Ban Sao Nak

Ban Sao Nak — “house of many pillars” — is a teak mansion in Lampang’s old town raised on 116 carved wooden columns, built in 1895 without a single nail. It now operates as a small museum, open daily 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with entry at 30 THB for Thai visitors and 50 THB for foreigners (the foreigner ticket includes a drink and a snack).

The house follows a traditional northern Thai layout: raised on stilts, with the main living quarters connected by open, breezy walkways between structures. The 116 pillars aren’t decorative extras — they’re structural, carrying the full weight of the elevated house through mortise-and-tenon joinery rather than nails or metal fixings, a building technique that was already becoming rare by the time this house went up. Inside, rooms are furnished with period Lanna pieces — carved cabinets, brassware, old photographs — giving a sense of how a well-off Lampang family lived at the turn of the 20th century.

The house was built for a Burmese timber merchant, Mong Chan Ong, together with Khun Mook — ancestors of the Chandrawiroj family, who still own the property. The design mixes traditions: the roof and overall structure follow Lanna form, while the open verandah (palai) connecting the buildings is Burmese in style, a reminder of how much cross-border trade shaped Lampang’s teak-boom architecture in the late 19th century.

It’s a modest, single-building visit rather than a sprawling complex, and most people are through in under an hour. That makes it easy to fold into a wider morning around Lampang’s old town rather than a destination on its own.

Insider Tip: Visit in the morning, when the wooden floors and shaded walkways stay coolest — by early afternoon the un-air-conditioned interior gets warm, and the light for photographing the pillar rows is flatter.

The house sits on Rat Watthana Road in Mueang Lampang district, within easy walking distance of the Kat Kong Ta walking street and old Chinese shophouse row, and close to the Ho Pum La Kon Museum if you want to keep exploring Lampang’s old town. Wear socks or comfortable footwear you can slip off — shoes come off before you step onto the teak floors.