Pattaya’s Mini Siam
When I was a very small kid my favourite toys were plastic Cowboys and Indians with detachable heads, arms and legs. I must of had at least 25 cowboys and about the same amount of Red Indians and I’d have hours of fun playing out make believe battles between the two warring factions. Somehow I used to lose bits of them, and so I’d swap body parts from one to another and it became common to see a pale faced Red Indian warrior with a yellow neckerchief and cowboy hat being attacked by a one armed cowboy wielding a tomahawk. I guess I was a confused kid.
I reckon one of my sisters used to steal body parts from my favourite toys, sisters were like that in days gone by. The particular sister my suspicion fell upon had a dolls house. The dolls house looked magnificent and the front of it opened like a door to reveal every room and all the furniture inside each of them. The detail was marvelous and the beds, cupboards, tables and chairs all looked so real, but I always thought the wardrobes might hold my cowboys and Indians heads. One day I hunted that house high and low but they weren’t anywhere to be found.
Mini Siam brought back memories of of my childhood.
Once again I enlist the help of Sticky Wiki (wikipedia) with their summary of Pattaya’s Mini Siam.
Mini Siam is a miniature model village which celebrates the heritages of Thailand with replicas of the most famous monuments and historical sites including the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Democracy Monument, Bridge over the River Kwai, and Prasat Hin Phimai. Models of the Tower Bridge of London, Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and Trevi Fountain are also displayed in the section called “mini world.”
Well done Sticky Wiki, now bugger off.
Okay lets use a bit of layman’s language. When it comes to ancient architecture I don’t know my ass from my elbow. If you stood me next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa I’d be convinced it was going to fall down, and throughout my teenage life I thought the Palace of Versailles was a famous French racehorse. I wasn’t banking on Pattaya’s Mini Siam being my kind of place. I guessed it was made of bolster wood, chipboard and glue, and Lilliput’s Gulliver wouldn’t be seen dead there too.
I can’t remember how much the entrance fee to Mini Siam was, it must have been cheap otherwise I would be able to recall it. Taking a stab, I think it was about 180 baht for me and 30 baht for Wonderful Wi. A two tier system which won’t bring tears to even the meanest of farang eyes.
I mentioned earlier I’m no architectural expert, in fact I’m more Slum Smith than Indiana Jones and I thought the above photograph was the second phase of construction on England’s new Wembley Stadium. Wilai judged it to be the Roman Colloseum. That proved to me women know nothing about football. Thai village education has a lot to answer for.
We visited Mini Siam during the day, it was a very warm one as well. My research for this post revealed the miniature model village is open in the evening and come darkness all the models are illuminated. I think that would be quite an impressive sight and it is apparently evening time when most tour parties arrive. Throughout our morning perusing the model village custom was steady but never great.
Here’s a few more photos of the models on display at Pattaya’s Mini Siam.
Bangkok’s King Rama IX Royal Park.
This one looked capital T for tacky. It’s Bangkok’s old Don Muang International Airport and the aeroplane at the front of the photo wobbled around the airport’s perimeter on a scale electric type runner. I expected at any moment to see 50 plastic cowboys and Indians, some of them headless, hijack the plane and demand to see the surgeon of landmine victim Motalla the elephant.
Mini Siam was a fun couple of hours for Wilai and myself but it left me with the impression having seen it once I wouldn’t go again, even though this was my second visit. Well I did say during my childhood I was a confused kid and Mini Siam obviously brought those years flooding back to me.
Pattaya’s Mini Siam is located on the north side of the city on Sukhumvit Road and is open from 9 am onwards. For any architecture experts amongst you it also has a go kart circuit on site and a McDonald’s fast food outlet in the car park.
The Roman Colloseum….you’re having a giraffe (laugh) Wilai.
Martyn it looks like an interesting place for kids, young and old, to visit. Perhaps I will get to Pattaya…one day soon.
