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The Office of National Museums, Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture, Thailand

The Office of National Museums, ONM, under the Fine Arts Department, was established in 2001. The Office would like to introduce worldwide three elite national museums administrated by ONM.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM BANGKOK

Located at the Palace of the Front, the museum building used to be the residence of five viceroys. It wasbuilt in 1782 at the same time as the Grand Palace. After the palace was vacant, the king graciously moved Royal Museum from the pavilion in the Grand Palace to this palace respectively in the name of "Museum for Bangkok" in 1926 and "National Museum Bangkok" in 1934.

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF THAILAND

The National Gallery of Thailand officially opened on August 8, 1977, to collect, preserve, and display artworks related to visual arts, both created by notable native artists and foreign artists, and serves as a publicizing center on Arts.

The architectural style of the buildings by western Neo-Classical is inspired by the machine factory's plant, located in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

THE ROYAL BARGES NATIONAL MUSEUM

The museum was originally a dock for warships and royal barges under the Bureau of the Royal Household and the Royal Thai Navy. During World War II, the royal barges were damaged by bombs. Later in 1947, the Fine Arts Department was assigned to repair and maintain the royal barges used in the royal ceremony. The royal barges significantly innovated in superb craftsmanship and were invaluable in artworks.

Nitaya KanokmongkolExecutive Director

Ms. Nitaya Kanokmongkol is the Executive Director of Office of National Museums, Fine Arts Department, Ministry of Culture, Thailand. Ms. Nitaya Kanokmongkol got a bachelor's degree in Archaeology from Silapakorn University, Thailand in 1992, and a master's degree in Art History from Silapakorn University, Thailand in 2005.

Ms. Nitaya Kanokmongkol started her career as curator since 1995 at Fine Arts Department. She was an assistant curator of National Museums for 8 years, and then became the curator in charge of the establishment project of the National Museum of Ethnology for 8 years. From 2011 to 2019, she was the senior curator who was responsible as Museum Director of four museums: Mai National Museum (2011-2015), Ramkhamhang National Museum (2015-2016), National Gallery (2016-2017), and the National Museum Bangkok (2018-2019). In 2019, she moved forward to be the Executive Director of the Office of National Museums where handles the missions of Fine Arts Department in antiques conservation, antiques controlling, Central Storage, collection research, museum development, museum network, international museum cooperation, and management of National Museums in central department such as National Museum Bangkok, National Galleryand Royal Barge National Museum, etc.

Ms. Nitaya Kanokmongkol's research experiences and specialization include historical archaeology with focus on Davaravati and Lanna period, Ethnic Groups in Thailand, Buddhism Arts in Thailand and Museology with focus on interpretation for exhibition, education program and local museum study.