The Institute for Southern Thai Studies
The Institute for southern Thai Studies is located in Moo 1, Baan AoSai, KohYor Sub-District, near the second part of Tinsulanonda Bridge. It was established in 1978 to be an art and culture learning center of southern region. Its total area is 23 rai. The buildings are in southern architectural style. The institute is divided into 4 buildings and each building is divided into various rooms to exhibit history, ethnics, ancient objects from local wisdom, weapons used in southern region such as daggers, dagger-sharped knives, RawiAyams, local weaving clothes such as “Pha or PumRiang” and “Pha Tor Pattani”, various patterns of rare coconut graters, local plays such as “Nang Talung”, “Norah”, and “Likaypha”, local games and toys such as “SudRao”, kite, and top, ordain ceremony, and traditional aid.The institute provides accommodations for visitors, seminar rooms, and traditional product shops including Krajood handicraft, Panan handicraft, Yan Lipao handicraft, KohYor weaving clothes, products from shells and coconut shells, and silverware. The institute received the tourist industry prize in best cultural tourist attraction from Thailand Tourism Authority in 2000. From the viewpoint of the institute, you can see the beautiful scenery of Songkhla Lake.The institute was established when Academic Education College opened the new southern campus in Songkhla Province in 1968. The collegians at that time studied Thai Language as their minor subjectsand collected data for studying folkloristics. As a result, they got a lot of cultural information including real objects, Thai Uricaceae Books, and oral literature. This valuable data are collected systematically with target and has become “Local Southern Literature Room” and “Southern Region Language and Cultural Center” on 14 November 1975. In the same year, the center received the annual government statement of expenditure to build the buildings for Thai Studies and Southern Region Language and Cultural Center for 4,589,200 baht. The buildings were built in the area of Srinakharinwirot University, Songkhla Campus. The construction was completed in 1978. King Bhumibol, Queen Sirikit, and Princess Sirindhorn came to open the buildings on 13 September 1979.Later, Ministry of University Affairs agreed to promote the center to be “the Institute for Southern Thai Studies”.The institute is opened every day from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entrance fees are 30 baht for Thai adults, 10 baht for Thai children, 60 baht for foreign adults, and 30 baht for foreign children. For more information, please call 0 77433 1184-9.
