The Best Museums in Southeast Asia
- National Museum (Bangkok, Thailand): From prehistory to recent events, this museum -- the former palace of the brother of King Rama I -- answers many questions about Thai history and culture through the ages.
- Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts (Hanoi, Vietnam): This large colonial house has a nice collection of newer works and historic pieces.
- Cham Museum (Danang, Vietnam): This open-air colonial structure houses the largest collection of Cham sculpture in the world. Not only are relics of this ancient Hindu-inspired culture rare, but the religious artwork itself -- more than 300 pieces of sandstone -- is also voluptuous, captivating, and intense.
- National Museum (Phnom Penh, Cambodia): Don't miss this repository for the statues and relief sculpture that have been recovered from the Angkor temples and other ancient sites throughout Cambodia.
- Tuol Sleng, Museum of Genocide (Phnom Penh, Cambodia): Be warned that a visit here is quite intense -- too much for some. The museum is the shell of Cambodia's largest prison from 1975 to 1979, when the entire country was turned into a concentration camp.
- Peranakan Museum (Singapore): This brand-new display is the only museum in the world solely devoted to Peranakan culture, a subculture of intermarriage that is unique to Southeast Asia.
