Starting as a passionate collector of items of Lanna art and culture 20 years ago, a retired teacher Julasak Suriyachai opened his house as a private museum to exhibit thousands of rare and hard to find northern-style items, as well as the artefacts of the Tai people from neighbouring countries.He named the place Oub Kham Museum, derived from a northern term referring to a golden serving bowl used by the royal family during the Lanna period, which lasted from the 13th-18th centuries. The museum is located in Muang district in Chiang Rai, Thailand’s northernmost province.“I do not want to get rich by running the museum,” said Julasak. “I simply want to express my deepest gratitude for our nation because I want Thais to know about their roots and learn more about their own culture.”Julasak travelled to many places from Chiang Tung and China to Laos and Vietnam to find artefacts related to the Tai people. “Many times I was surprised that in such remote places in China and Vietnam, I could understand some words used by the local people because we share the same Tai linguistic roots,” he said.
