China is competing with Vietnam for the most popular destinations for museums in Asia. Thailand is among the less attractive for museums despite the opening of new institutions in the last five years…
BANGKOK – Only one museum in Asia made it in the top 25 world most popular museums as voted by Trip Advisor’s travellers. The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, Xi’An made it at the top position in Asia and reached position 11 in the world. The impressive museum is one of the world’s most significant archaeological site: the 16,300-square-meter excavation reveals more than 7,000 life-size terracotta figures of warriors and horses arranged in battle formations and dating back to the third century. The Terracotta Army was discovered on 29 March 1974 to the east of Xi’an in Shaanxi by farmers digging for water.
Other museums in Asia however did not reach the top 25. The second most popular Asian museum is also Chinese and is the famous Palace Museum of Beijing. A third Chinese museum is the Shanghai Museum in the heart of the metropolis. China is only matched by Vietnam. War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology and Vietnam Women’s Museum – latter two in Hanoi – made it to the list of TripAdivsor’s Travellers’ Choice Attractions at fifth, sixth and 11th place respectively.
Trip Advisor’s travellers seem to show a big interest for museums connected to dramatic pages of history. Beside the Vientam War Remnants Museum of Saigon, they nominated in third position the Tuol Sleng genocide museum in Phnom Penh, a moving tribute to the innocents victims of the Khmer Rouge barbarism in Cambodia; or both Memorial Museums of Hiroshima and Nagasaki dedicated to the victims of the first nuclear bombs.
The Hellfire Pass memorial Museum in Kanchanaburi in Thailand is part of the former Death Railway that was constructed during WWII using prisoners to cut through the mountain. Along a 4-kilometer walking trail made by the Allied prisoners, visitors can envision the difficulties faced in constructing the Death Railway using simple tools.
The Kanchanaburi Museum is the only Thai museum of some interests for Tripadvisor’s users. As they are no mention of many countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines or India for the quality of their museums. Except in Northeast Asia or in Singapore –and in someways in Malaysia-most Asian museums look rather dull and have done little effort to adapt to a more interactive fun way to attract the public. They start to pay the price for it today as they seem to be totally ignored from world tourists…
The inaugural awards were determined based on the quality and quantity of travellers’ reviews of attractions featured on TripAdvisor in each of the categories. Winners are from 39 countries around the world including Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Central America, China, Europe, India, Mexico, the Middle East, South America, South Pacific and the United States.
Top Museums in Asia
1. The Museum of Qin Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, Xi’An
2. The Palace Museum, Beijing
3. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
4. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, Hiroshima, Japan
5. War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
6. Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi, Vietnam
7. Hong Kong Museum of History, Hong Kong
8. National Palace Museum, Taipei
9. Shanghai Museum, Shanghai
10. Hellfire Pass Museum, Kanchanaburi, Thailand
11. Vietnam Women’s Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam
12. Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
13. Islamic Arts Museum, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14. National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
15. Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, Nagasaki, Japan
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
