The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is Thailand’s biggest private museum and the only one in the country that houses predominantly modern art collections.
It was founded by Boonchai Bencharongkul in honour of Professor Silpa Bhirasri, a Florentine sculptor who is widely considered the father of modern art in Thailand. Constructed with an extravagant budget of 600 million Baht, the five-storey edifice is awe-inspiring. Its formidable appearance is beautifully softened by the indented floral motif crawling up its façade, jazzed up by a huge cotemporary lotus sculpture floating in a pond at the entrance.
Boonchai is the country’s foremost arts patron and has poured a lot of money into MOCA. The result is a comprehensive, world-class gallery with everything you need to enjoy artistic expression at its finest.
Nearly all of the collections are post 1970s to 1990s, and range anywhere from realism to surrealism, traditional to controversial, religious to sexual. There, you’ll see everything from the works of Thailand’s most famous artists, Thawan Duchanee, to a rare collection of Romantic paintings from Victorian England. All this under one roof.
Whatever you choose to do here, either posing for photos, getting some souvenirs at Limited Edition or just popping by Rakbankerd Coffee, make sure you check out the egg-shaped doorway on the fourth floor that leads you to three paintings portraying heaven, earth and hell.
Opening Hours: Tue-Fri 10am–5pm, Sat-Sun 11am-6pm. (closed Mondays)
Address: 499 Kamphaengphet 6, Chatuchak (BTS Mo Chit, MRT Chatuchak Park)
Website: mocabangkok.com
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is ranked as one of Prestige’s top 10 art galleries in Bangkok, discover the other 9 here.
