Sbunnga Textile Museum, Chiang Mai

Located in Chiang Mai's Old Cultural Center, the Sbun-nga is the oldest textile museum in the whole of Thailand. It has a collection of over 6,000 rare and old textile exhibits and displays styles worn by both royalty and common local people. A special exhibit is devoted to Northern Thai textile designs. All displays include the ethnographic details of the tribes who weave the elaborate designs and also the reasons why they evolved the unique style.

Notable among the displays are textiles by the Thai Lue people who came from the Sipsong Panna in Southern China and made different parts of Thailand their home, the Lai Nam Lai or Flowing Water design by people who settled along the Mekong River, as well as the intricately worked elaborate headdress of the Lao people who emigrated to Thailand from Northern Laos in the last two hundred years (they have the finest weaving techniques among tribes in Thailand). There is also a display of formal robes worn by the Royal family including a swirling coronation dress of the Thai Prince. The silk dress is covered with metal and gemstone sequins.

Tip:
Tours are by appointment and must be made in advance (check Sbunnga Museum page of Facebook). Tours last about 1 hr and are well worth taking. A modest fee of 200 THB/person opens a remarkable experience.