Thailand: textile collections

Bank of Thailand Museum, Northern Regional Office, 68/3 Chotana Road, Muang District, Chiang Mai Province. Tel: (053) 931182-3, Fax: (053) 224168, email: phanpimr@bot.or.th, jirawang@bot.or.th Open Monday to Friday except Bank Holidays 9.00 - 12.00 a.m. and 1.00 -  4.00 p.m.

The exhibition starts with an exhibit of history of coinage in a couple of rooms and then leads on to ‘valuable’ textiles. All is very pleasingly displayed with useful and clear textual information. There were around 100 textiles on show out of a collection of around 800. These had been bought from a foundation which had purchased them from a private collector. The textiles on show were of good quality although apparently these were not the finest items in the collection. It is planned to rotate the exhibition every 6 months and also to hold special exhibitions. An exhibition of fine Khmer textiles in the collection is planned for January 2004 and another exhibition in August 2004 to honour the Queen’s birthday.

The Hilltribe Museum has moved since I visited it so any comments I had then are now out-of-date. 'One Stop Chiang Mai' says of it: Established in 1965 and recently moved to new premises in the pretty Ratchamankla Park, this museum documents the lives and cultures of Northern Thailand's unique hill-tribes, including the Hmong, Karen, Akkha, Lisu, Lahu and Mien. An impressive range of colourful costumes, unusual accessories and jewelry, tools, utensils, musical instruments and general rural paraphernalia is on display and the story of each of these ethnic minorities is well told. Unique and certainly worth visiting." This was not my impression of the collection in its old quarters so I hope that the move has prompted some care to be lavished on the exhibits and care taken in their display.

Entrance: free; open 9am - 4pm Mon -Fri; slide show 10am, 2pm daily; tel (053) 210 872; Ratchamankla park, Mae Rim rd/Chan Phuak rd.

Darapirom Palace Museum, Dara Rasamee Military Camp, Mae Rim Rd. Tues-Sun, 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. Tel. 053 299175. 

The renovated former home of Phra Raja Jaya Chao Dara Rasimi, a daughter of the last King of the northern monarchy of Chiang Mai and consort of King Chulalongkorn. The palace had been restored in the late 1990s/early 2000. It was a very pleasant and peaceful place set on land owned by the army. There was an exhibit of the life of Dara Rasimi including some of her clothing.

Sbun Nga Textile Museum, Old Chiangmai Cultural Centre, Wualai Rd, Chiang Mai. Tel. 053 215026-7. 10 a.m. - 12 a.m. or 1 p.m. - 7 p.m. Bt 100. Closed Weds.

A fantastic collection of regional Thai textiles of the northern part of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma and China focusing on ethnic Thai textiles and a wide range of textiles for royal use. The collection also includes some quite ordinary textiles and many items of living to set the textiles in context. There are a large number of photographs throughout the exhibit showing the textiles being worn which really puts them into context. Many of the (black and white) photos are familiar from reference works and it is excellent to see them brought to life in colour by the accompanying textiles. There are good descriptions in both English and Thai. There is a recorded introduction and an explanation for each of the five rooms in good English and with a background of Thai music. The collection has clearly been assembled and displayed with the passion and obsession of a dedicated collector (Khun Pom - Mr Akadet Nakkabunlung). The whole collection comprises around 6,000 items from 20 years of collecting.  It is intended to change the exhibits on view every 6 months. Read an excellent article (including photos of the exhibits) on Sbun Nga by Kathleen Forance Johnson in the first quarter 2006 edition of Sawadi.

Tilleke & Gibbins, Tilleke & Gibbins Building, 64/1 (T&G Main) Tonson Building (T&G North), Soi Tonson - Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330, Thailand 2263 7700 (2254 2640) The T&G textile collection is at the T&G North Office (map). 

Tilleke & Gibbins is the oldest and one of the largest independent full-service law firms in Thailand, with offices also in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The collection 'is comprised of both typical and rare textiles of the Tai, an ethnolinguistic group found in regions of Thailand, Laos, northern Vietnam, southern China and Myanmar (Burma). The collection also includes pieces made by Khmer, Burmese ethnic groups, Vietnamese ethnic minorities, and hilltribes'. The collection has more than 1,000 pieces, displayed in rotation and is still growing.' Most of the textiles are in a storage room but there is a selection (changed every 6 months) of textiles displayed as art works throughout the T&G offices. If you want to visit the collection do contact the curator Ms Wipawee Tiyawes in advance to make sure that she is available to show it to you and to indicate any particular areas of interest from the items in storage. (wipawee@tillekeandgibbins.com or wipawee@tillekeandgibbins.co.th).