The old provincial hall, now the Museum of Nonthaburi
Nonthaburi is actually a province immediately to the north of Bangkok, but such is the size of Bangkok that it's hard to tell where Bangkok ends and Nonthaburi starts, so I include Nonthaburi as a subset of the Bangkok guide. The most popular sight in Nonthaburi is probably the island of Koh Kred, where people still practice the ancient art of making clay pots. Other sights include a charming old provincial hall.
Sometimes, its quite surprising how easy it is to find a glimpse of traditional rural life close to Bangkok. The island of Ko Kred lies just a few miles north of Bangkok proper; so close that many would consider it within the city itself. The island is actually man-made. It's the result of the construction almost 300 years ago of a channel cut through a sharp bend in the Chao Phraya River to shorten the trip up and down river from the then-capital Ayuthaya.
Museum of Nonthaburi buildings The Museum of Nonthaburi was built in 1910 and originally housed a college based on the English public boarding schools. Financial difficulties forced the college to close in 1925, and the large wooden buildings were then used as the provincial hall until 1992. The Interior Ministry then used the building as a training center until 2008. In 2009 part of the structure was converted to a museum devoted to the art and history of Nonthaburi.
