B50.6m Mining Museum built, to open in December

KATHU: Work is complete on the 50.6-million-baht Kathu Mining Museum building, which is expected to open to the public by December.

Project consultant and a well-known local historian Sommai Pinphutthasilp told the Gazette that construction of the museum building, located on the Kathu-Koh Kaew Rd, began in September 2005.

Work was completed about six months after the original target date of October 2006 because of delays in finding a suitable contractor, said K. Sommai.

“We will announce the official opening date within two months, after appointing a subcontractor to install the exhibition pieces. Right now only the building itself is complete,” he added.

“The exhibition floor plan is now being designed. We have to find a subcontractor, which could take some time, but we expect to open this year,” he said.

Funding for exhibitions, about 10 million baht, is from the Phuket Governor’s discretionary provincial development budget.

The 7,000-square-meter museum will tell the story of Phuket’s tin mining history and explain the tin mining process.

Entrance fees have yet to be set.