The Highland People Discovery Museum

4 Julian Thomas - 2 months ago

Nice place in a quiet setting on the lake. Learn a lot about the hill tribes. Well done displays, friendly staff.

Free entry, can leave a donation on the way out.

The staff might follow you around and take candid pics of you.

Nearby you can see some examples of hill tribe houses. It was ok.

3 Jay lol - a week ago

Watch out for the small foot mats at the entrance
It is very slippery and will slip you down to meet the Buddha
The staff doesn't seem to have the motivation, reason
or courage to be kind to visitors
But the exhibits are good
It is hot indoors
There is no electricity upstairs

5 Ashlene Mendes - a month ago

Never learnt so much in such a short time! Loved the museum and it's varied descriptive methods. Definitely go visit if you want to learn about tribes, tribespeople, their histories before you actually visit them in the mountains. It's a good first day activity if you're a little nerdy. Go way before 4pm, since they shut down on time. Also, everything is in the perfect quiet location. Also, a free activity for people who are saving up.

4 I P - a year ago

Gives you an amazing insight into the varied hill tribes of Thailand. Contrary to what has been previously written, there is enough English to gain a clear understanding. Great displays. Definitely a must if visiting Chiang mai.

3 Reginald Williams - 3 years ago

This museum consists of a number of displays of tribal costumes, primarily, and some tribal folk implements used in daily life—all on the second floor of the main building—and at a nearby location (300 meters away), a sort of village comprised of homes in the style of a number of the minority tribes of the hill people. Here, the homes are in a sad state of disrepair, poorly maintained and with minimal, but interesting, signage to explain a little about the traditions and clothing of each tribe.

Very interesting, but with no guide and many huts locked and others wide open, no lighting to be found in one or more of the darkest huts and lighting where it wasn’t needed, it was a disappointment, as I find this aspect of Thai culture to be the most interesting of all. Look forward to my visits to actual villages.

4 Lina Eryani - 4 years ago

This is a government run museum and much more elaborated than the one in Chiang Rai. They showed us a short documentary about the different tribes at the beginning of the visit. In the second floor there are sections for each tribe showing their customs,traditional wear,  socio-economic activities and poltical organization. Quite informative. Also in each section there is a small screen with short documentary on each tribe
The last floor showcase projects the government has done for the tribes. The tribes events calendar is very elaborated and informative.   Entry is free and donation is encouraged.
Just a few meters from this musuem there is a hill tribe village museum which has model houses of hill tribes. Entry is free quite interesting as it shows life size homes of each tribe.

5 Oxana C - a year ago

Interesting little museum. It’s a bit dated (not much of multimedia), but if you are up for reading and exploring, it’s worth a visit. The entrance is free.