Jasmine City in Kanchanaburi, Thailand

If you are looking for a city that showcases ancient Thailand, Mueang Boran can fully satisfy your imagination. It offers a precise recreation of the past comparable to film studios, yet with an added liveliness. Once you enter the park, everyone must change into traditional attire. When you spend ancient coins inside the park, it feels as if you have fallen into a time tunnel, making it hard to tell which era you are in.

Mueang Boran is a retro city that reflects the Siamese lifestyle along the Chao Phraya River basin in the past. During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V, AD 1873 to 1910), people's way of life underwent tremendous changes around the year 1905. The most notable change was the abolition of slavery. After being freed, these former Siamese slaves had to live and fend for themselves, without the control and support of their nobles and masters. They had to lead a self‑sufficient and self‑reliant life, living in harmony with all other Siamese people. These evolving lifestyles became the cornerstone of modern Thai society. Mueang Boran is modelled after the harmonious scene along the riverbanks following the abolition of slavery.

Although it is a man‑made attraction with artificial structures, almost everyone here wears traditional Thai clothing and uses ancient coins, giving visitors a sense of temporal dislocation back to the era of King Rama V.

Friendly reminder: You must use ancient coins to make purchases within the ancient city. When leaving the city, any unused coins can be exchanged back for modern currency at the bank inside the city.