Tag: Picnic Bangkok

Suan Luang Rama IX Park Bangkok

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Despite being lesser known than Bangkok’s other parks, Suan Luang Rama XI Park is the biggest in the capital at over 200 acres big. With a plethora of themed gardens and a huge flower display in commemoration of the King of Thailand, a visit to the park makes a refreshing rest from the craziness of Bangkok city.

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King Rama IX Park

Close to the entrance of King Rama IX Park, you’ll find a hedge maze, a huge lake and an S&P restaurant. The S&P restaurant has a small terrace overlooking the lake if you fancy fuelling up or cooling off in the air con before taking a walk around the park. If you feel like it, you can even take a quick ride on the rather aged pedalos just outside the restaurant.

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Just beyond the lake, you can see a prominent futuristic-looking building which houses a museum dedicated to the King. I’ve not visited myself, but for anybody interested in Thailand culture and the King it might be worth a look.

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Past this point of the park it’s ridiculously easy to get lost in the hugeness of the grounds. Deep within the grounds though, there is plenty to explore: a plant nursery, botanical gardens, an outdoor gym, tai chi classes and, best of all, a beautiful Thai pavilion that sits right in the middle of a peaceful lotus pond.

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King Rama IX Park is also home to a number of themed gardens from around the world including an Italian garden, French garden, a Japanese bonsai garden, American cactus garden and even a garden of giant topiary animals.

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December Flower Festival Bangkok

The best time to visit King Rama IX Park is during December, the King’s birth month, when the park comes alive with amazing, colourful flower displays. The flower displays are absolutely huge and offer a mix of both tasteful flower beds as well as other quirky plant-related scenes. From sun flower gardens and rainbow patterned flower beds as far as the eye can see, to life-sized flower people, flowerpot Wellington boots, giant heart-wreaths of roses, and quaint little ‘play house’ style settings.

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However, during the flower festival in December, King Rama IX Park is considerably busier than the rest of the year. The park grounds are teaming with local kids on school trips, camera-trigger happy Japanese tourists and teams of wedding photographers snapping photos of young couples.

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 In fact, I’ve never seen so many brides in one place as I have at Rama IX Park during the Bangkok flower festival – I must have seen five different wedding couples in the space of one hour. Despite the hugeness of this flower festival though, there are still a few Western tourists that seem to visit the park.

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How to get to King Rama IX Park

The King Rama IX Park is only really reachable by taxi as it’s about a 15 minute drive away from the nearest BTS skytrain station. The nearest BTS skytrain station is Udomsuk station – from here, it’s best to catch a taxi. Ask the taxi driver to take you to ‘Suan Luang Rama gao’ and he should know where it is.

Suan Luang Rama IX Park is located close to Paradise Park Mall and should cost around 70 Baht for the journey. Once you get to the park, you will have to pay a 10 baht entrance fee – can’t really complain about such a cheap entrance fee…

 

Wachira Benthat Butterfly Park Bangkok

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Hidden behind Chatuchak Park, far away from the busy main road, the Butterfly Park offers a tranquil sanctuary from the craziness of Bangkok city. If you fancy a peaceful bike ride amongst natural surroundings, a visit to the Wachira Benthat Butterfly Park is a must.

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Wachira Benthat Butterfly Park

The park itself is surprisingly huge considering it’s hidden away location off the Bangkok beaten path, perhaps even bigger than the more famous Lumpini Park. You won’t find so many of the pretty flower displays like you’ll see in the standard public parks of Bangkok – the overall look of Wachira Benthat Butterfly Park is a little rough around the edges: overgrown and slightly hilly.

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However, this wild, natural environment offers an inviting landscape of solitude with plenty of picturesque lakes to add to it’s beauty. As you wander around the spacious Bangkok park, you’ll notice the odd couple snoozing on the grass, workers taking a sneaky nap in one of the podiums and cheeky groups of local kids skiving off school.

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At the northern entrance of the park, visitors can relax in the quiet cafe and restaurant which serves cheap Thai meals and smoothies. There is even a mini amusement park where kids can ride their bikes around a miniature track.

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Cycling in Bangkok

The main focus of the Bangkok Butterfly Park is the large cycle path that runs through it; 99% of the people you come across in Wachira Benthat Butterfly Park will be riding a bike. It’s not ideal to explore the park on foot due to it’s huge size, but the flat landscape and wild surroundings make for an ideal bike ride in Bangkok.

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Unfortunately, I never actually found where exactly to hire the push bikes that I saw everybody else riding. Apparently, if following my directions to the insectarium below, the bike hire area is located to the left of the bridge in the opposite direction to the Butterfly Gardens. I have a feeling they may be available from the Dream World amusement park pictured above.

Bangkok Butterfly Garden & Insectarium

As well as being ideal for cycling, Wachira Benthat also has it’s own butterfly garden and insectarium. The insectarium has some beautiful flower displays and a range of butterflies to admire and photograph. What’s best of all though, is that admission is free!

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To get to the butterfly garden and insectarium, it is easiest to enter the park from Kamphaeng Phet 3. Enter the park through the large vegetable garden courtyard, then straight on across the right side fork in the path. You’ll notice a ‘relaxation area’ just ahead to your right: just past here is a rather ugly, metal bridge. Cross the bridge and turn right for a couple of hundred metres.

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How to get to the Butterfly Park in Bangkok

The best way to find the Bangkok Wachira Benthat Butterfly Park is to take either the MRT to Chatuchak Park or the BTS to Mo Chit – either way will take you directly to Chatuchak Park. You then want to make your way to the other side of Chatuchak Park from here – It can be kind of frustrating trying to find an exit so just try and make your way out at the opposite side first!

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When you exit the park, you’ll find yourself on Kamphaeng Phet 3 road. Walk along this road to the right and you should pass a complex called Jatujak Green. Eventually, you’ll find yourself at the gates to a vegetable courtyard that leads to Wachira Benthat Park.

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