Buddha statue near Mueang Boran

Mueang Boran, Ancient Siam, เมืองโบราณ

One of the richest Thais - Khun Lek Prapai Viriyaphant – Thailand’s largest importer of a German car brand, and a very influential citizen, is using his money to establish one of the biggest and most beautiful open-air museums on the world for the benefit of all Thais and foreigners.

Thailand has a population of 64 Mill., 2,3 % of which are incredible whealthy, but only very few of these rich peo…  (read more)
Buddha statue near Mueang Boran

Buddha statue near Mueang Boran

14 Jan 2004 860
Buddha is watching to every where and teaches the buddhist ideology. The human should follow his device but most people just do the opposite and live in high style to show off the rich and the mighty.
Wat Asokaram at the entrance to Mueang Boran

Wat Asokaram at the entrance to Mueang Boran

14 Jan 2004 890
This temple lys outside the area of the Ancient Siam just some 100 meters before the entrance. Its beautiful region around and the building itself gives the temple a fascinating vista.
Stupa of Phra Maha That, Nakhon Si Thammarat พระบรมธาตุ นครศรีธรรมราช

Stupa of Phra Maha That, Nakhon Si Thammarat พระบ…

14 Jan 2004 1043
The monastery is a remarkable architectural reminder of the artistic virtuosity of the southern Thai architects. The original stupa, where the Buddha relics are housed, was built during the reign of King Si Thammasokarat in 555 A.D. when Nakhon Si Thammarat was first established. The structure is obviously influenced by the Singhalese art. The bell element is an upturned round bowl standing on a rectangular platform and sur round ed by a gallery-in ambulatory called Kamphaeng Kaeo. The space between the wall and the stupa forms a path, normally known as Lan Prataksin, surrounding the relic chedi. At the four corners of the square base stand another four smaller chedi, each housing a Buddha image in its niches. At the top of this chedi is a spherical dew-drop. The stupa at Muang Boran is smaller than the original one at Nakhon Si Thammarat by one-third.
Pallava Group of Images, Phang-nga เทวรูปปัลลวะ พังงา

Pallava Group of Images, Phang-nga เทวรูปปัลลวะ พั…

14 Jan 2004 1798
The images of the three Hindu deities, Vishnu, Shiva and Laksamee were carved out of stone by Pallava sculptors living in southern India around the 8th-9th centuries A.D. Later during the fifth reign in Rattanakosin period King Rama VI, who was still the Crown Prince, travelled to see These images whose faces and bodies strangely stood out of the trunk of a tree that had grown around them. Nobody knows where the images come from. However, from the ornaments and hair styles, we can presume that the statues are of Indian origin. Now these original images are kept at the Nakhon Si Thammarat National Museum.
Stupa of Phra Maha That, Chaiya, Surat Thani

Stupa of Phra Maha That, Chaiya, Surat Thani

30 Oct 2006 2052
The Phra Maha That is one of the most sacred and important monasteries in the south of Thailand. The structure of this stupa is similar to the Chandi Pawana Chedi in Indonesia, the mondop style chedi, which was modeled after Chandimendut Chedi of Java. The square stupa of Phra Maha That Chaiya standing on a rectangular base is built solely of brick. The structure is ornamented with delicate stucco designs. In the four corners of the raised platform are diminutive round brick Ceylonese chedi of which the spires are decorated with a four-faced stucco Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in accordance with Mahayana Buddhism. The main tower standing in the center is a round chedi serving as the upper story of a relic chamber or an image house. Kirti Mukha, or Kala face motifs can be seen above the chamber similar to those found in Java. The north and east pediments are niches for Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara sitting with both feet planted. On the south is Tara, the tantric god dess sitting cross-legged. On the west pediment is Metraiya performing the teaching gesture. Renovated during the reign of King Rama V, the stucco designs on certain niches show the influence of the Rattanakosin style. Mueang Boran has reconstructed the chedi based on the most ancient form of the stupa found in Java.
Streetcar running around the area

Streetcar running around the area

14 Jan 2004 1 1 1074
The whole area Mueang Boran is too big to visit all showplace by foot. Before it was allowed to drive the own car into the museums area. Either people hire a bicycle or a caddy for driving the long distances, its also offered a free service to go by a streetcar from one point to the other. Fresh air is guaranteed.
Monks as tourists in Mueang Boran

Monks as tourists in Mueang Boran

11 Feb 2011 810
Also many groups of monks visiting the marvelous open air museum and us e the service of the streetcar. Young student girls prefer riding the bike so they can stop at every point as long as they want.
Visiting Mueang Boran by bicycle

