Muban Charoen Suk

We took a long Grab ride out about 30 km to this tourist attraction south of Bangkok, getting there around 9:30. Often called the world’s largest outdoor and cultural park, it was created by the Thai architect Lek Viriyapant and opened to the public in 1972. It will be interesting to read more about this man, he despaired that Thailand's first economic plan for modernizing the country put Thailand's rich cultural heritage at risk. He was so motivated in this regard to establish this very large park as well as the Erawan Museum which are 17 minutes apart by car.
His stated objectives: "to make modern people know about their history as the past and history is like a compass and a rudder directing smooth course for a ship.... to make use of the art which is the unceasingly precious heritage collected, to make our traditions and culture known to the world while cultivating the minds of those addicted to the flourish of science and those materialized by worldly pleasure...to declare the founders intention to make the Ancient Siam eternally last as the treasure of all mankind".

The Ancient City is designed to showcase Thailand’s rich cultural heritage and historical landmarks. It replicates over 100 significant architectural and cultural wonders from all over Thailand, Some building are originals that were moved here, others are reproductions, both full-size and scale models, The replicas were constructed with the assistance of experts from the National Museum to ensure historical accuracy.

The museum covers an extensive park in the shape of Thailand with meticulously crafted replicas of 118 important Thai monuments, temples, palaces, and archaeological sites. These replicas are set within a large, beautifully landscaped park.

Website with details at https://www.muangboranmuseum.com/en/#

It again was very hot and the park is very large. We rented a golf cart to explore and it would have been impossible to do it any other way. The most elaborate and well maintained area of the park is central and we did the perimeter first; by the time we got back to the central area it had become too hot for us to really get out and explore individual buildings.
Many are temples and required us to take off our lace on shoes. We had a small lunch at one of the establishments. Both of us had experienced a minor degree of tummy upset the day prior which quickly settled with a couple of doses of Pepto Bismol but between that and the heat we did not have much of an appetite.Read more