Snap – Mini Siam is suitable for all ages and don’t forget they have a go kart race track next door, the kids would love that and it’d be your chance to beat Stray. It’s worth a visit, and don’t forget the Four Regions Floating Market as well.
Martyn it actually looks quite good. Its slightly difficult to judge the size of the models but the “Roman” cat/dog outside the Colloseum gives me an idea.
BTW you were lucky to have toys as a kid, I had to play with my sisters doll 😉
Mike I reckon you could spend a few hours there clicking away with your camera. Even mine got a couple of decent shots. The cat/dog is a cat and I stayed well away from it.
Playing with your sisters’s doll, one of mine had a golliwog and at that young age I found it fascinating.
I agree Martyn, it looks pretty good. And since it’s in North Pattaya (not the actual sleaze city) it just might be doable for this gal. So thanks again.
And don’t tell anyone, but I actually made it to North Pattaya a few weeks back.
All the way over I sent photos to Talen from my iPhone. First photos of the highway signs pointing to Pattaya (that got a WHAT???). Then the actual Pattaya street signs (HUH??!!!). Then finally, the peeing man (total silence).
I’m writing a post about Father Ray’s church so just had to go, you know? And of course the peeing guy painted on the sanctuary walls was a must have.
Catherine I haven’t spent a lot of time in North Pattaya but when I did it was normally to go and visit Naglua market on a Sunday morning, that was years ago but I expect it’s still there.
I’ll look forward to your Father Ray post and I must see this peeing man painted on the sanctuary walls. That has got me intrigued.
Looks pretty smashing Martyn and is now on Golf and my list for a visit someday. I think we’ll try and get there in the evening to see everything illuminated as it sounds magnificent. Anyway, there’s not much else to do around Pattaya at night is there?
And Mike you were lucky to have your sisters dolls to play with…when I was a kid all we had to play with was sticks and such 😉
Steve I hope you and Golf enjoy your evening trip to Mini Siam and I pray your camera is better than mine come darkness. My camera sucks when night falls.
Playing with sticks. You should be able to give the kids a run for their money in Isaan’s villages with an upbringing like that.
Martyn, don’t believe a word Cat says…she was texting me from a barstool inside Angelwitch 😛
Great pics and definitely someplace I have yet to see…looks like a great day trip.
Talen I’m surprised you haven’t been to Mini Siam before, check it out, I’d be interested in reading your views on it. I’d give it 6/10 whereas the Floating Market would score a 9.
Cat and a barstool don’t go together too well in my mind.
Martyn, isn’t Talat Nam in north Pattaya? I stopped by there as well after reading about your time wandering around the water village (again, thanks for pointing the experience out).
I ask because I gave K Pissout instructions to avoid sin city. Because, you know, I don’t want to lose my squeaky clean reputation (no matter what the Terrible Talen is saying above 😉
I wouldn’t mind seeing that, but I wouldn’t put it in the “amazing” category either. Still it’s nice that someone made the effort to build all these models, and I guess most kids would love to see it 🙂
A very interesting post, and your thoughts about childhood make it complete.
Ivo – I wouldn’t describe Mini Siam as ‘amazing’ either although it’s worth a look, I’d say definitely come darkness when it’s illuminated.
Catherine, the Floating market is in South Pattaya on the way to Sattathip. I hope you enjoyed the experience because I thought it was a great place to visit. Is there a post coming up about the floating market.
Glad to hear your squeaky clean rep stayed white although your driver would probably have liked a look at sin city.
Martyn,
It’s still on my list of things to do/see when in Pattaya. Last time I visited the Netherlands I went to Madurodam, the Dutch version near The Hague. Loved it! So many childhood memories came back indeed, it seemed like nothing changed there in all those years, not sure what that tells you about the place 😉
I must admit, Wembley starts to look good and doesn’t look anywhere near some pile of old Italian stones you tend to find there on every corner. Italians and their stones, gosh.
Well guys, as long as you didn’t play with your sister I guess….