Our reader Svetlana Lukashova talks about the famous Lumpini Park in Bangkok - amazing place, where people, birds and huge lizards coexist perfectly!
We firmly decided to visit Lumpini Park in Bangkok after visiting the website Uehali.com. We were interested in this park, and really wanted to get to know its permanent inhabitants - monitor lizards. And during our fourth trip to Thailand, we visited this park. Before leaving for Pattaya, we first lived in Bangkok for 5 days, so we were able to devote a whole day to Lumpini Park.
How to get to Lumpini Park in Bangkok
We took the “air metro” to Sala Daeng station (you can also take the underground metro to Si Lom station). The exit from this station leads to the central entrance to the Silom shopping complex. From there you need to walk 200 meters to the intersection towards the eight-story Dusit Thani Hotel, and then go to the other side of the street - to the monument to King Rama VI, which stands at the entrance to Lumpini Park.
At the entrance to Lumpini Park in Bangkok, you are greeted by its founder, King Rama VI of Thailand.
Hunting for a butterfly
Lumpini Park in Bangkok is a huge and beautifully landscaped area., everywhere there are alleys with benches and canopies, cute gazebos in the Chinese style, fruit trees and flowers are planted, especially there are many beautiful palm alleys, birdsong can be heard from everywhere. In general, relax in such beautiful place- a pleasure! And what beautiful butterflies live there, it was the first time in our lives that we saw them live! By the way, does anyone know the name of this amazing miracle butterfly that we photographed in Lumpini Park? We chased her for a long time and waited for her to finally sit on the flowers so that we could photograph her calmly.
She drove, feathered.
Hunting for monitor lizards
Lumpini Park has large ponds that are home to monitor lizards, carps, turtles and herons. You can ride catamarans on the huge central pond. We walked around the park all day, resting in the shade of the trees. At lunch we refreshed ourselves with local delicacies: Thai tea and banana chips with jam, pineapples and boiled corn (all this can be bought at the entrance to the park).
Lumpini Park in Bangkok is famous for its dragon lizards and diving monitor lizards.
The park has convenient bridges over an artificial river. Large schools of carp gather under the bridge, which tourists happily feed. Food is sold for 20 baht right at the bridge. We also fed the fish and went on to look for monitor lizards. After wandering around the park for half a day, we no longer hoped to meet them... But towards evening, monitor lizards actively began to appear either near the pond or under the trees, and we literally began to follow on their heels to take good photos. I especially got it from one large monitor lizard, who kept scurrying away from me, and I constantly ran ahead in front of him. He was taken aback, probably by my impudence, and kept trying to peacefully bypass me and leave. But, in the end, this monitor lizard realized that he would not get rid of me so easily, and made one last attempt - he quickly darted away from me onto a tree. At this point I was taken aback, as I was very surprised by the ability of monitor lizards to easily climb trees vertically!
In fact, all the monitor lizards living in the park are very peaceful and show absolutely no aggression towards people. They simply don’t like being pestered by overly curious tourists and try to peacefully retreat into a pond or climb a tree.
Hunting for beautiful photos
Walking around Lumpini Park all day, we watched with interest how many Thai families came there for a picnic. They settled right on the grass of the lawns. And closer to sunset, lovers of an active lifestyle and physical education came. There are many places in the park where there are exercise machines and anyone can exercise on them. There are convenient cycling and jogging paths along the entire perimeter of Lumpini Park. As we left the park, we saw many Thais and tourists running along these paths. In the crowd of runners there were even very, very elderly men who kept up with the young people, as well as (where would we be without them) large groups of Chinese athletes.
After a walk through Lumpini Park, our day ended with a pleasant shopping experience at the Silom shopping center, which is located across the street. There were very good promotions there at that time, we especially liked the big discounts on Mango brand products. It was late at night and we were happy and returning to our hotel with shopping.
In general, after spending the whole day in the park, we did not regret the time spent at all. We really liked Lumpini Park in Bangkok, and we brought back wonderful memories and, of course, videos and photographs. Let's watch them together!
Bangkok's Lumpini Park is a green oasis amidst the skyscrapers of the business district. Therefore, it is often compared to New York's Central Park.
The monitor lizards in Lumpini Park are accustomed to tourists. But for some reason they don’t really like being chased all over the territory.
Maybe this is why the local monitor lizards love to sit near the water so much? As soon as a tourist approaches, he will immediately disappear into the stream.
