National Museum of Royal Barges

About this place

A large boathouse on the Bangkok Noi canal on the Thonburi bank that keeps the finest barges of Thailand's Royal Barge Procession, a tradition going back to Ayutthaya, when rivers were the kingdom's main roads. The barges are carved wood, gilded and set with coloured glass, and each is rowed by dozens of oarsmen in the state processions. The best known is Suphannahong, the king's barge, about forty-six metres long, its hull carved from a single teak trunk in the early twentieth century, its prow rising into the head of a golden mythical swan. Beside it lie Anantanakkharat with its seven-headed serpent and Narai Song Suban, whose prow carries the god Vishnu on his Garuda, among others, with panels and photographs explaining the procession's order and the oarsmen's roles. Tickets are about one hundred baht for foreign visitors plus about one hundred baht to take photographs, and it usually opens from nine in the morning until five in the afternoon. In years of major processions the barges leave for weeks of rehearsals, and the museum may close or show empty berths; the 2026 procession sails to Wat Arun on 6 November, so check its status before going around then. It is reached through residential lanes from the Phra Pinklao Bridge pier or by boat along the canals, and the visit is short, so pair it with a Thonburi canal ride or Wat Arun.