Green Hotel : Bangkok Thailand | www.greenbkk.com reservation@greenbkk.com: GreenBkk.com Scoop

Galleries galore

FEW WOULD LABEL BANGKOK A HUB FOR ARTS, BUT THE CITY SEEMS HEADED IN THAT DIRECTION

Key in "Bangkok art" and Google will return more than 15 million hits. This shouldn't come as a surprise - unless you didn't already know that galleries and museums grace virtually every corner of the city. Some of them are located within walking distance of routes plied by the Skytrain and make for great family outings, particularly on weekends.

A photo exhibition by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at the BACC.

Madame Tussauds wax museum, only a short walk from the Skytrain station at Siam Square, is one of them. Located on the sixth floor of the Siam Discovery store, it is the latest of London-famous Madame Tussauds' burgeoning portfolio overseas, and a nice place to pose with international celebrities and world leaders including those who have lapsed into history.

Entering the museum, you see life-size wax figures of HRH Prince Mahitala Thibed Adulyadej Vikrom Phra Baroma Rajajanok (the Prince Father) and HRH Princess Srinagarindra (the Princess Mother) - when still of young age. The next room features political and spiritual leaders such as Mohandas Karmchand Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi and saint Buddhadasa Bhikkhu who elicited, involuntarily, a wai from me.

One section of the floor imitates the Oval office of the US president, featuring the working desk of Barack Obama, with his chair left empty for visitors to sit in and pose for pictures while the president and his first lady look on. This section is particularly busy.

There is no restriction on picture-taking. You can even touch the specimen, hold their arms or blow kisses when posing with Hollywood icons that include George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman.

All in all about 70 wax figures are displayed in 10 themed galleries, 30% of which are of Thai personalities, so there is plenty of variety. In some galleries there are props, such as a crown and fur coat which you can wear before posing with, say, Queen Elizabeth II, or Thailand's gold medallist in weightlifting at the 2004 Olympics, Pawina Thongsuk.

The main TCDC library boasts a collection of more than 30,000 books on art and design.

Also featured are interactive games. You can play football with David Beckham, tennis with Serena Williams or spar with Thailand's former boxing champion Khaosai Galaxy.

"Was it fun?" asked a lady staffer in the sports zone. The smile on my face said it all, but what it didn't say was that the entrance fee was a bit too high.

Before leaving, there is one last gallery where you can observe how these wax figures are created. The cost of producing one is about eight million baht and it takes about six months to create a figure - made of steel, clay and wax.

Casting wax figures is an art 200 years old. It begins with extensive research, then inviting the subject to measure and record their vital statistics, followed by a photo session during which reels are spent photographing the subject from more than 200 different angles. If the model is dead, permission is obtained from their family. Dress and accessories are provided by the subject or duplicated from real ones.

The Siam Discovery is linked by a skywalk to the National Stadium terminus of the Skytrain. Walking in that direction, to your right is a nine-storey building which is home to Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC). Boasting 3,000 square metres of exhibition space spread over floors seven to nine, it displays works of local as well as foreign artists.

Visitors like to pose with portraits of world leaders.

According to its acting director Chatvichai Promadhattavedi, the centre has played host to over 400 events including 50 exhibitions the past two and a half years, and most of that time it's been fully booked, thanks to a slew of facilities such as a library with internet service, a clay pottery workshop open to all free of charge, shopping and eating areas.

But picture-taking is banned here, imposed after the centre found that some visitors, mostly students, only came here to pose with the specimen rather than to admire the artistic content therein.

The ban, says its PR staffer Rachaneeporn Rueangditsayarath, hopefully will engender in the students a love for art and encourage them to be more creative.

The last stop on my tour was Thailand Creative Design Centre (TCDC) on the sixth floor of the Emporium, a department store next to the Prompong Skytrain station.

The TCDC is a haven for those with a talent for art and creativity. It boasts a collection of more than 30,000 books, 80% of which are publications in foreign languages - Japanese, German, French, Italian and English. To read them you need to be a member. It has a library with free internet service, exhibition and meeting rooms, and a multimedia corner where you can watch movies.

The material library at TCDC is just one of five found around the world. PHOTOS: KARNJANA KARNJANATAWE

You can not borrow books, but can take pictures, make copies or scan pages if you like. Digital content is available via the iPod while the iPad is the next step of its e-content upgrade.

The other highlight is a material library, the so-called Material ConneXion Bangkok that showcases sample materials developed or applied worldwide in commercial production.

"Only five such facilities exist around the world," said a staffer, Sita Riwatthana. "In New York, Cologne, Milan, Daegu (South Korea) and Bangkok, which is the only one in Southeast Asia."

It has more than 4,500 samples in eight categories including glass, carbon, cement and natural resources. About 25 new items are added to the material library every month, she said.

The TCDC also features permanent as well as temporary exhibitions - in the latter case the exhibits are rotated every couple of months.

With so many museums and galleries all within convenient distance of each other and conveniently connected by the Skytrain, Bangkok might as well lay claim to being a city of arts.

Acrylic eyes seem to radiate life. Each pair takes about 10 hours to make.

MORE INFO

Madame Tussauds

Open daily during 10am to 9pm. The entrance fees is 700 baht for adults, 500 baht for children and free for kids under five years old. For details, visit http://www.madametussauds.com/bangkok or call 02-658-0060.

Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC)

Open Tuesday to Sunday during 10am to 9pm. There is no entrance fee, except for access to some special exhibitions or activities. For details, visit http://www.bacc.or.th or call 02-214-6630/1.

Thailand Creative and Design Centre (TCDC)

Open Tuesday to Sunday during 10.30am to 9pm. Admission to exhibitions is free, but to use the library there's a fee.

One-year membership is 600 baht for students, elders and public sector employees, 1,200 baht for resident expats and Thais not in government employ, and 3,600 baht for non-resident aliens. There is a special provision for tourists: for a mere 200 baht they can access the library 10 times. For more information, visit http://www.tcdc.or.th or call 02-664-8448.