Thailand Guide
The central plains
Ban Kao Museum
Opening time: Daily 8.30am–4.30pm
Opening time: B30
Address: 35km west of Kanchanaburi on Route 3445
The Ban Kao Museum is devoted to relics from an advanced prehistoric civilization (8000 to 1000 BC) that once settled on the banks of the Kwai Noi. Items on display include unique, curiously designed pots dated to around 1770 BC that were found buried at the head and feet of fifty skeletons; polished stone tools from around 8000 BC; and inscribed bronze pots and bangles transferred from a nearby bronze-culture site, which have been placed at around 1000 BC – somewhat later than the bronze artefacts from Ban Chiang in the northeast. The hollowed-out tree trunks in front of the museum are also unusual: they may have been used as boats or as coffins – or possibly as a metaphorical combination of the two.