Ban Khru Kung Museum

Ban Khru Kung Museum is the life’s work of a retired art teacher, “Kru Kung,” who spent decades gathering Thai antiques and everyday objects and now opens his collection to the public near Mae Phim in Klaeng district, Rayong. Housed in a traditional wooden home, it is less a formal museum than a warm, crowded treasure-house of the recent past.

Room after room is packed with the bric-a-brac of twentieth-century Thai life — tin toys and dolls, old radios and cameras, lanterns, enamel kitchenware, banknotes and coins, musical instruments, vintage signs, even antique cars and carts. Many pieces carry handwritten notes, and Kru Kung himself often shows visitors round, happy to explain how an object was used and where it came from. The effect is nostalgic and personal rather than polished.

It makes an easy, characterful stop on a trip along the Mae Phim and Klaeng coast, especially on a hot afternoon. There is a modest entry fee, and reaching it is easiest by car or taxi as public transport in the area is limited. Allow an hour or so to wander, and bring cash.