If you get past the darkness and spirit of neglect, Bangkok’s Planetarium and Scientific Museum boldly takes visitors where they’ve probably never been before for only 30 baht.
A perfect rainy day escape, the National Science Centre for Education’s door fee includes access to the science museum, planetarium show and – for good scientific measure – an aquarium. Although the planetarium show was presented in Thai except for a reservation-only English showing on Tuesdays, it seemed well worth it. And knowing the Thai words for star, moon and sun, I figured this one was in the bag.
Before the show, take a wander through the aquarium. If you like catfish, you’re going to love this place. Catfish galore. But apart from a few tanks filled with variously grey fish, the only sea friends to get excited about were a couple of Nemo-looking clown fish.
Not to worry! Two more attractions yet remain.
Okay, so the Scientific Museum was also a little disappointing. Perhaps it was the darkness – I mean who-cut-the-power dark – or the sad remains of broken exhibits littering the corners. Designed to dazzle young minds, they now lie spent and apparently forgotten. To be fair, some displays looked pretty cool, and there were many hands-on attractions with flashing lights and whirring things that children were enjoying, but the instructions were in Thai. Maybe they didn’t work; maybe it was me.
But none of that mattered, as the real attraction was the planetarium. I shuffled in to claim a big, comfy chair and follow along to the best of my limited Thai ability as the narrator described constellations, and a green laser highlighted individual stars. This was followed by a 24-minute film with pretty cool animation, Impact Earth. Seeing giant planets in orbit around my head and meteors crash near my chair had a kind of hypnotic effect, so I soon settled into a peaceful nap. Altogether the show lasted about an hour, very little of which, apart from “fish tail” and “red star,” I understood. But it really was quite lovely to watch. As the lights went up, the little blinking eyes of young Thai students indicated I wasn’t the only to enjoy a blissful sleep.
Ok, so it’s dated and a little run down, and it’s sadly not very tourist friendly due to a lack of signage. But if you have a couple of hours to kill, it’s quite magical to watch the fish swim and stars spin above your head in Bangkok.
National Science Centre for Education
928 Sukhumvit Road
BTS Ekkamai
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Photo: Wikimedia / Paul_012
