too mean to rent a car

oldfield wrote:I have only been to Ban Chiang once, and It is not worth the effort.

I was very dissapointed with the museum.

However, if you have plenty of time and money, it's something to do, but I wouldn't get too excited about it.

MUSEUM’S STRUGGLE

Budget constraints force restricted operating hours on a World Heritage attraction

Story by SIRIKUL BUNNAG

A sense of solidarity has brought together the Ban Chiang residents as their cash-strapped archaeological museum struggles to

keep its doors open to visitors. It is culturally important to keep the museum afloat, they say.

Ban Chiang mayor Sumeth Khapiman says that local people, including souvenir shop owners at the museum in Nong Han district of

this northeastern province, want the government to help them financially.

Hit by budget constraints and high operating costs, the museum was listed as a World Heritage site in 1992 and is a mine of

information on the pre-historic past of the Northeast.

As the budget it receives annually to look after its affairs has been cut sharply, the only option left for survival was cutting opening

hours to save costs. The museum once opened every day, but now opens only on certain days.

Budget cuts have forced the Ban Chiang Museum in Udon Thani’s Nong Han district to close its doors to visitors on Mondays,

Tuesdays and public holidays. — PATTANAPONG HIRUNARD

The Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund in Japan paid the museum 66 million baht for a two-year renovation project to turn the

museum into the most engaging knowledge and cultural centre in the region. But its financial problems still persist.

Its financial plight comes as a shock to cultural tourists and residents alike. It has been only eight months since the renovation work

was completed in October.

The owner of a silk products shop, Paiporn Buahombura, 55, says the limited opening hours has created hardships for many vendors

given the economic slowdown, but she understands the situation and wants the government to take action soon.

If the government cannot provide budgetary support, Ms Paiporn says, a special fund should be created to help the museum cope in

hard times.

Another vendor at the museum, Jitakorn Promsrikaew, 36, says her income has been halved since the museum began limiting

operating hours. She says she might have to close her shop for good.

Since June, the museum has been closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and some public holidays.

”We are facing serious budgetary constraints, especially the salaries budget. Our museum has 10 exhibition chambers, but we have

only six staff,” Ban Chiang museum chief Mano Kleepthong says.

Mano: Can only afford six staff

The museum needs to become more self-reliant because it has no other financial support except from the government. The number

of visitors in June, the last month for which the museum has records, was 9,768.

Visitors reached a peak in January when 16,394 museum lovers visited. The museum received a budget this year of two million baht.

If it opens daily, operating costs will reach about 2.5-2.9 million baht.

Maj Sumeth says he will hold talks with the Fine Arts Department, museum management, local residents, and souvenir vendors on the

impact of the museum’s limited opening hours.

”The government borrowed a lot of money to revamp the museum. Once finished, it can’t operate at full capacity. We don’t want to

disappoint tourists who travel a long distance just to find a locked gate,” he says.