Museum Timah
A museum in a former Dutch colonial official's residence telling the story of Belitung's tin mining history. In the backyard stands an actual giant dredging ship that once operated on man-made lakes in the middle of the forest.
Before Belitung was known for its beaches, this island was known for its tin. The tin deposits here are among the largest in the world, and since the 18th century, Belitung's mines attracted the attention of Dutch companies, then Indonesian ones, at a scale that is hard to imagine. Museum Timah Indonesia in Tanjung Pandan, housed in a former colonial official's residence, tells this entire history without romanticism.
Inside, you can see mining tools from every era, from manual ones to modern drills. There are old geological maps, black-and-white photos of miners, and mineral samples: raw tin ore, zircon sand, ilmenite. But the most impressive piece is in the backyard: a giant dredging ship, real, not a replica. Ships like these once floated on man-made lakes dug into the middle of Belitung's forests, sucking up mud from the bottom and separating tin grains with mechanical precision. This museum does not try to make mining history look pretty. Precisely because of its honesty, it is one of the most compelling museums in the region.