Kamthieng House, a traditional Lanna home in the grounds of
the Siam Society in Soi Asoke Bangkok, preserves the old
Lanna architecture and culture from northern Thailand.
"A million rice fields"
The Lanna (a million rice fields) Kingdom is an old 13th
century kingdom in northern Thailand, started by King
Mengrai in 1259 who established his capital in Chiang Mai in
1291.
Captured by the Burmese in 1550s, retaken by King Taksin in
1774, Chiang Mai became a vassal of Thailand until the reign
of King Rama V when it came under direct rule.
From this kingdom grew a society with a distinctive culture
and language along with its own traditions and customs, rituals
and festivals.
The family home on the Ping River
One such Lanna family steeped in these traditions were
descendants of a prince from Yunnan in Southern China who
migrated to northern Thailand. The matriarch Mae Nai Saed,
a great granddaughter of the prince, built the original
Kamthieng House in 1848 on the banks of the Ping River in
Chiang Mai.
In a matriarchal society, the Lanna women are heads of
households, own property and have rights of inheritance.
The family home was owned by three generations of
descendants, Mae Nai Thip, Mae Kamthieng and Mae Kim
Haw who lived in the house till 1963.
Making of a museum
The timber house, with its characteristic "Kalae" or 'V'
shaped wooden carving at the apex of the gable, is regarded as
one of the rare examples of traditional Lanna architecture and
art. To preserve Lanna culture for future generations, Mae Nai
Haw donated the house to the Siam Society as an ethnological
museum.
In memory of her mother Mae Kamthieng, the museum was
named Kamthieng House.
It took two years to plan, dismantle and move the old house
from Chiang Mai to be reassembled in the grounds of the Siam
Society in Bangkok. The Asia Foundation and John D
Rockefeller Foundation funded the project.
On 21 November 1966, His Majesty King Bhumipol Adulyadej
officially opened Kamthieng House.
Lanna culture
A tour of Kamthieng House gives the visitor an insight to the
Lanna lifestyle, rituals, beliefs, family life, culture, art and
architecture.
Lanna society practices animism, a belief in the presence of
spirits in natural objects and phenomena. Special rituals are
performed to appease these spirits before any family or
communal activity.
The Naga serpent is symbolic of water vital for rice cultivation,
the rice goddess influences the rice crop, a staple food and the
buffalo spirit affects the beast of burden working the fields.
Being an agricultural society there's a deep respect for nature
and the need to be in harmony with the elements. Ancestral
worship is also practiced as seen from the family ancestral
altar in the guest hall of the main house.
Weaving, a traditional Lanna craft is evident from the
beautiful embroidered fabrics in the bedroom, where
elaborately carved wooden lintels are installed above the doors
to protect the occupants. Talismans and amulets are also
popular forms of protection for individuals and homes.
The exhibits displayed reflect family and community life,
combining traditional displays with film clips to illustrate
cultural activities and recorded ritual chants in the
background to simulate realism.
Kamthieng House is a museum dedicated to preserving a
lifestyle from a culture that's almost 800 years old, providing
an interesting study in a traditional society that's fast
disappearing.
Kamthieng House is one of
the historical treasures covered in Tour Bangkok
Legacies a historical travel site on people, places and
events that left their mark in the landscape of Bangkok. The
author Eric Lim, a free-lance writer, lives in Bangkok
Thailand.
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