…Well…Well…Well…who woulda guest I’d be going to museums when I grew up?!

LOL…Mom woulda been proud this weekend when we checked out the Museum of Siam in Bangkok.  It is loacted directly south of Wat Pho on Rattanakosin Island.  The museum does it’s best to explain to thai people their history and sources of their identity.

The Museum spent some time explaining how in the 1940’s dictatorship and attempts to mold the Thai people were being used similarly to what was happening in Germany and Italy around the same time.

The Museum starts with the very first beginnings of human settlement in the region, the Ayutthaya Kingdom, the nature and purposes of war, Ayutthaya’s destruction by the Burmese and the  recreation of the new Siam capital of Bangkok.  It as interesting to see the amount of cultural influcences foreign visitors and immigrants have had on Thailand’s history.

The museum was 3 floors worth of exhibits with the first floor covering the topic ‘What is Thai’?  The exhibition then continues on the third floor with the topics, ” Where the cavemen Thai ? ”, ” Where was Suvarnabhumi ? ”, ” What really is the heart of Buddhism ? ”, ” What was the origin of the Ayutthaya Dynasty ? ”, ” Who was the richest man in Ayutthaya ? ”, ” Why did Ayutthaya wage war ? ”.

Next the exhibition continues downstairs on the second floor dealing with the topics, ” What was racially pure Thai ? ”, Who inaugurated Bangkok as a capital of Siam ? ”, and ” Who drew the first map of Siam ? ”.

he exhibition puts a different emphasis on the origins of Thai people, the major historical events and the events of the forties which are rarely discussed elsewhere today. The exhibits are interesting and relevant. Whilst the major emphasis is to educate Thai children the exhibits and themes are of value to tourists wanting to understand more about Thai people and thai history.

Overall it was worth checking out.  To see more click here