Visiting the museum

Baan Dam Museum also know as the Black House is very different than most of the other temples and museums in Thailand. In Thai “Baan” means house or home, and “Dam” means black. While exploring this distinctive museum you will understand how well the name fits. The museum is mostly black, and almost everything about it screams evil and demonic.

Baan Dam Museum is located in Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. It’s a large art installation with a collection of 40 wooden huts set in a beautiful garden. The huts are different shapes and sizes, but most of them have something in common, they’re black. The entrance fee is 80 Baht, and with that fee you can explore the entire Baan Dam Museum and all of it’s glory.

Baan Dam Museum compared to the White Temple

Most people believe the Baan Dam Museum represents the vision of hell. This is the complete opposite of what people think of the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun). The White Temple is seen as the representation of heaven.

Walking into the Baan Dam Museum can be shocking for some people. It has animal skin, bones and horns, demonic carvings, structures with large male genitals, and more on display. There are also many sculptures, paintings as well as gold and silver structures that are displayed. There’s a sign outside of the bathroom with two wooden genitals, one of a female’s and another of a male’s.

The White Temple is a large art exhibit inside of a temple. It’s situated on top of a lake, and there’s a bridge that leads to the entrance of the temple. Seeing the White Temple up close made me feel like I walked into a fairy tale, it’s beautiful. Everything near the temple is beautiful, there’s the gold toilet, waterfalls, plants, and more. The gold toilet is a gold building with a restroom in it.

The artist

The artist name is Thawan Duchanee. He was a painter, architect and sculptor from Chiang Rai. Thawan Duchanee started the Baan Dam Museum project in 1975. He actually lived in several of the houses, before he died in 2014. His ashes is located in the main house, high on the roof support. My tour guide pointed it out when we entered the house. Now the Baan Dam Museum is used to showcase his work. It’s one of the most visited places in Chiang Rai.

Food and drinks

There are a few shops near the museum that sells food, drinks, ice cream and souvenirs. One of the shops sells black ice cream. I loved the way they displayed it, it also tasted really good. Black ice cream near the black house… has a nice ring to it.