Eleven Bangkok museums, from the National Museum and Museum Siam to MOCA, Jim Thompson House and the Ancient City, with fees, hours and the days each one closes.
The National Museum and Museum Siam lead this list, the first for Thai history explained properly and the second for a hands-on hour that works with children. MOCA's five floors of Thai contemporary art and Jim Thompson's teak houses come next. Each card has the fee, the hours and the day the museum closes.
Most of them group into easy half days. The National Museum, Museum Siam and the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall are in the old town near the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. The Royal Barges museum and Siriraj are across the river in Thonburi, by boat or ferry. Jim Thompson House and the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre are both a few minutes from BTS National Stadium. MOCA is north past Chatuchak, and the Ancient City and the Erawan Museum make a day out in Samut Prakan.
Check the day before you go. Most close on Mondays, the National Museum closes on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Siriraj closes on Tuesdays and public holidays. Jim Thompson House, the Ancient City, the Erawan Museum and the Royal Barges museum open every day, and the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre and the Bangkokian Museum are free.
| If you want | Go to | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Thai history | National Museum, Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall, Royal Barges National Museum | Old town, Thonburi |
| Contemporary art | MOCA Bangkok, Bangkok Art & Culture Centre | North of Chatuchak, National Stadium |
| A museum for children | Museum Siam, the Ancient City | Sanam Chai, Samut Prakan |
| Old Bangkok houses | Jim Thompson House, Bangkokian Museum | National Stadium, Bang Rak |
| Something unusual | Erawan Museum, Siriraj Medical Museum | Samut Prakan, Thonburi |
| A free afternoon | Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, Bangkokian Museum | National Stadium, Bang Rak |
| A museum on a Monday | Jim Thompson House, Erawan Museum, Siriraj Medical Museum | National Stadium, Samut Prakan, Thonburi |
Thailand's main national museum, in the old Front Palace facing Sanam Luang, with royal regalia, Buddhist sculpture and the teak Red House. Give it three hours. ฿200 for foreign visitors, open Wednesday to Sunday 08:30 to 16:00, with free English volunteer tours on Wednesday and Thursday at 09:30.
The hands-on one, and the pick for families. Fourteen zones on what it means to be Thai, with dress-up photos and puzzles, in the 1922 Ministry of Commerce building at MRT Sanam Chai. About an hour. ฿100 for adults and free under 15, open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00.
Five floors of Thai contemporary art in a private museum north of Chatuchak, from tiny detailed pieces to room-sized installations. Plan a half day. It's a 200-meter walk from Bang Khen on the SRT Red Line, open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, and ฿400 for adults on the museum's admission page.
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Six teak houses on a canal near BTS National Stadium, seen on a 40-minute guided tour of the silk revivalist's art collection that comes with the ticket. ฿250 for adults and ฿150 for ages 10 to 21, open daily 10:00 to 17:00.
Thailand's temples and palaces rebuilt across one huge open-air park in Samut Prakan, about an hour from central Bangkok. Rent a golf cart or you'll spend the day walking. ฿800 for foreign adults and ฿400 for children aged 6 to 14, open daily 09:00 to 19:00.
A giant three-headed copper elephant with a shrine room inside its body, by BTS Chang Erawan in Samut Prakan. The Ancient City's founder built it, so do the two in one day. ฿500 for foreign adults, open daily 09:00 to 18:00 with ticket sales until 17:00.
Free contemporary art on a spiral ramp at BTS National Stadium, opposite MBK, and the latest-closing museum on this list. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 20:00, so it works after a day of temples.
Nine multimedia rooms on Bangkok's royal old town, seen on guided rounds every 30 minutes, with a rooftop view over Loha Prasat and the Golden Mount. ฿100 for foreign visitors, open Tuesday to Sunday 09:00 to 17:00, public holidays included.
Three heritage houses from the 1930s and 40s in Bang Rak, kept with a middle-class family's furniture and belongings in a quiet garden. Free, about an hour, and closed on Mondays.
Eight of the royal procession barges in a dry dock on Khlong Bangkok Noi, led by the 46-meter golden swan Suphannahong. Half an hour covers it, so make it a stop on a Thonburi canal trip, and bring cash for the ticket.
Siriraj Hospital's pathology, forensic and anatomy collections, with real human specimens, by Wang Lang pier. ฿300 for foreign visitors covers it and the hospital's history museum. Closed on Tuesdays and public holidays, and not one for young children.
The National Museum, for the clearest account of Thai history, in the old Front Palace facing Sanam Luang. For art, I'd pick MOCA's five floors of Thai contemporary work north of Chatuchak, and with children, Museum Siam's hands-on rooms at MRT Sanam Chai.
Yes, especially with children or if long labels wear you out. The 14 zones of its Decoding Thainess exhibition are hands-on, with dress-up photos, puzzles and fortune telling, and an hour covers it. Adults pay ฿100 and under-15s go free, and it's open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00.
Yes, for the building, a giant three-headed copper elephant with a shrine room inside its body, and more so if you pair it with the Ancient City, built by the same founder, for a day in Samut Prakan. Foreign adults pay ฿500. It's open daily from 09:00 to 18:00, with tickets sold until 17:00, at BTS Chang Erawan.
The Bangkok Art & Culture Centre and the Bangkokian Museum. Others are free for some visitors. Museum Siam lets in under-15s and over-60s free, the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall children and over-60s, and Jim Thompson House children under 10.
Jim Thompson House, the Ancient City, the Erawan Museum, the Royal Barges National Museum and the Siriraj Medical Museum. Siriraj closes on Tuesdays instead, and the National Museum closes on both Monday and Tuesday. Museum Siam, MOCA, the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre, the Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall and the Bangkokian Museum all close on Mondays.
Yes, if you want Thai history explained rather than glimpsed. Give it about three hours, and plan the visit around the free English volunteer tours on Wednesday and Thursday at 09:30. Foreign visitors pay ฿200, and it's open Wednesday to Sunday from 08:30 to 16:00.
