Thread: Bang Sai Royal Folk Arts and Crafts Centre

Set on an area of 285 rai (14 acres), this Royally supported art and craft center is located at Chang Yai, Bang Sai District, 24 km from Bang Pa-in. The centre offers a glimpse of how farmers in the four regions of Thailand live and work, and how Thai folk arts and crafts are produced. It also offers training to farmers and villagers in folk arts and crafts as a means to keep traditional art forms alive.

I managed to drag GoW away from the PC for a few hours for an afternoon at the Bang Sai Royal Folk Arts and Crafts Centre. It's a 30 minute drive from Ayutthaya down a fairly major road that is virtually empty. I think the road was consrtucted because of the royal projects here, so it has to look nice even though hardly anyone uses it.

After negotiating the bridge & U-turn combo, we managed to find our way there. 50 Baht for Thais (20 Baht for kids) and 100 Baht for foreigners. I didn't mind too much as GoW paid, but she could've got away with 50 Baht for me as the ticket office is sited so they can't see the cars very well.



The first thing we had a look at was the aquarium. It wasn't that big, but the fish were.



Now, you're not allowed to take pictures in here, as the flash scares the fish. Obviously, not being a halfwit, I just took pictures with no flash.



It would've been a bit better if the fish stopped moving for a moment, but they were being awkward (must be famale).

Next on the agenda was the bird park. This was a good walk of about 30m so you might want to transfer all your Thai people in a car to stop them moaning.



They had one-legged ducks...



Pretty caged parakeets (probably)...



Peacocks...



And other birds who tried in vain to hide from the visitors...

This hornbill was 54 years old and was quite entertaining to watch.



Also with the birds were squirrels, civets, mouse deer and bloody big snakes. Luckily, they weren't allowed to mingle.



We left the bird park and went wandering past the factories where they make all the different handicrafts. They have a nice gaudy statue here too. Probably sponsored by Nintendo.



Eventually, you come to the village. There are traditional houses from the four main areas of Thailand. It was really peaceful here.

I offered to pose for the potter who was making a kwai statue, and she wanted to know if I was joking of being serious. Cheeky bugger. I did find a figure of RC's missus though.



And then it was time to sit by the lake and partake of some fine cuisine.




Sadly, they didn't have anything decent to eat, so I had somtam tai with an Isaan wine cooler...



And GoW had the normal somtam with the rotten bits of crab in it. No doubt she'll be complaining of gut-rot later...