A more spacious and diverse park where you can experience Thai nature inside the city boundaries which has become a firm favorite of my two little boys.
Suan Luang Rama 9 park is a government-owned park a short taxi ride away from downtown Bangkok. It covers an area of 2000 acres and features a children’s playground, Chinese, Japanese and English gardens as well as a tricky maze garden, a large lake, several ponds, and a thicker jungle area.
Named after King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the revered ninth, King of Thailand, this park is a wonderful addition to Bangkok’s public gardens. It is great for a leisurely stroll, a picnic, kids’ play, vigorous exercise, or wildlife and bird watching. You could literally spend the whole day here.
A word of caution though, it is a hot park. Whilst there are lots of trees and shady areas, there are also some long stretches of walking (5-10 minutes) that are completely uncovered and that is not much fun if it is midday in 35-degree heat. Early mornings or late afternoons are preferable, although we are normally there from about 11 am until 2 pm, and it does not kill us.
There is no easy place to get air-con nearby, so please be well prepared with hats, suncream, and cold drinks. There is one very limited drinks outlet in the center of the park which has little choice beyond fizzy drinks so I recommend you bring your own.
The Grand Tour
This is a quick tour of the park the way we like to do it:
After parking in the main car park, the first point of interest is immediately between the car park and the walkway around the lake. this is where the large children’s play area is located. Some families will simply arrive and go no further than here, set up a picnic, and let their children play in this traditional Thai outdoor play area.
Play area
The play area includes a wooden castle (closed at the time of print), a couple of small roundabouts, swings, those springy animal things that kids can sit on, and a few other items. 20-20 minutes is usually enough for my kids.
Be careful though some of the equipment is ageing and there is always a chance of injury on some of the last well-maintained equipment.
When I go with my family we always walk around the park in an anti-clockwise direction. We walk around the large lake, in the center of the park, on a paved road and we follow this until a right turn in the road leads you to a wooded tree area on the left with a small stream to cross and a pond surrounded by trees.
There is a small seating area projecting out onto the lake which is a great place to feed fish. You will often see tortoises swimming around in the lake which often comes over to be fed as well.
Chinese Gardens
The next point of Interest we always visit is the Chinese Garden. This has some very ornate Chinese buildings and a small garden surrounding it all manicured into delicate Chinese style.
The Chinese gardens are also an ideal place for a quick game of hide-and-seek as there are plenty of bushes, trees and rocks for the kids to hide behind. It also makes for a good place for a spot of lunch or refreshment as there are covered spaces to sit in.
Jungle
From here, we walk on to a jungle area which is ideal for small kids as it gives them the feeling of being enclosed in a jungle without all the hassle of going to a national park. We make our way up the undulating rocky, yet well-worn path to a rock pool at the top of a small hill.
We often see larger monitor lizards, and interesting insects and see and hear an array of different birds here.
We normally retrace our steps back down to the bottom where there are numerous rocks that the kids enjoy climbing on and jumping off. The more energy they can use up the better I say!
From here we are a couple of minutes walk from getting back onto the main paved road going around the lake and a further wooden bridge going across a river to a small island with a large ‘Sara’ in the middle. Again another great spot for a stop.
Feed the fish
This river here has plenty of fish in it so if you have bought some bread with you then you can enjoy feeding the fish here.
From here, we cut across the top of the lake past a small drinks shop. This could really be made into something much more, like a small coffee shop, or something. At the moment it is bottles of water and fizzy drinks only.
If you have kids that like feeding animals then check out Dubua cafe for a great day trip.
Japanese gardens
Past here you can turn right to visit the Japanese gardens which are really just a strip of Japanese-type trees and shrubs with some large boulders sitting among them.
There is a sign saying no climbing on the rocks but I let my lads climb all over them and jump around. It is a bit of a highlight of the trip for them really. Climbing rocks bigger than themselves and jumping from one to the other is what its all about.
Lake side picnic
Next, we head down the side of the lake which will ultimately bring us back to the car park, but first, there are great spots to sit under the trees and relax or picnic for a while as well as a large plant center on the right-hand side.
Cactus plant center
The plant center (there must be a better name) houses all types of cactus and similar plants that thrive in arid conditions. It is worth a quick look but I have not been back inside since I was told off for allowing my children to scrape the sand with their feet. Honestly, some people just have nothing better to do!
After making it this far it has usually taken us two to three hours and so the kids and I are normally quite hot and sweaty at this point. So, it is back to the roasting hot car and onto the nearest Seven-Eleven in order to get ice cream to keep the children happy on the journey home.
There are other points of interest I have not mentioned, such as the garden maze which is close to the car park but we normally avoid it as it can get quite confusing and annoying with young children. Older kids would probably love it.
Lots more to see…
There is also an English garden, lots of others ponds and lakes to explore as well as swan-shaped pedal boats which you can hire to go out on the main lake.
My overall verdict is that it is a great half or whole-day trip out for anyone with an interest in the outdoors, nature, and animals. It is free to get in and there is no need to book an organized tour as I see Trip Advisor wants you to do.
In fact, I could not think of anything worse than going here on an organized trip. The beauty of the place is just wandering around and exploring things for yourself. Anyway, that’s up to you but just know it is perfectly feasible to do it yourself with a little help from Google Maps and a decent set of footwear, enjoy!
Also check out: Our Guide To Lumpini Park Bangkok With Kids
Image Credits
Rachasak Ragkamnerd, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ruslik0, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