Visiting Mueang Boran by bicycle

11 Feb 2011 724
The premise of the open air museum is very large, local visitors from a nearby high school are visiting the area by riding bikes which can be hired at the entrance.
Inside an old Thai corner house

Inside an old Thai corner house

14 Jan 2004 698
The coffee shop is equipped like 50 years ago. Even the television and the gramophone comes from the olden days. Visitors can use the shop for a rest an order coffee or cold drinks or tea.
Inside a Barber shop at the old days in Thailand

Inside a Barber shop at the old days in Thailand

14 Jan 2004 780
There isn't any service anymore in this shop but the equipment is from the old days, a waving cloth on the celling is used as a fan and the hair clipper is fixed on the celling too. The historic radio at the background still is running.
Nang Yai หนังใหญ่ (shadow puppet show)

Nang Yai หนังใหญ่ (shadow puppet show)

14 Jan 2004 1050
“Nang Yai” is one of Thailand’s traditional dramatic art forms that combines a number of different artistic crafts into one. In terms of visual arts, the elaborate and detailed traditional design of the characters ore first drawn by a master artist. Then the design is applied onto a piece of leather and painstakingly etched into almost lace-like proportion. The pieces are then mounted onto sticks and they are then given life by a master puppeteer in a classical drama performance complete with live Thai musical ensemble and a singer to provide the narrative. “Nang Yai” is believed to have originated since the Sukhothai era, but existing evidence goes back to the Ayuttaya period during the reign of King U-Thong, when it was considered a very popular dramatic art form.
Making the Nang Yai หนังใหญ่

Making the Nang Yai หนังใหญ่

11 Feb 2011 607
An handicraftsman shows how to cut out from buffalo skin a Nang Yai puppet. The products are to be sold for reasonable prices to visitors.
Nang Yai หนังใหญ่ for sale as souvenirs

Nang Yai หนังใหญ่ for sale as souvenirs

11 Feb 2011 762
Beautiful hand made Nang Yai are sold to visitors as souvenirs. An ideal small present to carry out as a memory to this museum.
The stage for Thai puppetry

The stage for Thai puppetry

14 Jan 2004 651
For hundreds of years, Thailand's puppeteers have entertained both royal courts and village crowds with shadow puppets and marionettes. Historically the Ramakien, Thailand's version of the ancient Indian Ramayana epic, provided puppeteers with their subject matter.
Thai puppetry in Ancient Siam

Thai puppetry in Ancient Siam

30 Oct 2006 714
The art of puppet making - or hadtasin - requires great attention to detail. Marionettes consist of a frame covered with papier-mâché. Most of the frame is made of wood. Parts that must be able to move independently - like the head, neck, and hands - are made of aluminum and wire, which are more malleable. The hand joints require the most attention, since they must be capable of intricate khon movements. Puppet makers must also attach the sticks the puppeteers will use to make the puppets move.
A Thai village rebuilt in Mueang Boran

A Thai village rebuilt in Mueang Boran

30 Oct 2006 448
View through a gate in one of the many traditional-style houses.
Monks visiting Mueang Boran

Monks visiting Mueang Boran

11 Feb 2011 579
Monks from the nearby monastery came to visit the open air museum. The first point starts with a visit in a old Thai village and its market.
Spirit house in the old market town ศาลพระภูมิ

Spirit house in the old market town ศาลพระภูมิ

11 Feb 2011 1048
The houses are intended to provide a shelter for spirits which could cause problems for the people if not appeased. The shrines often include images of people and animals. Votive offerings are left at the houses to propitiate the spirits. More elaborate installations include an altar for this purpose. Many Thais believe that when a Thai family builds a new house, there is always the possibility that it has disturbed the spirits who live on the property. In order to protect their new home from retaliatory harm or mischief, some Thai families put up a little model house on a pole for the spirits to live in. The spirit house must be located somewhere on the grounds where the shadow of the human house will never fall on it. Offering of incense, fruit, flowers and rice will be placed here, because the spirits must be kept happy at all costs. Amazingly enough, though they look like houses and are temptingly stocked with food, the spirit houses are almost never occupied by birds. Perhaps even the birds respect these invisible being. Some tourists may see at a curtain curves of the road, a small spirit house built there by hopeful drivers. Their theory is that if the spirits who haunt the place are given a home they will not spitefully endanger the drivers who must pass this way.
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