I had come across this museum when we were visiting nine Wats as part of Gaun’s birthday, blog entry HERE. The museum is in a lovely Wat called Ket Karam, which I recommend visiting, but we didn’t have time to explore it with another seven Wats to cover that day! GPS N18 47.552 E099 00 141.
The reason why GPS often struggles to find any names when you search is shown here. The sign on the Temple is Wat Ket Karam. The museum has translated the Thai to English phonetically in the second photo as Wat Gate Khar Rnam!
One version of the name.
Another version of the name.
The museum is almost immediately on the left as you come in through the back gates to the temple from the 106 Chiang Mai – Lamphun Road running parallel to the River Ping.
The museum building.
The building was once a monk’s residence – one Phra Khru Chaisiwimon who lived 1886 – 1957. The museum was established to house various items donated by the local community to record the history and artefacts of the area.
The museum is divided into several separate rooms each having a sort of theme. The entry area has a large Buddha shrine in a Myanmar style.
The entry complete with TV and Buddha shrine.
Many of the displays have items of no great significance or very specialised but there are some great glimpses into Chiang Mai history.
Plenty to browse.
Another view. My friend Gaz in the background with museum cat at his feet.
It felt like a museum should in parts. Dusty and dim.
I start to feel old when I visit a museum and then related to some of the exhibits. Black and white TVs, fax machines and manual typewriters all displayed here.
I think I used that one on the top when I worked for the bank.
How many of you can remember some of these?
Old and older.
One of the cabinet displays.
Of most interest to me were the many old photos of the local area. I hope they have copies as these ones slowly fade and history is lost.
This is a photo of one of the main streets leading into the old town of Chiang Mai.
Thapae Road today. Not a horse in sight.
The River Ping flooding the street the Wat stands beside.
The museum has done a good job of labelling some of the displays with an English translation. This relates to the photo above.
More recent history.
Some of the explanations were in Tinglish:
The display item.
A good effort.
Entry to the museum is free and it is open from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm every day. If you are visiting the Wat then make sure you pop in and experience a bit of Chiang Mai history.
The museum building from the Wat.
Thanks for reading.
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