glennaa11

I'm headed back to Bangkok for about a week at the end of March. I've been to the city many, many times and have seen the big sights, and some not so big ones.

Anyone have some favorite places to visit that are maybe not quite on the tourist trail? I like nature stuff. Planning to stop at places like Benjakitti Park and Benjasiri Park since I'm going to be staying at the Continent Hotel near Terminal 21 those places appear to be nearby. Also planning to ride out to Queen Sirikit Park/Chatuchak Park too since they are easy to get to on public transport. (Last trip I went to Rama IX Park which was a little more work requiring a long taxi ride)

I've been to most of the big temples I think. And also Loha Prasat, Golden Mount, etc on past visits. But I like temples in general so I don't mind visiting others if y'all have favorites.

civicmon

Ever been out here? It's sort of not offically a park but it's known as the lung of Bangkok.

http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2016/05/0...oks-green-lung

kapitan

one thing I did during one of my frequent trips was to ride the public ferry from Saphan Taksin terminal to the last stop north wards to Nonthaburi.... one way fare was less then 10 baht..

dsquared37

Have you ever been to Ko Kret? Up in Nonthaburi it's not a big island in the Chao Phraya and was interesting to walk around. They had art/food markets on the weekend though I only visited weekdays.

No idea what the development of the area is now though, my visits were 5 or 6 years ago, but it was rather quaint at the time.

You can get there by bus up TNN Samsen and I believe some of the river ferries end near there.

transpac

Ko Kret

Dusit:
Vinmanmek, and all the other houses there
Throne Hall
Paruskawan Palace
Zoo
Marble Temple

dsquared37

The zoo is rather awful, condition of the premises and animals not great and seemingly everyone throws food for the animals.

I won't go back.

Dr. HFH

The Erawan Museum has always been one of my favorites. Most tours don't go there. It's a very unusual place, the basement has a museum of Thai antiquities. On top of the museum is a huge (and I do mean huge, you can see it for miles) bronze statue of a three-headed elephant. Inside the elephant's body is an unusual and beautiful temple. Behind the building is a pleasant garden to walk through which contains interesting sculptures.

Take the BTS Sukhumvit line to Bearing, then take a taxi at the bottom of the stairs to the museum. Have your hotel concierge or front desk write the name out in Thai and just show it to the taxi driver. On the way back, take a taxi from the museum, and just tell the driver "BTS Bearing."

Oldtiger

Unfortunately these have been closed for renovation for the past three months and no date as to when they will reopen.

+1 ^

jbjelloid

I was sceptical but checked out Asiatique last week. It's an area on the Chao Praya of converted warehouses filled with shops, restaurants and other amusements. it's actually quite a nice place to watch the sunset and enjoy a cocktail.

Oldtiger

One of my favorite locations is the Ancient City located in Samut Prakan on the southern outskirts of BKK.

http://www.ancientcitygroup.net/ancientsiam/en/

The Ancient City is owned/run by the same people as the Erawan Museum (mentioned earlier) and they now have free transport on Saturday & Sunday to get you from the BTS at Baring to both the Erawan Museum and the Ancient City.

The Ancient City is a massive park laid out in the shape of Thailand which contains restored and replica building from Thailand’s past. If you have your own transport you can drive around the site, if not they have trams that can you take around and you can get on/off as you please, or you can hire a self-drive golf cart, or if you’re very energetic you can hire a bike or walk.

I would suggest going on a week day as there are less people there. That said, it’s so big that you may well not notice other visitors. It is definitely a day trip to do it justice. My wife and I have been there several times and each time we see something that we hadn't seen on previous visits.

transpac

Unfortunately these have been closed for renovation for the past three months and no date as to when they will reopen.


Yes, I should have have checked; it seems like it has been closed since July 21, 2016, so more than six months.

Too bad. It sounds as though it may not re-open again for at least another 3 - 6 months?


I also recommend the Ancient City. I though it sounded very cheesy, but was suitably impressed. During the week there may be a lot of school children, and I mean a few thousand but it is quite large; you can pay a bit extra and drive your own car inside, I've done that a few times.

timster

Yes, worth a visit. I believe there is a special boat from Saphan Taksin BTS.

dsquared37

You can also take any bus going down that stretch of road (for the uninitiated it might be easier taking the bus back to BTS).

You've mentioned this museum on a number of occasions (on here and in person) and I finally got there a year ago and didn't get it. Yes, the temple inside the elephant was interesting but I found myself thinking 'is this all?'.

I'm a huge temple guy but this place just left us slightly bewildered.

glennaa11

thanks everyone. I've been to many of those places already but there are definitely a few that are new to me

cslewis

I think you should visit Lumphini Park instead of the parks that you are mentioning if you want a great experience. Lumphini has more to offer and I very much enjoyed the bicycling around the park some time ago! It’s much bigger, and has some lakes around it and I think you’ll have a great time. Have you been to Ayuttaya if you like temples? That is Thailand’s main travel site for temples. Google it through, I think you may find it interesting!