Are you looking for something new to see in Bangkok? Maybe somewhere you missed on your first visit? Head out to The Erawan Museum, it’s quirky, magnificent, and awe-inspiring all in one go. This museum is a fabulous hidden gem of Bangkok bypassed by most visitors. It’s refreshingly just a little off the main tourist track. Not only is it tourist attraction, it’s also a place of religious significance for multiple faiths, so keep that in mind and dress appropriately. For our “worldschooling” families, it’s educational, and best of all, it’s fun and interesting for kids and adults. Find out more about the museum, how to get there, where it is, and what’s there in our post. We have loads of photos for you too, of course!
We combined our visit to The Erawan Museum, a giant-headed elephant statue, with a trip to “The Ancient City.” It makes sense to do both in one day, the Erawan Museum is on the way to The Ancient City (AKA Muan Boran or Muanboran), billed as the world’s biggest open-air museum. They’re south of Bangkok in Samut Prakan and both are the work of the same gentleman. Read our section on tickets, it seems it’s much cheaper to buy online, we paid on the door.
We took a Grab car, but we’ll tell you how to get there by bus and Bangkok Metro too.
On this trip we were staying at Baankatchitpan Hotel (Booking.com link), a lovely old house in a residential are of Old Bangkok. We recommend it highly, particularly their breakfasts! Another option we like in this area is Here Hostel, which has family rooms. It’s on Booking.com here. This hotel is on Agoda, the hostel is too. Find out why we recommend this area of Bangkok if you’re still trying to decide where to stay.
Erawan Museum History
The Erawan Museum first opened to visitors in 2003. It was the creation of Lek Viriyahbhun or Viriyaphan, a visionary billionaire businessman born in Thailand to a Chinese family. He and his son were responsible for its building.
Construction started in 1994. Lek Viriyaphan was also behind The Ancient City (a historical park, which opened in 1972) and The Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya (started in 1981). Construction of The Erawan Museum began in 1994.
After his passing in November 2000 at the age of 86, Lek Viriyaphan’s son took on the project. His grandson, Pan, is CEO of the family company today. The Ancient City is still being expanded, we saw huge constructions nearby in 2024.
You can read more about Mr Virayaphan here.
Lek was a collector and lover of historic, spiritual, and cultural artefacts. The museum houses items from the billionaire’s personal collection. He wanted to share these with the world and keep the memory, aesthetic and history of Old Siam alive for coming generations. He thought they would be unable to see them in any other way.
The gardens and every level of the museum represent Siamese culture and history. Mr Lek did an incredible job here.
Thankfully, much of Thailand’s cutural and historical past can still be accessed by visitors and Thai locals without having to visit Mr. Lek’s parks. But still, you should go and see what this amazing man created.
Who or What is Erawan?
Elephants are incredibly important in Thai culture and Erawan is a name you’ll run into often in Thailand. The elephant is Thailand’s national symbol and is a bringer of luck. I already wrote a post on the Golden Jubilee Monument in Bangkok, another Erawan statue. There is also Erawan National Park, Erawan Waterfalls (near Kanchanaburi) and Erawan Shrine in Bangkok.
Erawan, also known as Airavata, is a mythical white, 3-headed elephant. He was the holy mount of Lord Indra in Hindu mythology, a symbol of power and auspiciousness. His 3 heads represent kindness, strength, and wisdom, seen as ideal qualities in a ruler.
In Buddhism, Erawan’s three heads can represent enlightenment through wisdom compassion and strength. Add to this the significance of white elephants in Thai Royalty, and you have a highly significant celestial being. If you’d like to read a little more about Erawan, go here.
There is a small golden statue of Indra riding Erawan in the grounds of the Erawan Museum, but somehow, we missed it.
Where is The Erawan Museum?
Erawan Museum is around 20 Km south of central Bangkok in Samut Prakan district.
It is near the Chang Erawan BTS Skytrain Station.
Chang, means elephant, if you don’t know.
If you plan to travel by taxi or Grab car the journey should take 15 to 20 minutes depending on traffic.
How to Get to The Erawan Museum
The easiest way to get there is to take a taxi or Grab car. This will make for a door-to-door journey, out of the heat, with no waiting. It’s also probably the cheapest way to travel for a group of people or a family.
