Walls that speak

There's nothing tedious or typical about Kum Sumpantawong, the Community Museum in Lamphun that's a time machine with the keys left in the ignition.

Rubber toys, stamps, matchboxes, typewriters, kitchenware and photos furnish the former residence.

Built in a U-shape with an upstairs of mostly teak and stucco everywhere beneath, it has the lovely gables of Lamphun's old houses and a ceiling held together without nails.

It was the residence of Prince Raj and Princess Songlah Sampantawong during King Rama VI's reign. Vassal Prince Chakrakum Khajornsak, who ruled the town, gave it to his sister as a wedding present in 1912.

Kum Sumpantawong was the original name of the house built for Lamphun's vassal Lanna prince during the reign of King Rama I.

The next chapter

In 1946 Chinese traders bought the building for Bt58,000 and opened the province's first Chinese school, Wun Zheng, which means "development and justice".

The school was shut down three years later in the midst of the government's anti-Chinese fervour, but soon reopened as Mongkhol Wittaya School.

The building subsequently became the home of a restaurant called Kum Ton Keaw and Modern Radio Lamphun.

All of this history - and that of the province - is celebrated in photos around the museum. Out back is a mock-up of a long-gone local cinema, the Haripunchai Rama.

The bedrooms upstairs now host lessons in traditional music, amid an array of folk instruments.

 HISTORY BECKONS

>> If you have antiques or memorabilia of northern or Lanna origin, the museum would love to have them.

>> The museum, located behind the Haripunchai National Museum, is open daily from 9 to 4. There's no admission fee.

 >> Call (053) 511 500 or (084) 808 4016 or visit www.Haripoonchai.com.