Other sights in Bangkok
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Golden Mount & Wat Saket
Before glass and steel towers began growing out of the flat monotony of Bangkok’s riverine plain, the massive Golden Mount (Phu Khao Thong) was the only structure to make any significant impression on the horizon. At the eastern entrance to Banglamphu, the mount was commissioned by Rama III. He ordered that the earth dug out to create Bangkok’s expanding klorng network be piled up to build an enormous, 100m-high, 500m-wide chedi (stupa). As the hill grew, however, the weight became too much for the soft soil beneath and the project was abandoned until Rama IV built a small gilded chedi on its crest and added trees to stave off erosion. Rama V later added to the struct…
reviewed
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Ardel Gallery of Modern Art
Despite its distance from the centre of town, Ardel is quickly becoming one of Bangkok’s premier galleries. The expansive suburban compound unites two exhibition spaces, a print-making workshop, and a shop and café with a brand new annex that includes an artists’ residence and pool. Curated by Ajarn Thavorn Ko-Udomvit, a renowned lecturer at Silpakorn University, the collection often emphasises print and photos, but previous exhibitions have spanned a variety of media. There are smaller branches of Ardel off Th Sukhumvit and in Bangkok’s Chinatown neighbourhood – see the website for details.
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Th Bamrung Meuang
One of the city’s earliest thoroughfares (the street was originally an elephant path leading to the royal palace), today the stretches of Th Bamrung Meuang that extend directly west and east of Wat Suthat form an open-air shopping centre for all manner of religious paraphernalia. In the shops, the contents of which pour out onto the street, you’ll see care packages that are typically bought and donated to temples, models of famous monks, monk robes and other devotional items. The large Buddha statues that are wrapped in plastic are particularly photogenic.
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Erawan Museum (Chang Sam Sian)
On the way to Ancient City, this museum is actually a five-storey sculpture of Erawan, Indra’s three-headed elephant mount from Hindu mythology. The interior is filled with antique sculptures but is most impressive for the stained-glass ceiling. The museum is 8km from Bangkok’s Ekamai bus station and any Samut Prakan–bound bus can drop you off; just tell the driver Chang Sam Sian.
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Thai Human Imagery Museum
Contains an exhibition of 120 lifelike fibreglass sculptures. A group of Thai artists reportedly spent 10 years studying their subjects and creating the figures, which range from famous Buddhist monks of Thailand to Winston Churchill. The museum is outside town at the Km31 marker on Th Pinklao-Nakhon Chaisi. Any Nakhon Pathom–Bangkok or Salaya bus can drop you off here.
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Wat Chong Nonsi
Dating back to the late Ayuthaya period, Bangkok’s earliest surviving temple paintings are faded and missing in parts, but the depictions of everyday Thai life, including bawdy illustrations of a sexual manner, are well worth visiting.
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Museum of Counterfeit Goods
Fakes are so prominent in Bangkok that there’s even a Museum of Counterfeit Goods, where all the counterfeit booty that has been collected by the law firm Tilleke and Gibbins over the years is on display.
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Ban Baat
Surviving primarily on tourist patronage, Ban Baat dates back to the first Bangkok king and continues to create ceremonial pieces used by monks to collect morning alms.
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Phamai Baan Krua
Situated in the atmospheric community of Baan, this family outfit weaves silk on old teak looms.
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