Bangkok National Museum

Continuing on our academic immersion in Thai history, Reianne and I visited the Bangkok National Museum. As we were buying tickets, we were told that the museum was closing in less than two hours. We thought that we had enough time to go around, or at least to catch a glimpse of a part of the museum so we went ahead.

The structure of the museum was similar to that of the structures in Wat Phra Kaew; so I thought that this building must have been part of the original royal palace complex. Apparently, it was! This used to be the residence of the Thai vice king, a post that has been removed many years ago.

Inside, we saw the Thai history gallery, where there were exhibits from the different periods of Thai art. There were more extensive collections in the other buildings of the museum, of course, but the way the gallery was curated reminded me of the exhibits in San Francisco's de Young Museum. 

Instead of noticing the many-armed Vishnu statue, I instead zeroed in on the circular structure with the calf. I remembered a similar statue which welcomed people in ICRISAT. 

Deeper inside the gallery, there was a pillar with ancient Thai script, dating back to the 13th century. It has been included in UNESCO's Memory of the World program, as indicated by the note next to the pillar.

There were more Buddha statues and images of characters I only see in movies like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. It was a fascinating trip down Thailand's rich and sophisticated history. Sadly, I couldn't say that the Philippines has developed something as advanced as this during the same period. What I know is that there was intensive trading going on amongst the Southeast Asian countries.

Another building in the museum is a Buddhist temple built in the late 18th century. It houses the Buddha statue called Phra Buddha Sihing and ancient murals depicting Buddha's life. In contrast to the Wat Phra Kaew, people were allowed to take photos in this Buddhist temple; we just weren't allowed to touch the murals.

A third building is basically a red house. It's made of wood and allowed us to take a glimpse on what Thai traditional life is like. A lot of the furniture are made of wood. Electric fans were added to the exhibit but I'm sure these are more for the curator's and the visitors' comfort rather than as a depiction of life way back.

We definitely were able to see as much as we wanted to see in this museum when closing time arrived. We learned a lot about Thai culture and art.