tempels

Thai style houses and more

Museums

• The Grand Palace (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)
  This is one of the most known places which you should visit in Bangkok. Here you will visit both the Palace and the Temple. It is very impressive and worth your visit. Be aware though that sometimes people might tell you that today is a very special day and that therefor the temple is closed. If you are suppose to visit (enter) the temple between 8:30 and 15:30 than the temple is open every day of the year. The very friendly people that tell you that the temple is closed, they just would like to take you to some tailor or jewelry shop instead, so just say No.
  
• Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha)
  This is a very impressive temple with the largest reclining Buddha statue in Thailand. This temple is also known for its Thai Traditional Medical Science School and Body Massage. This Temple is also really worth a visit. Wat Pho is located next to The Grand Palace.
  
• Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn)
  This temple looks a bit like a pagoda which is decorated with millions of pieces of broken Chinese porcelain. You can reach this temple well by boat as it is located on the border of the Chao Phraya River.
  
• Wat Suthat (The Giant Swing) It took 40 years to finish this temple, therefore it shows a nice blend of Thai and Chinese art. In front of the temple you will find the well known Giant Swing.

• Wat Saket (Golden Mount), not far from The Grand palace, this temple especially gives a very nice view of Bangkok as it is on a mount.

• Wat Prayoon, This is a place where one can enjoy seeing and feeding a lot of turtles and some green iguana's.

• Erawan Shrine, Erawan heiligdom/heilige plaats, dit is een kleine plek tegenover Gaysorn Plaza. Hier komen velen bidden en vaak hun wens doen. Tevens kan men meisjes in traditionele kledij zien dansen (religieuze dansen). Het is leuk, als men hier in de buurt is, om hier langs te gaan.

• Ancient City, Very big open air park/museum (320 acres) having the shape corresponding to the map of Thailand . It is a great place to go for young and old. Located south east of Bangkok, about 30 - 45 minutes drive by car.

• The Erawan Museum, close to Ancient city, see at Museums.

• Bang Sai Royal Arts & Crafts Center, A good place to see traditional thai houses incl. the thai way of life, crafts (training center, see how crafts are made), a freshwater fish aquarium (not as big as Siam Ocean World, but still not bad at all) and a main building with craft Masterpieces made at the center. Also this place is in my opinion for all ages. This place is located north of Bangkok at around 30 minutes. The Bang Pa-in express way is going there. After leaving the express way it is just a few minutes.

• Bang Pa In summer palace about an hour drive from Bangkok, not far from Ayutthaya, you can find a former summerresidence of Thai Kings. You can also reach this summer palace by boat (several boat trips leave from Bangkok)

• Vimanmek Mansion

• Jim Thompson Thai House Museum

• Kukrit's House This is also a nice and quiet place to visit. Here you can also find a very nice old traditional house. It is one house/home, but devided into five smaller houses all connected to each other. Before this place became a museum, M.R. Kukrit Pramoj (1911-1995), a respected former Prime Minister of Thailand, lived in this house. He is also the person that relocated these different houses to Bangkok over a period of 20 years. This house is surrounded by a nice garden in which we can just sit and enjoy. Sometimes we might allthough be surrounded by the sound of the dogs (mostly in cages) as they still keep many dogs as did Kukrit himself when he was still alive. This house is located close to Sathorn road, Suan plu, 19 Soi Phra Pinit (tel.:02-286 8185). Many people and almost any taxi driver still know this street as Soi Baan Kukrit (Soi House Kukrit) Kukrit was also known for establishing (being the sole owner) of the Siam Rath, a very influential Thai newspaper. The museum is open only on week-ends and public holidays.

• Bangkok Folk Museum In the center of Bangkok, in the busy Bangrak district, between a lot of people and buildings, some old Thai traditional houses are still left. One of these houses has been decorated by its owner as a museum. With antiques and old traditional household utensels, the owner herself tells sometimes about the past. (273 Charoenkrung 43 Lane, Chroenkrung Road, Si Phraya, Bangrak Bangkok 10500) Entrance is free
  Tel: (66) 0 2233 7027 (Museum) (66) 0 2231 6930-8: (Office) (Mrs. Waraporn Surawadee)

• The Erawan Museum, this is a very beautiful and impressive museum. The museum is built inside a giant three-headed elephant. The museum is located on the way to Ancient City, in Samut Prakan. Tel 02-371 3135 Opening hours are: Daily from 8 AM to 6 PM. you can get there by bus:25, 142 and 365. Air-conditioned bus: 102, 507, 511 and 536. Admission fee is 150 THB for an adult and 50 THB for children.

• National Museum,

• National Gallery,

• Museum of the Royal Support Project,

• Royal Barges Museum, Museum of Pottery,

• Museum of science and Planetarium,

• Museum of Photography,

• International Doll Museum, Here, a large collection of dolls from various countries of the world (incl. Bangkok dolls) are displayed. The museum is located in Chandavimol family compound at 85 Soi Ratchataphan (Soi Mo Leng) in Bangkok's Makkasan district. Tel: 02-245 3008 or 02-245 2512

• Thai Puppet Museum Not far from the old airport is another museum that is related to dolls. This museums is is though concentrated on Thai dolls or 'puppets' from the thai literature 'Ramayana'. These puppets are also for sale, but not cheap. The smallest size is THB 2.800 (Euro 55) These are not really dolls for children to play with, but more to put in some place for decoration. The museum is located in a wooden house. The first and second floor are transformed into a showroom, the basement is the place where the puppets are being made. Entrance to the museum is free, but you have to give a call first that you are coming and sometimes you even have to book a date. The museum is open from Monday to Friday from 9 am. to 5 pm. Tel: 025798101. Soi Vibavadi Rangsit 60 (you can also reach it by Soi Pahonyothin 49/1).
• Human Imagery Museum
  The Thai Human Imagery Museum is located around 30 km west of Bangkok on Pinklao-Nakhonchaisri Road, Km.31, on the way to Nakhon Pathom. It takes around 45 minutes to get there from Bangkok. This museum shows human sculptures mainly made of wax.  The statues are very well made and almost look real. You can find general Thai life style images but also famous thai (Former Kings of the Chakri Dynasty, a famous poet, monks) and foreigners (Churchill, Gandhi).
  The museum is open every dayfrom 09:00 till 12:30 and 13:00 till 17:30 Entrance fee is 200THB.

• Bank of Thailand Museum,

• Stone and Mineral Museum,