Udon Museum

[Brian Davis]

The post on the Nong Khai aquarium reminded me to mention this place as a possible visit. I hope I'm not duplicating here.
The museum is on the south side of Nong Prajak, fairly recently refurbished, is now two noticeable buildings. I'm pleased to say that the rather lovely IMO old building (I'm no historian/architect, but French colonial style???, used to be a school I was told) has been retained, repainted and externally at least seems much the same. The biggest surprise was that the second, modern building is apparently only an administrative + support building. So the old building is where you view things. No entrance fee, but donations welcome.
I'll be interested what others think. The old museum was stuffed full with paintings, artifacts, had in my view, character and history. We all have different views and I suppose some may think it was old and stuffy. Now, the museum has 'gone modern'. All these previous exhibits have gone (interesting to know where, because to my mind, they truly represented Udon's history). It's now push buttons, sliding doors, some touchy/feel things, but I was bored as can be. There is a nice Udon model as you enter and some of the rooms feature dinosaurs, landscape and of course the ancient local civilisation. Perhaps it appeals more to the younger generation, but I'd rather have it as it was before.
Pop in when you have 30 mins/an hour to spare and see what you think.

[Barney]

Good find Brian.
Is there a translation into English by any chance, so the exhibits can be appreciated.

[Brian Davis]

Barney, if you go, you'll see what I mean, but there's not much in the way of individual exhibits.
The old museum, yes. There seemed so much packed into the place before; now, a relatively small number of rooms with a particular feature If I recall correctly, before there there cards with English translations, but it was very different to what is there now. In fact, I had met the guy who did the translations - a very pleasant man who worked as a lecturer at the Udon University. As i say, the old place may not have been to everyone's taste, but I was disappointed with the present place.

[Faraday]

Didn't know it was open, despite my morning walk around Nong Prajak.

Must go in sometime.

[expat67]

Is there anything in this museum about the U. S. Air Force in Udorn?

[Brian Davis]

An Udon Museum, yes, but not aimed at that kind of history, I feel. I didn't hang about too long there, but I'd be very surprised if the Vietnam War was referred to. I was hoping others would pop in and confirm or disagree with my view.

[fdimike]

I toured the museum prior to its refurbishment and can confirm there was nothing in there regarding the Vietnam War or the US presence in Udon Thani during the period.

[vincemunday]

If you want to read something about the history of Udon I recommend the museum that's attached to the Chinese temple that's on Nong Bua lake. The exhibits are quite heavily biased towards China and the Chinese influence on the commercial side of Udon but it's well worth a visit, the kids will love feeding the Koi and if you visit the Temple in the evening you might catch them practising the dragon dances etc, it's quite beautiful there after dark.

[parrot]

All the years we've been here, we haven't dropped into the Chinese temple across the street from Nongbua market....until today. If you've never been, it's worth an hour or two........very nice museum that describes the early Chinese merchants in town along with today's heavy hitters in the Chinese community. There are plenty of photo opportunities....gardens, waterfalls, koi pond, Nongbua Lake, as well as items in the museum. The coffee shop is nicely decorated and the coffee first rate....with a cup of nicely scented tea provided. If you have young ones, you can even demonstrate how the dinosaurs of the day used to make telephone calls

[vincemunday]

Try the temple of an evening, it's quite magical, particularly worth a visit if they are practicising the dragon dances etc.

[Brian Davis]

Is that a moderator going off topic?
Perhaps I've put everyone off a visit?. But will someone, anyone else please pop into the UDON MUSEUM and give an opinion. No charge, donate something if you want to.
And yes, I do like the Chinese temple too, but that's because of the visuals, the fish and the restaurant, rather than about the Chinese community.

[fdimike]

I toured the museum with a group of Thai students I was helping with their English before it was renovated. It's all about the history of Udon Thani and Thailand in general. The staff were really very gracious and took us around the museum which was quite interesting. I would suspect it will be essentially the same today. One thing to note was that everything was written in Thai so having a staff member along for the tour was quite helpful in explaining the exhibits.

[Brian Davis]

....... before it was renovated. ......... I would suspect it will be essentially the same today.

Excuse me fdimike, but I liked and preferred the original version too and, as I said previously, think the new style is very different and disappointing. When you have 30 minutes, see what you think now.

[fdimike]

I'll do it this week and report back here. I would be interested in seeing if I get staff support as I did the last time.

[Hachi]

Had a walk through the "new" museum a few days ago. Yes, there is an exhibit / references to the American influences during the Vn war era. Building itself is nearly 100 years old, former girl's school.