actual settlements. Next to the exit it has two shop house facades. Though I don't know from which part of the districts these were supposed to originate, they are to show the style of living in the past - well, of the wealthy. There are also several more posters on the walls, giving the histories of the various temples in the district, most notably of course Wat Arun.

The museum is rather easy to find - when you drive on Phetkasem towards Wong Wian Yai, directly before the bridge over the Khlong (which also marks the beginning of Phetkasem) turn into the narrow sidestreet, Phetkasem Soi 2. This ends on the school yard, and you cannot miss to see the Rit Narong Ron museum depicted above. The museum is located to the right of that one. Though it is possible to walk there from the newly opened Wong Wian Yai Skytrain station, that's still a 30 minute walk.

Santa Cruz Church, Bangkok

Santa Cruz Church (Holy Cross Church, โบสถ์ซานตาครูซ) is a small Roman Catholic church located on the east side of the Chao Phraya river, close to Memorial Bridge. It is one of the landmarks of the Portuguese community, at the river coast of Thonburi district.

The church was built in 1916 by two renowned Italian architects Annibale Rigotti and Mario Tamagno. It is however the third church of this name at this location, the first one was built in 1770 on land given to the Portuguese by King Taksin. The wooden church fell in disrepair, and was replaced by a second one in 1835 under Bishop Pallegoix.

Lately I visited the church for the third time, and for the first time was able to see the inside as well. I came there on the Saturday before Easter, and it had several people preparing the church for the most important catholic feast, especially preparing a cart which looked like it was to be used in an Easter procession. The only drawback of the date I went there - the cross at the altar was covered by a black cloth since Good Friday and the Saturday before Easter are the days of mourning before the celebration of the resurrection.

Behind the church are a few tombstone, the graves of past priests in this church. The central and largest one belongs to Father Khulianmokin Dakrut (คุณพ่อ คูเลียลโมกิ้น ดากรู้ส, 1880-1949), who if I read the only website with his name correctly was active in the construction of the church in 1916.

Quite a lot of the information in this posting originates from the great site Tour Bangkok Legacies, which also shows some more photos of the compound. It also includes a guide to the nearby Kuan Yin shrine, however I haven't yet visited that one.

Suan Pakkad palace

Within Bangkok there are hardly any places which really could be given the label "unseen", but even though this one is listed in many guidebooks it gets far less visitors than the prime attraction of the city. When I went there in 2001, there were less than a handful of visitors.

I am talking about Suan Pakkard (สวนผักกาด), a former palace and residence of the Prince of Nakhon Sawan. It consists of a group of four traditional Thai houses connected with walkways, and each of the houses exhibits cultural highlights, the oldest one being Ban Chiang pottery. The most famous of the houses the lacquer pavillon, but sadly my photo of it was not good enough to be displayed here. I think I should revisit the place for some new photos, and I also cannot recall much of the exhibition anymore. Only a collection of khon masks stick to my memory. And I also still have the hendheld fan which was given to me at the entrance - as all the exhibits are in the open houses it can get quite hot.

In the second photo you can see the traditional house together with the Baiyoke Tower, the highest skyscraper of Thailand. I tried to capture the contrast of the two buildings, one centuries old and one so much modern. For another comparison, an historic photo of Thai women in front the the lacquer pavillon at the TEFL sphere also shows the surroundings have changed quite a bit since then - the hairstyle looks like the photo was taken in the 1960s.

Suan Somdet Ya in Bangkok

I mentioned it already earlier, the Somdet Ya park in Bangkok's Khlong San district is also a place worth visiting. It is a bit hidden, I don't recall to have seen any signs on the main road pointing there and it wasn't marked on my map either, so we had to ask our way to there. But actually if you know how the direction it's not difficult to find anymore - after crossing either Memorial Bridge or Pok Klao bridge to the Thonburi side of the town, turn into the next big street to the left, Somdet Chao Phraya road. And directly after the temple Wat Anongkharam Worawihan turn into the small sidestreet to the left, Soi 3. And then just straight on until you see the small parking lot to the left.

As usual at the tourist attractions or other notable locations within Bangkok, there's a brown bilingual sign explaining the location. The English text reads as follows:

Somdet Phra Sri Nagarindra The Princess Mother Memorial Park

Nearly 100 years ago, a young girl who then daughter of a goldsmith, but would later be Her Royal Highness Sri Nagarindra the Princess Mother, lived in a small rented house behind Wat Anongkaram. This was the first home that she could remember, and a school near Wat Anongkaram was the first school she attended. Her Royal Highness Sri Nagarindra the Princess Mother, who was affectionally called "Princess Grandmother" of the Thai people, remembered in great detail this simple home in a mixed community of several ethnic groups and religious faiths. Her son, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, wanted to honor his mother on her eighth 12 years cycle (96th) birthday by preserving her childhood home; but unfortunately the house had long been torn down. Luckily, when Mr. Daeng and Mr. Lek Nana learned of the search for the house, they donated a 4 rai (0.64 ha) plot near the original home. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej decided in 1993 to renovate this plot, once the home of Chao Phraya Sriphiphat Rattanarakosathibodi (Pae Bunnag), Director General of the Royal Cargo Department during the reign of His Majesty King Rama V, to be the Somdet Phra Sri Nagarindra The Princess Mother Memorial Park. One of the older buildings, from the time of His Majesty King Rama III, has been converted into a museum on the life and work of Her Royal Highness the Princess Mother and on the neighborhood where she first grew up. A replica has also been built of her original childhood house, while the grounds have been developed as a community park where a variety of activities are held for people of all ages of the neighborhood and other visitors.

As I went there with our then two year old daughter, I was only able to stroll around the park compound, but had to skip the actual museum. But that one is on my list of places I have to revisit in more detail when I get the chance, and then also checking out the two temples at the main street, including the district museum of Khlong San which should be located within one of them.

But the park, even though it is small, has quite some nice views, like a wall overgrown with the roots of a tree, an old well, or the large two sided relief. Too bad I haven't photographed the sign with the description of that relief, so I cannot recall anymore what is the actual meaning of the procession on the one side and the various activities on the other side.