Nakhonchaisri is Larger than Life

Wax museums are supposed to feel authentic, but the one we stopped at in Nakhonchaisri, a small city near Bangkok, goes beyond that. I actually asked directions of one of the figures. She didn’t look up from the paperwork that she is perpetually doing near the entrance.

“Wax” isn’t formally part of the museum’s name, because the creators have found that fiberglass does better in this climate. Another difference between the Thai Human Imagery Museum and the kind I’m used to from the States is the type of person portrayed there. On the first floor, 90% of the figures were monks. The Thais I accompanied knew every one of them.

It isn’t until reaching the second floor that a musician or a person from pop culture appears. Some of the figures are of people who never truly lived, but are as well known as if they had. Occupying a prime corner, for instance, are characters from a beloved Thai epic, Phra Abhaimani. This is another love triangle tale, complete with princes, princesses, demons, a giant, a hermit, and a half dragon half horse.

Phra Abhaimani is a younger story than Khun Chang Khun Phaen. It is attributed to one writer, Sunthorn Phu, rather than to the oral tradition. I was surprised to learn that some of the characters in it are foreigners. Sunthorn Phu was evidently commenting on how well Thais and Westerners get along. The story is taught in schools throughout Thailand, and so, as with the monks, my fellow travelers could identify all of the figures by name.