South of Bangkok, in Samut Prakan province, are the Ancient City (Muang
Boran) and the Crocodile Farm. The Ancient City is a 200 acre
outdoor museum, roughly in the shape of Thailand, which contains replicas
of the main attractions found throughout the country and some of the replicas
here no longer exist in their original form. There are over 60 monuments
in total appropriately located throughout the grounds, and the grounds themselves
are landscaped with small lakes and waterfalls, rock gardens etc...It's
best to come here on a tour, or with your own transport, as the grounds
are too large to walk around. The website is at http://www.ancientcity.com/.
The crocodile farm has a huge number of crocodiles (it claims 60,000+),
with the feeding and crocodile wrestling show being the highlight of a visit
here. The fate that ultimately awaits crocodiles here is their skins being
turned into wallets and briefcases, and the meat going to nearby restaurants
! Somewhat ironically, it has been remarkably successful at preserving the
crocodile in Thailand - they have just about been hunted to extinction in
the wild. The crocodile farm also have a website at http://www.crocodilefarm.com/.
Another popular day trip is the journey on the river to Nonthaburi,
a densely populated town north of Bangkok. (It's sometimes considered a Bangkok
suburb, as Bangkok's rapid growth has meant it's hard to tell where one starts
and the other finishes). There's little of interest in Nonthaburi itself,
but it's often visited as the northernmost stop of the Chao Phraya river
express boats. The return trip from the Oriental hotel pier, which lasts
around 2.5 - 3 hours, costs only 20B (approx US$0.5) per person. Despite it's
proximity to central Bangkok, it has a definite provincial feeling - be prepared
for something of a culture shock if this is your first trip into rural Thailand.
Attractions are limited to a few wats, the Singha brewery and the infamous 'Bangkok
Hilton' - the none-too-pleasant Bang Kwang prison, where foreigners convicted
of drug related crimes invariably end up.
To the northeast of Bangkok in Minburi suburb are Suwan Siam Water Park
and the Safari World park. The water park is set in large landscaped
gardens and has artificial surf, whirlpools, fountains, waterfalls, large
water slides etc...Other attractions here are children's playgrounds, aviaries,
an open zoo and botanical gardens. At 170 acres, Safari world is the largest
wildlife park in Southeast Asia. This has a wildlife section, with 75 animal
species, including animals such as giraffes, zebras, elephants, lions and
tigers. The marine section has trained dolphin shows and an aviary section
with eagles, macaws, parrots etc...There are various shows available (including
dolphins, birds, seals, monkeys). This is best visited on a tour, as the wildlife
section is for vehicles only (though the park also has coaches you can go
through on, and most taxis drivers can be persuaded to drive through it if
you offer them a bit more money). The other sections can be visited on foot.
Their website is at http://www.safariworld.com/.
An hour north of Bangkok by bus is the former summer residence of the Ayuthayan
kings at Bang Pa-In. It was abandoned after the move of the capital
to Bangkok, but later restored by King Mongkut (Rama IV) and used occasionally
by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). It was abandoned again after Chulalongkorn's
wife and children drowned in the nearby Menam river, despite being surrounded
by loyal subjects. This was due to regulations governing the relationship
between royalty and commoners at the time, stating that any person who touched
the royal person to rescue them were to be executed. The complex itself is
elegantly designed and reasonably interesting, but is only really worth visiting
as part of a trip to Ayuthaya, 20km to the north.
Bang Sai, the Royal Folk Arts and Crafts Center is also around the
same distance away, and was established to try to keep alive traditional Thai
technologies and life e.g. basketry, wood carving etc...It's only really worth
a visit if you have a special interest in this subject.
A 160km, two hour trip, Phetburi (sometimes called Phetchaburi) is
just about visitable in a day trip. It's worth a visit for the historical
park with it's many old temples, spanning a time gap of some several centuries.
It's one of Thailand's oldest towns, but was never destroyed by the Burmese
unlike others and so much of the old temples are still intact. There's also
the bright white Khao Wang, a palace built by King Mongkut (Rama IV) in the
1860's.