When we left the museum we just called another Grab car and one arrived within minutes. The trip cost us about 400 Baht from near the Khao San Rd in Old Bangkok (2024 prices). To use Grab you will need a SIM. Buy your SIM here, in advance, at SIMCorner, this is what we do.
You can get to The Erawan museum by bus and metro as follows, but double check this information as anything could change!
Chang Erawan Station is the nearest BTS (metro) station and it’s on the Sukhumvit Line. That’s the light green line. You can see the metro line map here. This line doesn’t go anywhere near the Khao San Rd. area so isn’t a good option for a lot of tourists. Sukhumvit is where a lot of the big malls are, so if you’re shopping, you could go this way.
There is a bus that will get you there from near Khao San Rd, you need to get to Khlong Korek bus station. We’ve never needed to take a bus in Bangkok with the kids so I’ll leave that to you to do the research on bus routes.
For years I have been looking for a tour or day trip to get us to The Erawan Museum, we never found one that was suitable, all tending towards the very expensive. See our section on tours and tickets, below.
Erawan Museum Opening Times
According to Erawan Museum’s official website (here), opening times are as follows. Double-check this at the website link.
Erawan Museum Opening Times: 9 am to 6 pm, every day, with the last tickets issued at 5 pm (2024).
We spent 1 hour exactly at The Ancient City. My son rented our golf cart using his brand new driver’s license for 1 hour, and didn’t go over the time limit. You could spend way longer there, easily, but it was a very hot day and we felt we’d seen enough. We probably spent longer at The Erawan Museum because we read a lot of the information on the exhibits and because it was cooler inside.
Erawan Museum Entrance Costs
We were unable to find current ticket prices for the museum on the official website link we gave you above. We paid the foreigners’ rate of 400 THB for admission on the gate. If you buy your ticket online, here, it does seem to be cheaper! ($11 US approx vs $12 US on the door, depending on exchange rate.) Both Thai nationals and children were cheaper. You may also get a better price if you book a combo ticket with The Ancient City. We didn’t feel there was any need to book in advance for The Erawan Museum, but at the Ancient City, we were asked if we had reservations online. We didn’t. Maybe it’s a good idea at busy times because the check-in desk was very hectic and tickets are cheaper online. You can buy a discounted ticket here ($13.70 US at the time of writing.) If you go to The Ancient City official website the listed price, today, is 700 THB, that’s $21 US at today’s rates.
Tours and Tickets
As I said already, I’ve struggled to find tours that would get us to the Erawan Museum (and/or Ancient City) for years, but there are a couple of things I want to tell you about. You can buy discounted tickets for these attractions online, check below.
1. You can book a private Erawan Museum and Ancient City tour here, on Viator. This one is around $102 US, $155 Au, 3400 THB per person, adding a second person doubles the price, it seems. This would get you a private vehicle and driver. This is the “money no issues” option.
2. If you plan to visit multiple ticketed attractions in Thailand, Take Me Tour (a company we have used ourselves for our Amphawa Floating Market tour) have a new Tag Thai, ticket bundle pass.
3. Purchase your Erawan Museum ticket in advance here, (we don’t think you need to, but it is discounted a little, we think) and your Ancient City ticket here, discounted, see above (you may need to, and it’s a lot cheaper.) I wish we’d known about this, we paid the door price,
What Is There To See at The Erawan Museum?
The two main parts of the museum. Part 1 comprises the beautiful gardens (and the pilgrimage path within them) giving views of the huge elephant statue on its enormous pink plinth. Part 2 is the interior of the giant elephant. Within the statue, there are 3 more sections, The Underworld (ground floor), The Human World (1st and second floors), and The Heavens (top floor).
More and more surprises just keep rolling out as you explore!
The Gardens
When you pass through the gates of the museum, you will be in the gardens, take time to explore fully. Lush tropical gardens, beautifully tended, allow you to wander shady pathways of tropical vegetation, statues and waterfalls. The trees here were chosen to represent Thai forestry. Nothing here is done by chance.
For a tropical gardener, as I am, this was really enjoyable. But don’t miss the religious significance of the various shrines and statues within the gardens. Send your kids first to walk beneath the colourful elephant statues and watch their delight as they trigger sensors causing the elephants to trumpet. My 20-year-old child loved it, so little kids will be thrilled!
