Ancient Siam (also known as Ancient City, ,

Mueang Mueang ( Ahom: 𑜉𑜢𑜤𑜂𑜫; ''mɯ̄ang'', ), Muang ( ''mɯ́ang'', ), Möng ( Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ ''möeng''; ''móeng'', ), Meng ( zh, c=猛 or 勐) or Mường (Vietnamese) were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or princip ...

Boran) is a museum park constructed by

Lek Viriyaphant Lek Viriyaphan (, sometimes referred to as Khun Lek; 1914 – 17 November 2000) was an eccentric Thai businessman, millionaire and patron of culture responsible for the construction of Ancient Siam, Erawan Museum and Sanctuary of Truth. Biogr ...

and occupying over in the shape of Thailand. Ancient Siam is dubbed as the world's largest outdoor museum, although it is smaller than

Inhotim The Inhotim Institute is a Brazilian contemporary art museum. It is one of the largest outdoor art centers in Latin America. It was founded by the former mining magnate Bernardo Paz in 2004 to house his personal art collection, but opened to the ...

in Brazil, for example. Close to the

Crocodile Farm A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators a ...

Samut Prakan Province Samut Prakan province (, , , sometimes rendered Samutprakan or Samutprakarn) is one of the central Provinces of Thailand, provinces of Thailand, established on 9 May 1946 by the ''Act Establishing Changwat Samut Prakan, Changwat Nonthaburi, Cha ...

, the 320-hectare "city" features 116 structures of Thailand's famous monuments and architectural attractions. The grounds of Ancient Siam correspond roughly to the shape of the kingdom, with the monuments lying at their correct places geographically. Some of the buildings are life-size replicas of existing or former sites, while others are scaled down. Still others are "creative designs," and not replicas of any historical structure. The replicas were constructed with the assistance of experts from the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

to ensure historical accuracy. Outstanding works include the former Grand Palace of Ayutthaya (destroyed in the Burmese invasion of 1767), Phimai Sanctuary in

Nakhon Ratchasima Nakhon Ratchasima (, ) is the capital of Nakhon Ratchasima province, the largest city in Isan, Northeastern Thailand and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, third-largest city in Thailand. It is 250 km (1 ...

, and Wat Khao Phra Viharn on the Cambodian border.

History

Lek Viriyaphant was interested in art since childhood, which inspired him to establish the Ancient City. Initially, he intended to build a Thai map-shaped golf course where miniatures of important national ancient sites were placed, which aimed to serve tourism and education purposes only. Lek started doing research on the establishment of the Ancient City. He found that many ancient sites had been left in decay. Thus, he changed the concept of the Ancient City from being a tourism attraction and relaxation to an open-air museum for education purpose to benefit newer generations who would be proud of their national heritage. Lek continually created artwork in the Ancient City as well as the

Sanctuary of Truth The Sanctuary of Truth () is an unfinished museum in Pattaya, Thailand designed by Thai businessman Lek Viriyaphan. The museum structure is a hybrid of a temple and a castle that is themed on the Ayutthaya Kingdom and of Buddhist and Hindu belief ...

in Pattaya and the Erawan Museum in Samut Prakan until the end of his life on 17 November 2000.

Recent events

In 2006, ''

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

'', Season 6, the reality show from the US, has led the contestants to the finals by using the Pavilion of the Saint as a runway. It was a model platform that was the largest in the show's history. In the area, Sanphet castle model was the place where the winner was announced. On 29 September 2009, 500 activists from the

People's Alliance for Democracy The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD; ; commonly known as "Yellow Shirts") was a Thai reactionary, monarchist political movement and pressure group. It was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime M ...

(PAD) protested at the model of the Preah Vihear Temple in Ancient Siam. They claimed that the temple belonged to Thailand although the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

(ICJ) in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

had ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia.

Architecture by timeline

The Ancient City displays significant architectural achievements from different eras. They are arranged chronologically. * Pre-historical * Dvaravati (11th – 16th centuries BE) * Srivichaya (13th – 18th BE) * Khmer or Ancient Khmer (16th – 18th BE) * Lanna (16th – 25th BE) * Lan Chang (16th – 21st BE) * Hariphunchai (17th – 19th BE) * Sukhothai (17th – 20th BE) * Authong (17th – 20th BE) * Ayutthaya (19th – 24th BE) * Thonburi (24th BE) * Rattanakosin (25th BE)

History

Recent events

Architecture by timeline

List of replicas

See also

References

Further reading