The Golden Triangle Opium Museum

[Limbo]

The Opium MUSEUM is located in the middle of Ban Sobrak (the Golden Triangle, about 12 km from Chiang Saen), between the shops and restaurants. A visit to this museum is an absolut 'must' for anybody who passes by.

It is a private museum, founded by a former teacher. It houses probably the greatest collection in the world of objects related to the cultivation and use of opium. This collection is priceless and unique. Harvest tools, pipes, scales, weights, pillows, burners and a superb opium-set made of silver. Along the walls very informative and educational maps, paintings, drawings and texts.

Not only about the cultivation and use, but also about the history of opium as far as it is related to this area.

It is a museum which means that it is built around a carefully compiled collection.

In this particular case the collecting took place during a period of more than 25 years.

The entree fee is 30 Baht for foreigners as well as for Thai citizens.

The only 'double' concerns the entree ticket: You can use it as a postcard as well.

Limbo.

[Limbo]

The Opium Museum and the Hall of Opium are not comparable.

The first one is a museum and the second one houses a one-theme

edu-fun and amusement park.

The Hall of Opium is part of the Doi Tung Foundation and its eventual profits are used for development of the remote hill areas (crop-substitution, reforestation, building of roads, schools, etc. etc.).

The idea is to entertain the visitor and give him information at the same time. And, of course, to generate profit for the above mentioned purposes.

Target group are the tourists, who will normally spoken visit the Hall only one time. And that is enough.

The presentation is full of special effects and surprises and as we all know these are most impressive when you are confronted with them for the first time.

A second visit would be much less sensational than the first one.

The presentation is very well done and could be done very well by a generous financial contribution of a big Japanese institution. I enjoyed my first visit very much and I hope the Hall of Opium will serve its purpose.

The Museum and the Hall are only a few kilometers apart.

My advice: Visit them both!

Limbo.