I already wrote once about a small one that is located in the historical part next to the complex and Wat Pho. So, its enlarged copy is Lumpini park. Although, of course, it would be more correct to call Saranr a copy of Lumpini, and not vice versa :)
It’s strange that I haven’t visited it before... Although I have the answer to this question. From the point of view of attractions, there is probably nothing special in it, except for monitor lizards (but it’s worth it), but in terms of life in the city, it’s great place for sports and leisure. I generally got the impression that you can do whatever you want in it, almost live.
By the way, if you want to find a hotel nearby, it’s convenient to choose on RoomGuru. I have stayed in Bangkok many times and different hotels. I will not provide links to all of my reviews, I will only provide a few. — convenient for stopping near the airport and metro, — good place for an overnight stay near Khao San, located in the center next to the park.
Monitor lizards
I went to this park primarily to see monitor lizards, since I had never seen monitor lizards before (for some reason there are no monitor lizards in Moscow parks). There turned out to be a whole kingdom of them there, but you need to look for them near the water, mostly they all sit there or swim for their own pleasure. I don’t know if they are dangerous, but there was a moment when a monitor lizard climbed out of the water and hissed towards us. This specimen was the size of a small crocodile, about 2 meters long (including the tail), or even more. And I’ll tell you, I felt somehow uneasy, I even jumped onto the bench instinctively. Seeing the fear, the monitor lizard made sure that we realized that this was its territory, turned around and went back into the water.
In general, if you don’t specifically come close to monitor lizards, then problems are unlikely to arise; these are not Komodo monitor lizards. And, as a rule, they run away when you get close to them. Apparently this one was just too proud...
Do whatever you want
Apart from the monitor lizards, there are no more impressive sights in Lumpini Park, but there is a huge space for sports, which, in fact, is what most people do here, and not only the Thais. As you enter the park, you immediately notice people in sportswear, some with a ball, some doing another lap. There is even an open-air swimming pool and a gym. In addition to sports, people walk, sit, lie down, play checkers, read newspapers, dance, and even work. If it were not for sleeping at night and the lack of cafes, one could live here.
Sit, watch, think...
There is a game in Thailand where you throw a wicker ball over a net with your feet, called Takro. In essence, this is volleyball with your feet, a very dynamic game! How they hit it and not miss is simply a mystery. There is also basketball with legs, but for me, as a person far from sports, this is completely unrealistic. But I watched this guy (while trying to photograph him) for about half an hour - all muscles and tendons, so nimble that the shutter speed was too long, he ended up blurry all the time.
There is nothing superfluous in the body
Visiting information
Located next to MRT Silom and Limphini MRT stations, or next to BTS Sala Daeng and Ratchadamri skytrain stations. But you can also get there by city buses, including from Khao San Road (No. 47, 15). Although in the latter case you can get stuck in traffic jams. In general, it is right in the city center, you can walk and reach it on foot if you are somewhere in those parts.
Admission is free, opening hours are from 4.30 to 21.00, guarded by police. Here you cannot litter, smoke (!!!), drink alcohol, or walk your dogs. Everything is as it should be in an oasis of a healthy lifestyle. The only negative is that it is hot here during the day, and you need to be very well adapted to this temperature in order to also play sports.
Map of Lumpini Park in Bangkok
Right in the center of Bangkok there is a pleasant green place for a walk - Lumpini Park. Surrounded on all sides by Bangkok skyscrapers, a piece of wildlife in the concrete jungle.
A park with skyscrapers all around
The “pixel” skyscraper is my favorite in Bangkok. By the way, the most tall building in Thailand - 314 meters. And everyone knows it - only 309 meters!
This park, of course, does not qualify as a tourist attraction. But it’s very pleasant to take a walk there, if the time planned for Bangkok allows it.
Trees, flowers, benches, gazebos - Lumpini Park has it all in abundance.
Lumpini Park has running tracks and various outdoor exercise equipment: just the thing for a morning or evening workout! Beautiful and shady area.
There are also bike paths
Sunbathing fields. And in the mornings and evenings there is a sports ground here. They play football, volleyball, dance, and all that.
