A black museum and a white temple
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Chiang Rai is home to the two most famous artists of Thailand: Thawan Duchanee (75) and Chalermchai Kositpipat (59). Both have created two of the major tourist attractions over the years: Thawan's Black House museum (or temple) and Chalermchai's Wat Rong Khun or the white temple.
The Black Museum
Ban Daam (Black House) consists of 40 buildings, designed and built by Thawan over the past 36 years, most of them black on the outside and most of them made of teak. They contain a curious collection of 'junk', such as works of art, furniture, handicrafts, bits and pieces and skeletons, horns, skins and stuffed heads of animals.
For those dead animals, Thawan has an explanation that is as simple as it is obvious: 'Everyone must die. No one on this planet can avoid death.' Thawan likes to surround himself with death – for artistic reasons. 'I like the touch of it. It's form. The smell of it inspires me to draw, to paint animals.'
The White Temple
Chalermchai started building his Wat Rung Khun or White Temple in 1996. The temple is dazzling white to express the purity of the Buddha. The murals in the temple contain darker warnings against lust, greed and addiction to alcohol and drugs.
'My goal was to create a modern, beautiful temple that makes people think more deeply about Buddhism.'
In the temple you can also see paintings of the attack on the WTC, and cartoon characters such as Superman, Spider-man and other comic book heroes. “My message is that in real life there are no heroes who can help you. You must become your own hero, search in your own heart for morality, goodness and charity towards the poor and downtrodden.”
The black museum is hard to find; it is about 15 km north of Chiang Rai. The White Temple is located 10 km south of Chiang Rai.
Source: Spectrum, Bangkok Post
Have visited both, especially the white temple is really unique.
As far as we are informed, the black house was designed and built by a Dutch architect who lives within walking distance of the black house.
It is unique to see, but 1 piece of advice, do not enter the buildings with thick rugs on the ground, it is swarming with fleas, days later you will still be reminded of this trip by the bumps and itching.
As the article mentions, the Black House museum was designed by the Thai artist and architect Thawan Duchanee and not by a Dutchman 😉 I think this misunderstanding comes from the fact that Thawan Duchanee used to study architecture in the Netherlands.
Went there with my girlfriend in early 2020 and we have not had any problems with fleas or itching. Maybe we just got lucky? It also looked "black" from the people, it was on a Sunday. We were also at the white temple, for my girlfriend the first time, I had been there before.
Both works of art are more than worth the effort and worth a trip to Chiang Rai. Thawan Duchanee passed away at the end of 2014.
Nan City also has a beautiful white temple. but without Superman.
Visited both and indeed worth seeing. The first was a nice trip on the motorbike from Chiang Rai. I can't remember the itching thanks to the fleas anymore. Another tip for the adventurous traveler: rent a motorbike in Chian Rai, or better a light off-road motorcycle and head into the mountains towards the Khunkorn Waterfall and the Hot Spring. You can drive for hours without meeting anyone and will be amazed by nature with its tea plantations and mountains with accompanying views. An experience you will not soon forget. I'm going again in February and I'm already looking forward to it. Mvg Pjotr
I lived there for 2 years.
Thawan Duchanee, was a world famous artist, he also made beautiful paintings.
The large building that stands there is actually the Black Temple, with a unique wooden roof construction.
I have been there twice myself, there is a special atmosphere.
also see: https://www.thailandblog.nl/bezienswaardigheden/baandam-museum-chiang-rai/
The 'black house' is Baan Dam, not 'Ban Daam'. Indeed, always a bit difficult to find because it was / is poorly marked, in non-Thai readable language. But now that the Bangkok Hospital has been built along HW1, about 10 km north of the city, it is simpler: drive past it for 100m and turn left!
I always look for meaning of Thai names, very nice.
Thawan Duchanee (นายถวัลย์ ดัชนี , the artist of Baan Dam, pronounce: thàwǎn dàchánie:) Thawan means 'mighty, grand, great' or as a verb 'to command, rule, rule' and Duchanee means 'index finger', all from Sanskrit . Beautiful name for such a versatile artist!
The White Temple is called in Thai วัดร่องขุ่น Wat Rong Khun. (And not 'Rung'). That means 'The Temple of the Muddy Water'. It is built next to a murky canal. Like the Lotus symbol, it is the purity of the Buddha rising from muddy water.
Oh yes, then the name of the artist who built the White Temple (among many other works of art). In Thai it is เฉลิมชัย โฆษิตพิพัฒน์, and phonetically Chalermchai Kositpipat. Chalemchai means 'Celebrating Victory'. Kositpipat is not quite sure. Pipat means 'prosperity, development, progress', Kosit I'm not sure but possibly 'promoting, propagating'. So 'Promoting Prosperity', a name typical for Chinese ancestors who had to adopt Thai names in the early 20th century.
http://www.homestaychiangrai.com/ at Toonie and Path you can spend the night well
really recommended
To make the fun even bigger, there is another blue temple half way between these two structures. I do not know which artist has this on his conscience, nor whether more buildings with a color from the rainbow will appear in Chiangrai, we have to wait and see, if this is the case I will keep you informed.