Chiang Mai National Museum

5 John a - 2 months ago

Visiting this museum was a good choice as it added context to many of the sites you see in Chiang Mai. It gives a chronological tour of history with exhibits - some are multimedia sound and visuals - from early stone tool humans in the area to present day. I was surprised to learn how long humans have been in this area and the two archaeology dig pits in the exhibition give a sense of what they have found from around the same time period as the Java man found in Indonesia. Interesting was a gallery highlighting changes through time of shapes and styles of Buddhist sculptures. The shape of the face, body, and head changed with different eras and dominant kingdoms at the time in what is now Thailand. A very good walk through of the production methods used hundreds of years ago for a massive bronze Buddha head used baked clay made of hay, dung, earth, and wax to create the mold, and when the hot bronze was poured into the cast, the wax melted away, creating a gap to remove the clay and be left with the bronze sculpture. Not crowded, it was a good stop to better understand the history of modern Thailand.

4 Mel Mak - 5 months ago

It is unfortunate that there weren't more visitord to this main museum of north Thailand. We had the place all to ourselves, literally examining the artefacts on display. The buddhism ceremony items on display were intricate and impressive, not behind glass panels. Made for very nice photos!

5 Miles Macdonald - 8 months ago

I had this place to myself, a combination of being a weekday and fine sunny weather outside.
If you're interested in the history of the Lanna Kingdom who's Capital City was Chiang Mai, then this is the place to learn about it.
Additionally you can learn about all the different "Art Styles" that have influenced the design of Buddha images and architecture styles through the Centuries.
There is also a section here on Prehistoric finds in the area.
There are three very good, informative videos with English play option you can watch, one on the ground floor and two others on the 2nd floor.
It's 100Bht foreigner entrance fee, easily worth it. Note that opening times are Wednesday to Sunday from 9.00am to 4.00pm.

3 Levin Wee - 3 months ago

Museum covers 3 main topics: Buddhism, archaeological findings in Northern Thailand, and history of the Lanna Kingdom.

The narrative can be improved as significant portions of it require some (local?) background knowledge to make sense of. There was a lack of a linear timeline, with some related articles describing events taking place in separate times.

The amount of English writing was sufficient to occupy a visitor for about 2 hours rounded up.

Overall not too shabby for a small museum, but the articles could be polished to make them easier and more interesting to read.

5 Beyond Rek - 10 months ago

Super impressive me and who love the historical and ancient stuff. GPS/Navigator might navigate to the rear gate please do not follow that so the correct gate is located near the main road.

4 Zach H - 3 months ago

Nice museum focusing on some of the history of northern Thailand.

4 tom dickson - a month ago

Tykes is a excellent resource to place north thailandvin the evolution of man with a clear timberline of finds covering man back to lucy era. Its well presented with some interactive shows.a history of local Buddha!,burma intrusions and the northern royal family development of chiang mai as the kingdom capital. Lanna culture is well understood after a visit to this part of the museum