Bangkok has a huge offer to discover for visitors of all tastes: amazing rooftops, wild dive bars, beautiful parks, cosy cafes, some of the most amazing temples in the world and interesting museums.
But it is true that like any other city in the world, once you live here for some years, even when there is almost always a new place to discover, you start to struggle with new locations that can put a “Waw” in your mouth.
Last Saturday I was doing a quick search online to find some hidden gems in the Thai capital that I would have not visited yet, and the Batcat Museum & Toys caught my eye.
Let’s be honest, if you are a person who enjoys taking a million selfies in the terrace of a cafe and have 0 interest in cinema, figures or Japanese manga, probably this place would not be for you. However, as my case it is really the opposite and I love retro video games, Japanese toys and figures, fantasy cinema, manga etc, I thought that I would give this place a shot, as I was a bit surprised that in more than 2 years living in Bangkok I had never heard of it.
The museum is not far from the central Sukhumvit area, but it is not in a main street, but in some alley street in Bang Kapi area, so I recommend as the easiest way just to go by taxi/Grab there, which should not cost you more than 150 bath approx. if you are in Asoke area or its surroundings.
Once I arrived, surprises already start to pop in front of your eyes. Graffitis with manga characters, a Batman car model casually parked in the building garage.. this is promising!
I entered the museum, which pretty much is a kind of 3 store residential building converted into museum, and I get greeted by the owner himself, wearing a cool Batman t-shirt, and his little daughter, wearing a twin Batman t-shirt :) Sweet!
The entrance to the museum costs 200b, and in full honesty, first I thought it was a bit overpriced. My expectation was that I would see the exhibition in just 10/15 minutes. How mistaken I was!
After paying the ticket, the owner led me to the upper floor of the museum and just explained me that I was free to roam around all the floors. I arrived at around 16:00 and the place closes at 17:00, so I went right at it. Funnily and a bit sadly, I was the only visitor at that time there. In that sense it gave me the privilege to chat a bit more here and there with the owner, who kindly explained me that he had dedicated 20 years of his life to gather that collection and that the Batman area was his favorite and most pampered, and the one he had put more effort into! He also kindly showed me some vintage figures of Batman when I asked him what were his favorite items, telling that they could cost around 2 million baht (more than 50 thousand euro).
So… what is there to see in the 3 stores of the museum, you might still be wondering… Well, pretty much fucking everything!!! The collection, comprising more than 60.000 pieces, is just breathtaking. I just hope that the photos that I add to the article make some kind of justice to the place, cause wherever you would look at, something amazing was displayed in front of your eyes: figures from Knights of the Zodiac, Star Wars, Kamen Rider, Marvel, Captain Tsubasa, Lego… the list goes on and on. Big and small, in all kind of shapes and colors, and everything displayed with taste, so even with the huge amount of items there, you could feel like it was easy to walk around every floor.
The Batman last floor, as the owner and director of the museum explained, was already a delight by itself. For a fan of retro-video games as myself, I casually spotted some jewels like the Batman Sunsoft for Megadrive or the Batman 2 for Famicom, among the other hundreds of incredible items.
I am a person who has traveled a bit and has had my share of displays of figures, toys and nerdie stuff. I have been in Japan, I have roamed the Mega Mall in Bangkok Chinatown… but still, this was like a dream I did not want to wake up from. Like getting a free VIP personal pass to Willy Wonka’s factory with all you can eat chocolate. I really could not refrained myself from exclaiming aloud in excitement and disbelief to the amazing stuff displayed there.
So… if you have some minimal interest in vintage toys, Japanese culture and manga, cinema… or if you have kids and they do like any of those things, just visit there! You will not regret my advice. I cannot believe that this place is not more popular and nobody talks about it in Bangkok social media groups. I was surprised, I was shocked and I was delighted that in some random Soi in Bangkok could be gathered such an incredible amount of gems. I have no idea how the owner was able to buy all that collection, which must cost a fortune all together, but I feel proud to have been able to experience a little fairytale during the hours I was roaming the place there, and surely I will bring friends there again.
As a final note, apart from the amazing display in the museum, at the end of the tour the building also has a small shop close to the cafe, where you can buy from a small but cosy selection of well priced figures and toys. I got myself a beautiful Batman Hot Wheels model as a small memorabilia token.
Batcat Museum & Toys FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/batcat.museum
Batcat Museum & Toys location: