If you are a skeptic, you’d probably think a wax museum is a wax museum is a wax museum, right? What’s the hype all about? Well, for starter, Madame Tussauds has stepped down from the pedestal and embraced her visitors with a revolutionary concept – the wax museum with exhibits you can touch, hug, play with and even kiss. Imagine shooting hoops with the Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming, appearing on The Oprah Show, practicing Kung Fu with Bruce Lee, drinking espresso with George Clooney, or… ahem… putting your arm over your old pal Mao Zedong’s shoulders.

Located in the Siam Discovery Center, in Siam area, Madame Tussauds Bangkok is no old-fashioned wax museum. For the entertainment value and a chance to rub shoulders with world celebrities, heads of state, activists, sports heroes and heroines, legendary artists, and even royalty, the museum is worth checking out.

With 10 exhibit rooms decked out in real-life themes, the museum feels more like a journey from one time-warp to the next – Lady Di next to Mao Zedong, Pablo Picasso and his Cubist painting next to Thailand’s leading and somewhat eccentric forensic pathologist Dr. Porntip Rojanasunan in her full rock star regalia, Barak and Michelle Obama in their Oval Office next to Aung San Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama.

Out of the 10 rooms, The Royal Room is the most elegant and culturally significant, as it showcases the wax figures of HRH Prince Mahitala Thibed Adulyadej and HRH Princess Srinagarindra, the late parents of His Majesty the King. All the decorative elements in this room are meticulously planned down to the tiniest details, whether the royal costumes, colour scheme, floral graphic patterns and music, all of which received the Royal endorsement from the Thai Royal family. This is the only room in which you are not allowed to touch the figures.

A controversial political personality, Chairman Mao seems to get more attention from visitors than Princess Diana or Queen Elizabeth II. But the most photographed is probably a section of the Oval Office, with the U.S. President and First Lady posing by the festoon curtains.

Open: daily from 10 am to 9 pm

Address: 6th Fl. Siam Discovery Center Pathumwan Bangkok Tel: +66 (0)2 658 0060

click for view map