Ethnographic Museum of Chiang Mai talks about the culture of the hill tribes of Northern Thailand who came to this earth from Myanmar (formerly Burma) because of the complex political situation at home. The Museum presents the tribes Akha, Lisu, Lahu, Karen, khmu, Lau, Hmong, MEO and other small Nations. Ethnographic Museum of the tribes was established in 1965 under the auspices of the Department of social protection of the population.

A visit to the Museum is highly recommended for all who are interested in culture and art of Northern Thai and hill tribes. Although the village with representatives of a unique culture scattered throughout Chiang Mai province, in the Museum you can get concentrated knowledge covering all the tribes of the Central aspects of their lives.

In the ethnographic Museum presents an exhibition of folk costumes, jewelry and household items, specific to each nation. Video-visual presentation shows the life of the tribes that still exist in the North of Thailand. Most hill tribes specializes in manual production, examples of their work self-sewed clothes made of cotton and hemp fibres, manually created silver jewelry and much more can also be seen in the Museum. Multiple tables and charts in the Museum tell about the life of each tribe: about the agricultural calendar, device life, traditional ceremonies and celebrations.

The Museum is located in a wonderful green area with great lake and mountain views of DOI Suthep and DOI Pui. Near the Museum is a Park, which presents the traditional houses of the tribes of bamboo and banana leaves.

Unfortunately, in the fall of 2012, the Museum was damaged by fire and is under construction.