Beware: A colossal spider now guards a large patch of dense Thai woodland. The iconic Louise Bourgeoise sculpture, Maman, is joined by works by Richard Long, Elmgreen and Dragset at Khao Yai Art Forest, an ambitious new 161-acre art destination a three-hour drive from Bangkok.
The art forest, located nea Khao Yai National Park, aims to create a healing experience blending art and nature. It is the brainchild of philanthropist and art patron Marisa Chearavanont, who has become one of the driving forces of Thailand’s vibrant art scene in recent years. Along with Kunsthalle Bangkok, a new art institution in Bangkok opened by Chearavanont last year, these two major initiatives highlight Thailand’s growing presence as a cultural hub in Southeast Asia.
Chearavanont is a Thai-Korean social entrepreneur and philanthropist who is also the wife of Soopakij Chearavanont, chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, the country’s largest agro-industrial conglomerate. She serves on Tate’s Asia-Pacific Acquisition Committee and the International Leadership Council of New Museum in New York. She is part of a fresh cohort of private collectors establishing art spaces in the Southeast Asian region, which has seen a recent boom in cultural foundations, and corporate sponsorship of art programs.
“This growing patronage is an important shift,” Chearavanont explained, noting that the region’s collectors are moving beyond traditional forms of philanthropy toward more strategic, long-term investment in cultural infrastructure. “This trend has the potential to be a game changer.”
Healing Through Art
Plans for the art forest began in 2020 when Chearavanont took up residence in Khao Yai, where she was only allowed to go outdoors in early morning hours due to the country’s stringent lockdown measures. The intimate encounter with nature inspired her the idea of space where art and wilderness could merge as a healing experience.
After she bought an undisclosed number of works via Hauser and Wirth from the famed Panza Collection, one of the world’s largest assemblages of postwar American art assembled by Italian mega collectors Giovanna and Giuseppe Panza, Chearavanont had the idea of building a museum in the remote Khao Yai region to showcase the collection. To manage it, she brought on Stefano Rabolli Pansera, a former director at Hauser and Wirth, who relocated from Switzerland to Thailand to collaborate on the venture.
Yet starting a major institution in Khao Yai alone would be risky, Pansera pointed out. He noted that being three hours outside of Bangkok, “‘at the margin of the margin,’ it could be difficult to sustain and engage a wide audience,” Chearavanont recalled.
That’s when she came up with the plan to launch the Bangkok Kunsthalle.
“From the beginning, Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest were envisioned as two sides of the same coin,” Chearavanont said via email. Even though they exist in completely different settings—one in the dense, chaotic urban fabric of Bangkok, the other in the vast, quiet wilderness of Khao Yai—she sees both as artist-led projects that challenge conventional institutional models.
In the fall of 2023, she acquired an abandoned building that was once a printing house in the city’s Chinatown to host exhibitions and public programs featuring Thai and international artists. Free to the public, the institution staged its inaugural exhibition in January 2024. So far, the kunsthalle has staged five exhibitions and is currently running three shows. The kunsthalle’s artist-in-residence initiative is now hosting Swiss artist Christoph Büchel, who is developing a new monumentally scaled.
Rather than simply showcasing Chearavanont’s collection, these two institutions aim to create new art experiences for a wider audience. The kunsthalle, located in the city, attracts locals, scholars, and international visitors, while the art forest offers a more immersive experience in a natural setting. Situated near Khao Yai National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and popular weekend destination, the art forest appeals to urban art lovers seeking a break from city life
Among those who have paid a visit to both institutions was Korean K-drama superstar Lee Min Ho, whose February Instagram posts from the forest went viral. His slideshow featured him dancing in dense fog, part of Fujiko Nakaya’s site-specific sculpture Khao Yai Fog Forest. He was also seen making pottery and posing beneath Bourgeois’s Maman (1999–2002).
Other works featured in the art forest include Thai artist Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook’s video installation Two Planets Series (2007), Francesco Arena’s stone sculpture GOD (2024), Elmgreen and Dragset’s installation K-BAR (2024), and Madrid Circle (1986) by land art pioneer Richard Long, which was previously a part of the Panza Collection.
A Subtle Approach
Khao Yai Art Forest is more than just placing major artworks in nature, says Pansera, director of both Khao Yai Art Forest and Bangkok Kunsthalle. Unlike cultural destinations like Naoshima in Japan, Australia’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), and Fondation Carmignac in France, which all situate art with nature, Khao Yai Art Forest takes a more “subtle” approach.
“We are doing the opposite of creating iconic marks: instead of building identifiable art pieces that stand out from the natural surroundings, we are fostering an approach where art quietly integrates, dissolves, and interacts with the landscape in a way that resists traditional notions of monumentality,” he explained.
A key part of this vision is Khao Yai Art Forest artist-in-residence program. Japanese artist Yutaka Sone was the first resident, and New York-based artist Shala Monroque, originally from Saint Lucia, is set to follow. Beyond providing studio space, the program invites artists to develop proposals that will contribute to shaping of the landscape, such as land art, Pansera noted.
“The residencies and programs are designed to be immersive experiences, allowing artists, writers, architects, and thinkers to engage deeply with nature while developing their work. The core idea is to create a space where art and ecology interact, allowing artistic practices to evolve in response to the landscape,” noted Pansera, who is also a curator and an architect.
Ambition Abounds
Thailand’s art scene is expanding rapidly. Two more museums are launching in Bangkok this year. Among them is the recently opened Museum Pier, founded by collecting couple Kornkamol and Piriya Vachajitpan, showcasing their collection of Thai modern and contemporary art. Opening later this year is Dib Bangkok, an ambitious institution steered by Purat Osathanugrah to honor the legacy of his father, the late collector Petch Osathanugrah.
The country is also witnessing growth in its gallery scene and art events. Nova Contemporary, for example, is opening a new space in the country’s capital this month. Thailand Biennale will return for a fourth edition in November. The city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand is now famous for being home to many artists.
While the outlook for Thailand’s growth is promising, challenges remain. Chearavanont pointed out that structural issues persist, particularly high import taxes on artworks. These taxes “make it difficult for collectors to build significant international collections,” she explained.
Beyond collectors, non-commercial initiatives are essential to engage more artists and audiences if Thailand and Southeast Asia are to become global cultural hubs, Chearavanont emphasized. Her two projects are personally funded, and to ensure public accessibility, Khao Yai Art Forest tickets are priced affordably at THB 500, or around $15.
Chearavanont and Pansera believe that Bangkok Kunsthalle and Khao Yai Art Forest will help to strengthen Thailand’s soft power and cultural influence on the global stage by championing homegrown talent locally and internationally through their programs. The institution has already started a collaboration with Dia Art Foundation in New York and is in conversation with Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin to explore future possibilities.
