Chiang Mai, Museums

Chiang Mai, Museums

This fully modernised multimedia history and cultural education centre islocated in the very centre of the old city onPrapokklao Road betweenRajdumnern Road andRajwithee Road.

If traveling by tuk-tuk or songthaew, it’s easiest to ask for the “Three Kings Monument” (SaamKasat); it’s the large, elegant white building just behind the statue.

Guidesdressed in elegant traditional Thai clothing will usher you into anair-conditioned room to watch an English-subtitled orientation video aboutChiang Mai and the north. Next, you will be pointed to a series of roomsdocumenting the region’s history and culture in chronological order from thepre-Muang period (7,000-12,000 years ago) to the early river civilizations, tothe early kings through the wars with the Burmese and the last dynasty, to thecity today and its plans for the future.

Other rooms are devoted to Buddhismand other regional beliefs, agricultural history, hill tribe peoples and otherregional cultures, and a run-down of the royal dynasties. The exhibits consistof a smart visual mix of video, scale models, enlarged photos, wall murals andtext in Thai and English.

The museum

Open 08:30-17:00 except Mondays.Entrance 90 baht.

+6653-217793 Founded in 1965 as a result of a proposal by the noted anthropologist Prof. W.R.Geddes, who was doing research with the hill tribe peoples at the time, the Institute Museum offers exhibits concerning the lives and cultures of nine hilltribe peoples inThailand: the Akha, Lahu, Lisu,Yao, Hmong, Karen, Lua, Khamu, and H’tin.

Also included are a non-hilltribe ethnic minority, the Mlabri, associated bysome with the ‘spirit of the yellow leaves’.

The Mlabri population has dwindledto only approximately 180 individuals at present.   The daily lives of the various hilltribepeoples are illustrated through exhibits of photographs, agriculturalimplements, household utensils, artifacts associated with the various traditional religions, musical instruments, and ethnic costumes.

Some exhibits include models dressed in complete traditional costumes depicting dailyactivities, such as a Hmong family having a meal or a Lisu man serenading hissweetheart. The Institute has established a new museum in a three-story pavilion located on the attractively landscaped grounds of Ratchamangkala Park(Suan Lor Gao) onChotana Road, just a fifteen minute drive from the city centre.

At present the museum is openweekdays 09:00-16:00, with a slide and video show available daily 10:00-14:00.Special group tours at weekends are possible with advance notice. For moreinformation contact theHilltribe Institute Museum,Chotana Road+66 53-210872 / +66 53-211933