Bangkok Folk Museum founder in ICU

The main house of the Bangkok Folk's Museum is a two-storey teak wood house with a hip roof paved with red kite-shaped tiles. The house was built in 1937 with a budget of 2,400 baht. The property was donated to the city by biologist Assoc Prof Waraporn Suravadi for use as a local museum. (Photo by Pichaya Svasti)

The founder of a Bangkok museum has been in intensive care after falling from the second floor of her Bangkok Folk Museum in Charoen Krung area Sunday night.

Assoc Prof Waraporn Suravadi, 82, suffered a broken skull. She remained unconscious and depended on a respirator, according to initial reports on Monday.

The incident happened in one of three houses in the museum where she lived.

She was first sent to Bangkok Christian Hospital and then referred to Prasat Neurological Institute.

A carer said Assoc Waraporn fell while she was reaching for a pet cat on a roof when it was its mealtime. A security guard heard the fall and informed museum staff who sought an ambulance.

Bangkok Folk Museum is nestled behind trees on a 1,700m² plot near the congested Charoen Krung Road. Donated by biologist Assoc Prof Waraporn to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) in 2003, the museum features three houses in a lush tropical garden with a pond.

The museum, also known as the Bangkok Local Museum Bang Rak, was established under a BMA pilot project to set up local museums in all Bangkok districts.

Built in 1937, the museum is the former residence of the Suravadi family. Assoc Prof Waraporn turned her property inherited from her mother Sa-arng Suravadi (Tanboontek) into a museum for the new generations to learn.

In the middle of last year, she accomplished her goal of seeking public donations totalling 10 million baht to add to her down payment of 30 million baht to buy an adjacent land plot where a tall building project had been planned.

The compound’s three houses, furnishings and accessories provide a glimpse into the lifestyles of Bangkokians between 1937-57.

The characteristics and decoration of the three houses reflect the influence of Western architecture and culture on Thailand in the 1930s and some years earlier.

The various rooms in the main house are decorated in European fashion of the 1930s. Outstanding items include an old-fashioned Western-style toilet and European-style wooden furniture, such as dressing tables and four-poster, canopy-draped beds.