Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Haw Kaew
, the park's museum, has a permanent collection of mostly teak-based artefacts
and art from across the former Lanna region, as well as a temporary exhibition room.
Haw Kham
, a temple-like tower built in 1984 from the remains of 32 wooden houses, is
arguably the park's centrepiece. The immense size of the structure - allegedly influenced
by Lanna-era Wat Pongsanuk in Lampang - with its Buddha image seemingly hovering
over white sand (the latter imported from Ko Samet), and sacred, candle-lit aura culminate
in a vibe not unlike the place of worship of an indigenous cult.
You'll probably have to ask staff to open up
Haw Kham Noi
, a structure housing folksy but
beautiful Buddhist murals taken from a dismantled teak temple in Phrae.
Mae Fah Luang Art & Culture Park is located about 4km west of the centre of Chiang
Rai; a tu
́
k-tu
́
k or taxi here will run around 100B.
Hilltribe Museum &
Education Center
(
www.pdacr.org
;
3rd fl, 620/25 Th Thanalai; admission 50B; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat & Sun)
This
museum and cultural centre is a good place to visit before undertaking any hill-tribe trek.
Run by the nonprofit Population & Community Development Association (PDA), the dis-
plays are underwhelming in their visual presentation, but contain a wealth of information
on Thailand's various tribes and the issues that surround them.
A visit begins with a 20-minute slide show on Thailand's hill tribes, followed by self-
guided exploration among exhibits that include typical clothing for six major tribes, ex-
amples of bamboo usage, folk implements and other anthropological objects. The curator
is passionate about his museum and, if present, will talk about the different hill tribes,
their histories, recent trends and the community projects that the museum helps fund.
The PDA also runs highly recommended treks.
MUSEUM
Wat Phra Kaew
BUDDHIST TEMPLE
(Th Trairat; temple 7am-7pm, museum 9am-5pm)
Originally called Wat Pa Yia (Bamboo
Forest Monastery) in the local dialect, this is the city's most revered Buddhist temple. The
main prayer hall is a medium-sized, well-preserved wooden structure. The octagonal
chedi
behind it dates from the late 14th century and is in typical Lanna style. The adjacent
two-storey wooden building is a
museum
housing various Lanna artefacts.
