From mint to gallery

The mint, named Rong Kasap Sitthikan, worked until 1968, when the Treasury Department moved coin production to a new plant. On 19 April 1974, the centenary of Thai museums, the Treasury handed the building to the Fine Arts Department to found a national gallery of modern art, and it opened to the public on 5 May 1978 with a special exhibition of traditional Thai painting. The same year the building was registered as a national monument. Look for its two-story main block with long single-story wings closing a square, and the carved wooden fretwork along the eaves, doors and windows.

The collection

Galleries of traditional Thai painting include Ayutthaya-period painted cloth banners, works by Prince Narisara Nuwattiwong and the chronicle paintings of King Chulalongkorn's reign. A room of Western-style Thai art shows work by Western artists in royal service and by Thai artists trained abroad, including a portrait of King Chulalongkorn. A royal gallery displays paintings by King Vajiravudh and King Bhumibol, and the modern rooms run from 1932, with Silpa Bhirasri and Fua Haripitak, to later artists such as Misiem Yipinsoi, Chalermchai Kositpipat and Thawan Duchanee.

Sources: The National Gallery, Fine Arts Department, history, visitor services, Tourism Authority of Thailand (archived). Checked September 26, 2026.