Thai Farmers’ Way Of Life Museum Of Ban Lan Laem

The Thai Farmers’ Way of Life museum of Ban Lan Laem was brought into existence from aspiration of Ajarn Roengchai Jaemniyom who wants to pass on and conserve Thai folk wisdom about rice farming in the past around 30-40 years ago to let Thai people know it. Ajarn Roengchai had begun preparing both its location and construction. From 1989, he began planting Neem trees around the house, then waited until they fully grew. In 1998, he cut them to build a pillar for the museum which was planned to be “a house composing parts tied together with rattan”. The ground floor exhibits agricultural instruments and some local living instruments. It has been opened since September 19, 1999.The exhibition and the content are divided into two parts. The first part is an office of the village’s housewives group for voluntary development, which is used to give visitors a brief introduction of the museum and community. The other part is the museum and handicraft products made from hyacinth.The structure that is built into “the house composing parts tied together with rattan” is used to exhibit and demonstrate the farmers’ ways of life. The exhibition is divided into two parts which are the ground floor and the upper floor. The ground floor is divided into two categories displaying farming equipment, household utensils, fishing, carpentry tools, etc.In the same area, an area is set for the demonstration of rice milling and winnowing. On the upper floor, there are not many objects and materials. The available objects are kitchen utensils and betel boxes. The upper floor is intended for visitors to experience the atmosphere of a farmer’s house in the past, so there are a kitchen and other necessary utensils. If visitors coming in groups would like to have lunch at the museum, it can be organized at a reasonable price. In this case, contact must be done in advance and the housewives group will take care of the food including recounting anecdotes of farmers’ lives in the past as well as demonstrating how to mill and winnow the rice. The museum is open daily from 8.30 am to 5 pm. The admission costs 20 baht. For more information, please call 0 33296086, 08 19916084, 08 5186 4004 and 08 7165 1681.