Khon Kaen National Museum

Khon Kaen National Museum

Established	1972 (1972)
Location	Lang Sun Ratchakan Road, Mueang Khon Kaen, Khon Kaen, Thailand
Type	National museum

The Khon Kaen National Museum was opened by His Majest, King Bhumibol Adulyadej on the 20th of December, 1972. Most of the exhibits are concerned with history, art, and archaeology. Besides the museum's permanent collection, temporary exhibitions are set up throughout the year.

Collections

Exhibits in the museum include:

• The geography and geology of the prehistoric period
• Settlements, utensils, burial rituals, and major archaeological findings
• Ancient cities and communities
• Period of recorded history
• Dvaravati culture
• Bai sema boundary markers, religion and beliefs, costumes, script, architecture, votive tablets, archaeological objects taken from the Muang Fa Daet Song Yang excavation site, Kamalasai District Kalasin Province.
• Khmer or Lopburi Culture
• Ancient cities and communities, religion and beliefs, ceramics, Thai-Lao culture
• Evolution of art in Thailand Muang Khon Kaen
• Traces of the past, history of the city, way of life, folk culture.

The Khon Kaen National Museum has gathered its collection from archaeological sites within North and Eastern Thailand (in particular, finds from Ban Chiang in Udon Thani province, which has been given UNESCO heritage site status). For a museum of its size, it has an extensive scope; Issan (or northeastern Thailand), once home to the Ban Chiang, Dvaravati, Lopburi and Khmer civilizations. Khon Kaen has played an important role in the area’s history.

The museum exhibits a range of architectural items, including marble slabs (or sema), ancient bas relief, stuccos and ancient tools. Amongst its other exhibits are dinosaur fossils, human skeletal remains, ancient musical instruments, pottery, Buddha images.