Engagement with Interactive Museum Collections: The Rise and Development of Interactive Museum Exhibitions in Thailand (2000 - 2019)

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the museum evolution in Thailand, with a focus on interactive museum and exhibition development in Bangkok from 2000 to 2019. In the past two decades, Thailand has become one of the key players of cultural industries in the Southeast Asian region. Strategically, attention to the steady development of the nation’s cultural economy has been built on the stable growth of cultural heritage tourism. Museum as an art and cultural institution that falls under the category of tangible cultural resources is therefore seen as an important cultural asset that able to boost the cultural economy. Meanwhile, with the arrival of digital media and technology, interactive museum and exhibition have become a trend of museum development in Thailand. For instance, museums that opened after 2000, such as Thailand Creative and Design Center (2004), Museum Siam (2007), Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (2008), Rattanakosin Exhibition Hall (2010), National Science Museum’s Science Square (2010), ASEAN Cultural Centre (2015), and King Rama IX Museum (expected 2019), etc, are new museums that employed interactive exhibitions as a way to communicate and engage audiences. As interaction design of interactive installations is now seen as an important factor and global trend in museum practices around the world. As the aforementioned this paper will provide insights into an understanding of the expansion of interactive museum exhibitions in Southeast Asia, particularly on interactive museums and exhibitions development in Thailand since the new millennium.