The Queen Sirikit Mu-seum of Textiles, located within the compound of the Grand Palace and housed in Ho Ratsadakon Phiphat (fig.), a former office building of the Royal Department of Tax Revenue.

The building dates back to 1870 and was built on the site of earlier army barracks, whereas the museum was established in 2003, under the auspices of Queen Sirikit Kitthiyagon (fig.), with the intend to publicize Thai textiles. The state-of-the-art museum consits of modern galleries, an education studio, a library, a lecture hall, and Thailand’s first dedicated textile conservation laboratory.

During the transformation of the former office building into the museum, a new lobby was added and fascinating traces of the building’s 19th century origins were discovered, including a pediment ornament bearing the emblem of King Chulalongkorn, and a cache of 33 cannonballs, relics of the site’s military past.