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Stamps tell tales Stamp or postage museums bring back the good old feelings when letters used to be the norm of long-distance communication. Today, the era of email and SMS messaging has virtually rendered letters obsolete, or so it seems. However, I am sure there are people who still find the old mode of communication more heart-felt than electronic messaging. These people will find the Sam Sen Nai Philatelic Museum a charming sanctuary. It leads them into a world of stamps that have stories to tell and bring back memories of days long gone. No, it is not an old-fashioned exhibition of postage stamps displayed in glass boxes. To the contrary, the stamps are showcased in neat, modern-looking cabinets and are easy to trace. More importantly, visitors are allowed to capture them on film. The exhibition traces the history of postal service in Thailand. It all began in 1867 at the behest of the British driven by the need to communicate between their offices and consulates in the countries they colonised. Letters from India and Singapore, then part of the Straits Settlement, were stamped with the letter "B" which stood for Bangkok and despatched by boat, and vice versa on the way out. The postal service in Siam, as the country was then called, began in 1875, but the service was confined to the Grand Palace and inner Bangkok. The launching of the daily newspaper Court necessitated expansion of the service to facilitate delivery. The newspaper collapsed in 1883 and out its ashes grew a state-funded postal system. The service immediately caught up with the people. Eight months after its launch, it was handling on average 127 mails daily. The first set of Siamese stamps, worth a solot each, was issued the same year. The solot was the smallest currency in circulation in Siam at the time, worth 1/128 to a baht. Apart from the solot, there are 700 other issues that followed in the aftermath of the 1883's maiden launch. The museum also has a large collection of foreign stamps from 220 countries and over 200 original pictures that formed the basis of some award-winning stamps. Given multimedia technology available at most museums today, I thought my foray to the Sam Sen Nai post office would not be that eventful, but I couldn't have been more wrong. As I pulled out the stamp albums from the cabinets and turned the pages, the wealth of information they contained gradually began to sink in and by the time I had finished I was completely mesmerised by the things I learnt that day. It's time well spent. Each stamp, encapsulating time and event, has a story to tell. It was like turning the pages of a book. There is one edition printed in 1897 that needs special mention. Called Phra Pak Phian, the stamp carried the portrait of King Rama V but its design was deemed unacceptable. It wasn't circulated and the entire lot was subsequently destroyed. The one on show at the museum is a rare sample and probably the only left in the country. The Battambang stamp issued during the reign of King Rama V shows it as a part of Siam. I searched for the first stamps issued to commemorate His Majesty the King. It was issued between 1947-49 and printed by Waterlow & Sons Ltd in London, England. There are several other editions commemorating important dates and events in Thai history, such as the Laem Thong or South East Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP), the forerunner to SEA Games, the Asian Games which the country first hosted in 1966 when His Majesty won a gold in yachting, the pro-democracy uprising of students in October 14, 1973, that brought down the military dictatorship, and there is one that was issued in 1980 to mark the 80th birthday anniversary of the Princess Mother who devoted her life to the cause of underprivileged people. Some of the samples on display reminded me of the days when I was still young and had just started collecting stamps. Featured on them were the Grand Palace, the royalty, tourist attractions, birds, pheasants and rare wildlife. It's from stamps such as these that I first learned what the animals looked like, my early lessons on a long learning curve. - The museum is located on the first floor of a new building behind Sam Sen Nai Post Office on Phahol Yothin Road. It is open Wednesday to Sunday from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The most convenient way to get there is by the BTS Skytrain. Get off at Saphan Khwai Station and walk to the post office. For more information, call 02-271-2439. |