National Museum, Bangkok

[mhb]

This is not my first rodeo ...
jn

I gathered that you were not new to the Kingdom. But there are a great many potential visitors who may not be aware of some of the potential problems to be encountered in, ummm, 'getting to know' the attractions which have made Thailand such a Mecca for tourism for so long, and so offered a bit of advice - 'verb. sap.'
For those of more daring nature, please remember that Mr. Meechai is your best friend....

mhb - MIke

[jon_norstog]

t there are a great many potential visitors who may not be aware of some of the potential problems to be encountered in, ummm, 'getting to know' the attractions which have made Thailand such a Mecca
...
mhb - MIke

Heh heh heh!

jn

[jon_norstog]

Wish I could join ya there Jon. A trip to Pattaya would have to be made, LOL!!! Ahhhh... the memories!

Well, I think I'm gonna go back next year in the cools season (late november on). Next time I will d what I have to do to get into the Army Museum. I plan on staying a while, definitely want to ride Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai, get into Laos and if possible Yunnan and Myanmar. Tak Province looks pretty good too, although there is a shortage of roads. My brother-in-law Vicharn wants me to come down south to Krabi too.

But pattaya could be done. There are some really nice beaches east of Chantaburi, too.

jn

[jon_norstog]

It was customary in the 1800s to exchange arms, uniforms, and field gear. The museum in Denmark? has a pristine U.S. uniform and field gear set from before the CW in their museum - they've had it all along.

The finest military arms of the 1800s would be found in foreign museums. Presentation items so they were selected for perfection and they've never been used.

5, it's true. In Asia, though the situation is a bit different. Three countries only were independent during the 19th and 20th centuries, the golden age of the international arms trade. These three were Thailand, japan and China. China unfortunately was wracked by the Opium Wars, the Taiping rebellion, the Sino-Japanese War, the Boxer Rebellion, 35+ years of civil war featuring multiple antagonists, the Japanese occupation, and to cap it all off the Red Guards who were determined to wipe out every trace of anything old.

That leaves Thailand and Japan as the two countries with enough of a military bent, and with the internal conditions necessary to preserve and maintain a collection of fine weapons.

When the collection was in the National Museum it included beautiful edged weapons that were carried into major battles by kings, queens and famous warriors. From about the 16th century on. A lot of the weapons, firearms included, were battlefield captures from the wars with Burma, Lan Na, Lan Xiang, Keng Tu, Angkor, the Malay States, and France.

There are a lot of old cannons lying around BKK, rusting away. Some of them have a Crown and a "P", others I've seen have a broad arrow. Sometimes a date in the European calendar. Then there are the locally made bronze and brass guns; a common type was a large, 24-30" bore gun mounted on a trunnion, not a mortar but kind of a giant shotgun which was filled with scrap metal and broken pottery aNd use as an antipersonnel weapon.

travel broadens, as they say.

jn