There are also playgrounds in Lumpini Park:
But the coolest thing about the park is the monitor lizards, which roam freely throughout the entire territory and swim in local ponds. They are quite large here, I wouldn’t want to get in their way if anything happens! We read that those monitor lizards that live in Lumpini Park are not very dangerous and reach a maximum length of two meters. The largest monitor lizards live on the Indonesian island of Komodo; they grow up to three meters and can easily attack a person. Lumpinsky monitor lizards will at most bite off your finger, which, you see, is also scary.
It also turns out that monitor lizards can climb trees. This is how they hunt birds and try to diversify their diet. In Lumpini Park there has already been a case of a monitor lizard falling on a person from a tree - everyone remained alive, but scratched. That’s why everyone takes pictures of the monitor lizards, being at a respectful distance, out of harm’s way and away from the monitor lizards.
There are about 200 monitor lizards in the park, but they say that recently the monitor lizards from Lumpini Park have begun to multiply very quickly, and they have even been caught. Now about 100 individuals are caught in the park every year and transported to another place of residence (like stray dogs, they are not euthanized; after all, monitor lizards are a protected species).
We saw a couple fighting over a dead fish:
By the way, there are a lot of fish in the park’s reservoirs. And you can feed them: they will jump out of the water, asking for a new treat, ̶п̶о̶к̶а̶ ̶н̶е̶ ̶п̶р̶и̶д̶е̶т̶ ̶в̶а̶р̶а̶н̶. Turtles and monitor lizards are also found in the lakes and they are eaten.
There are also herons. I wouldn’t be surprised if monitor lizards eat them too
You can also sail on a swan boat on the park’s lake. This pleasure costs only 40 baht for half an hour.
We saw a food court in the park, but for some reason it was not working. Maybe we came too late? Just in case, if you want to spend a lot of time in the park, it is better to take some food with you.
What is there in Lumpini Park:
Park map:
How to get to Lumpini Park
The park is open from 4.30 to 21.00.
Park on the map of Bangkok:
Lumphini Park (or Park Lumphini) is one of the most pleasant places in Bangkok. A quiet green oasis surrounded by high-rise buildings made of glass and concrete in the central part of the city. Of all the parks in Bangkok, Lumpini Park is worth visiting first, if only because it is very easy to do due to its convenient location. I really like this park and I have been to it more than once - both during the day and in the evening, and during holiday concerts and when there is a balloon ride here. 🙂
In this article I will tell you how to get to Lumpini Park, I will show you many beautiful photos that I have accumulated over several visits, and I will also share my general impression from what he saw.
By the way, subscribe on my Instagram. I promptly post it there best photos and stories from my travels. 🙂
Lumpini Park on the map of Bangkok
The park is located in the very center of Bangkok, in the Lumphini area, at the intersection of Rama IV Road and Ratchadamri Road. It occupies an area of about 57 hectares.
Lumpini Park opening hours
Lumpini Park is open from 04:30 to 21:00. At about five minutes to nine, park employees begin to walk around the area and ask everyone to leave, after which they close the gates. Visiting the park is free for everyone.
How to get to Lumpini Park
The park is literally located at the intersection of all possible transport interchanges, so you can get here in many ways. I will list them all:
- MRT underground metro. You need to get off at the Si Lom station (blue line), rising from the subway you will find yourself right in front of the park. The fare is 20-30 baht.
- Skytrain BTS - elevated metro. Continue to Sala Daeng Station (BTS Silom Line Turquoise Line). The fare is 40-50 baht. When you get out, don’t rush to go down to the ground, take the overpass to the Si Lom metro station, go down there and cross the road towards the park. If you live near the Green Line (BTS Sukhumvit Line), then you will need to go to SIAM Station and transfer to the Turquoise Line to Sala Daeng Station.
- Excursions. Not the most trivial option, but nevertheless it has a place. 🙂 Some private excursions include a visit to Lumpini Park and I will talk about this separately.
- Taxi. Use the Grab app, the local equivalent of Uber. This will be the cheapest and most reliable option. Immediately connect payment by card, this will give an additional discount.
- Buses. There are many buses to the park, but I strongly advise you not to use them - they take a long time and are unpredictable. But if you want, just open Google maps and see what routes are nearby.
