The successful campaign shows the public cares about the capital’s history and old ways of life.

The museum’s founder Assoc Prof Waraporn Suravadee launched the campaign on July 19 in the hope of protecting the museum – developed from her decades-old family home – and improving it. The Bt10 million raised one month ahead of schedule.

Waraporn beamed when she found the target had been reached yesterday.

After getting the good news, she halted the inflow of donations.

The Bt10 million is needed to purchase a plot next to the museum.

The plot will cost Bt40 million, but |Waraporn has already paid Bt30 million of that sum.

Waraporn said the adjacent land must be bought to ensure the museum survives.

“The owner of the next plot has had a plan to put up an eight-storey building [on it],” she said last month.

“Construction on that scale may threaten the structure of the museum, on top of destroying the landscape of the neighbourhood.”

Since Waraporn launched the campaign, many people and organisations have thrown their support behind her.

An official at Bangkokian Museum said that Waraporn was expected to announce this Saturday how she would develop the adjacent land.