Today I am reaching out to you beyond an invitation to a social event, we all are facing difficult times and a Museum, especially the Patpong Museum is not a top priority when society is thrown into a sphere of some sort of “survival”.
A brief re-cap
In the last week of October 2019 we opened the doors of our little Patpong Museum for the first time. Proudly displaying and telling our story of the community on this little land in the heart of Bangkok.
Initially only a few visitors found us, tucked in between Foodland and Black Pagoda on Patpong Soi 2. Richard Ehrlich on CNN led a wave of encouraging reviews in the media soon to be accompanied by news outlets local, national and international. Shining a warm, bright light on our mission.
“When this is over” (whatever “over” actually will mean, and be) “will a small community museum in Bangkok still be of interest, will it be relevant?”
In January 2020 the Patpong Museum made it number 2 museum of all museums in Bangkok and in February even number 7 of all things to do in Bangkok. This phenomenal success is due to the great work, the dedication of our team and you, our visitors anticipation, feedback and support. Thank You all!
We welcomed our 1000th visitor after 3 months and our 2000th visitor just 3 weeks later, as our guests flocked into the Museum on an increasing scale to discover the little secrets of this street. To learn about its history and the biographies of its people. Thank You for your patronship!
The corona virus started to spread, around the world, in our bodies and in our minds. Two weeks ago we increased sanitizing schedules and supplied the obvious hand sanitizers.
On Thursday the 19th of March, we followed the government’s request and cooperated in the effort to minimize the threat of infections by suspending our operation until further notice.
We are using this time to maintain the exhibition, to keep it clean, functioning and ready for that bright day where we all are going to celebrate in good health the new dawn. Yes, people will continue to be interested in exploring secrets, communities will continue to be at the heart of our societies, the local communities may very well be even more vital then “before”.
In confinement I have the chance now to address more aspects, more of the stories that have not been told and exhibited yet, more secrets to be lifted.
Until later, let’s keep it up & stay safe
Michael Messner & The Patpong Museum Team
