The Suan Pakkad Palace Museum is an artistic and architectural gem. Rising incongruously out of a busy neighborhood of condominiums and freeway overpasses, it is a green oasis amid Bangkok's cacophony. The former residence of several members of the royal family, it hosts an impressive and meticulously curated collection of Thai art, from the ancient to the modern. A guided tour takes visitors all the way through the compound, which includes several antique Thai houses. Outside, the gorgeously landscaped museum garden showcases the best of Thailand's flora. What the National Museum manages to do with sheer scale, the Suan Pakkad Museum does with style and presentation -- the exhibits are attractive and informative, and the guides are fonts of information. If you visit one museum in Thailand, make it this one.