In Thai folklore, walking under an elephant’s belly brings good luck, especially for pregnant ladies.
These elephant statues have names. You can see Plooksadam Thaweerot below. I assumed that these names were those of favourite elephants from the Royal stables down through the centuries. I tried to research this and found nothing. You know how bad the search results are today! There was some suggestion that they may be the names of elephants in sanctuaries sponsored by the foundation or The Ancient City Group. But really, I found no answers. I still don’t know who Sangkanun the elephant is or was. Maybe the audio guide would have told me.
I do know that at least 2 of the elephants are shrines. Vishnupong (a golden elephant) and Shivapong are associated with bringing wealth.
The Underground Level
The entrance to The Underground Level, or Suvarnabhumi Level is to the left of the stairs leading to the elephant statue proper. It’s the lower level of the statue’s pink plinth. You’ll need to take your shoes off. I suggest you wear slip-on shoes and socks. Explore this first before heading back outside to climb the stairs.
No photography is permitted inside The Suvarnabhumi Level, so I have no photos for you. Suvarnabhumi means “golden land”, this level is not named after the airport!
What’s inside “The Underworld” at The Erawan Museum? This is the most traditional “museum” part of the complex and it represent the past. This part houses a collection of historic artefacts from the creator’s personal collection. Maybe they represent Thailand’s “gold”, it’s cultural and artistic heritage.
Each exhibit is clearly labelled, so if you and the kids want to learn something about history, start your journey here.
You will find pottery, Chinese tea sets, weapons and jewellery from China (the Ming and Qing dynasties) and Thailand. You can also learn from maps, and graphics of the timeline of Siam.
I’ve read that there are occasional shadow puppet shows here, we saw no evidence of this during our visit.
The Human World
Exit the Underground real and climb the stairs to the Atrium of the giant Erawan statue. This area is the upper level of Erawan’s pink base.
You are entering The Human World, or The Human Earth, and it is breathtaking. Before you ascend to The Heavens, take your time to read the signs and study the artwork on the pillars here.
Many of the materials used in the decorations here were recycled.
Surrounding the stairways you’ll find four metal embossed pillars (they’re coated in tin) with illustrations from world religions and traditions. Walking clockwise from the entrance the pillars represent Hinduism, Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and finally Christianity. On the walls facing the octagonal pillars you will find explanations of the scenes depicted.
Twin dragons form twining staircases leading up to higher levels. Above you a map of the world and the signs of the zodiac are beautifully illustrated in stained glass. This artwork uses only four colours, blue for water, yellow for earth, white for wind and red for fire.
The interior is gorgeously gothic, intricate, Thai, Western, and a little bit Harry Potter.
Halfway up the dragon staircases, there is a landing housing a prominent green and gold statue with four arms, holding a trident and a sword. At this point, I wished I’d bought the audio guide. I’ve never seen such an interesting mix of Hinduism and Buddhism in a statue. There is an explanation of the various levels on the Erawan Museum website, here, but it’s very hard to understand. This whole museum was really good at demonstrating how little I know!
The Heavens or The Cosmos World
At he top of the stairways, you can take an elevator or the stairs to The Heavens. We suggest you take the lift up and the stairs down to avoid traffic jams. There is a small window along the stairway, you’re actually inside the elephant’s lower belly at that point. The stairs continue down one of the legs. The Heavens are inside Erawan’s body.
The Heavens contains many Buddha statues and the artwork is mostly blue, with a golden sun, stars, constellations, and asteroids. It reminded us a little of The Blue Temple in Northern Thailand.
You’ll also see tributes to the current KIng of Thailand, and his father, next to the altar.
This area is a place of worship, so follow normal rules for visiting temples.
Should You Visit The Erawan Museum?
Yes, we think you should. It’s such a cool place and we think your kids will love it. There is huge potential here to learn about history and religions, no matter what faith you embrace. The gardens are beautiful, the statue is phenomenal and billed as a “Wonder of Asia.” Pencil it into your Thailand itinerary! Please save something to Pinterest for us, like, share, everything helps us fight back against AI.
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