Excursions to Lumpini Park
For those who prefer a meaningful walk in the company of a guide who tells interesting stories about the places you are observing, I can recommend taking an excursion to Lumpini Park. Of course, the excursion will cover not only the park itself, but also other interesting locations. In the case of individual excursion You'll also visit Bangkok's cutest cat cafe before strolling through the city's distinctive flower market. And of course, visit the hallmarks of Bangkok - the Temple of the Reclining Buddha and the Temple of Dawn (Wat Arun), and then take a walk along Chao Phraya on a water bus, exploring Bangkok from the water. And that's still not all! 🙂 Next are the mega-colorful Chinese and Indian quarters and much more. The program is very rich and, believe me, it’s worth it. Its cost $129 for 1-2 people. The excursion is presented by the popular portal Tripster, whose services I have used more than once in Sochi, Istanbul and Phuket - I strongly recommend it.
Well, now let's move on to the review. 🙂
Lumpini Park in Travel or Die review
1. One of the entrances to the park.
2. The park is very green and beautiful, there are canals with water all around, all kinds of trees, grass.
4. This is my favorite “Monument to the Victims of Body Positivity.” 🙂
5. There are also more classic plots, ala “Mother and Child”.
6. During the day there are very few people in the park and it is very quiet, you can come sit in the shade, think about your own things or read a book.
7. Or go on a catamaran ride.
8. The cost of renting catamarans is 40 baht for half an hour + 40 baht deposit, in case you steal it.
9. On the territory of the park there is an old but restored chapel.
10. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any interesting facts about her on the net. 🙁
11. One of the calling cards of the park is the monitor lizards living on its territory. They swim in the lake and sometimes come ashore.
12. Here I caught the moment of a brewing conflict between a monitor lizard and a gang of angry pigeons.
13. And this is just a heron walking.
14. Peace and quiet.
Sports activities at Lumpini Park
15. You may be surprised, but the park is pretty well designed for sports. There are locations with strength training equipment.
16. Both young and old are engaged.
17. Moreover, if in Russia mostly young jocks come to such free simulators to get fucked, then there is a noticeable layer ordinary people over 40.
18. There is a changing room for the needs of those involved.
19. You can often meet professional cyclists.
20. The majority of those involved in sports lift themselves up around sunset, when it is not so hot.
21. Mass races begin, at 17-18:00 free aerobics classes with music, sports games and much more start. When you look at it all, you get the feeling that the whole of Bangkok is in sports. 🙂
22. There is also something like a food court where you can have a snack and buy cooling drinks. True, they sway already after noon.
23. More carts with food can be found near the western exit of the park.
24. Here you can sit and have a snack quite inexpensively.
25. The aunt sits and sells dried palm bark. Just kidding, this is food for fish in a pond, it costs 10 baht.
26. My favorite concrete benches. Very stylish, cozy and aesthetically pleasing. And the blood is easy to wash off.
27. Doves of peace.
28. This monument is called “FFM is not a vice.”
29. Children have their own recreation areas.
30. When I look at these high-rise buildings, I immediately remember Central Park in New York.
33. Peace and tranquility.
34. I often visited the park during the day and to be honest, this is not the case in Bangkok. best time for walking - it’s very hot and stuffy, it only makes you sleepy when you’re on the road. 🙂 And many people sleep in the park without bothering at all.
35. In our country, sleeping in parks is the prerogative of the homeless and marginal elements; in Bangkok, everyone does this.
Lumpini Park in the evening
36. In my opinion, the best time to visit the park is in the evening, at about 5 pm, when the sun is moving towards sunset and does not hit directly. The sky gradually turns golden-yellowish tones and is reflected in the glass of high-rise buildings.
37. Monument to King Rama 4 (1851-1868). Thais bring flowers and worship here every day.
38. It is located on the side of the main entrance to the park - the southwestern one, where the metro station is.
39. Crossing junctions.
42. It’s beautiful, well!
45. Well, one more photo of the evening Lumpini. 🙂
Holidays in Lumpini Park
46. I had occasion to visit the park during various festive events. Of course, at such moments the park is strikingly different from its usual state. 🙂 Moreover, as a rule, you don’t even know that there might be some kind of holiday in Thailand, you come on an official visit to the park, and there is natural pandemonium!
47. On major holidays, half the city flocks to the park, both the Thais themselves and other nationalities who live here, a lot of Chinese and Koreans. As a rule, there are also a lot of tourists, but since the holidays are Thai, there is a noticeable advantage of locals. They organize various fairs here, field kitchens, sell food in huge quantities and all sorts of trinkets. Concerts and various show programs are held. In general, it’s quite fun, the only negative is that it’s too crowded. 🙂 But it’s still worth visiting, trying some local kulebyaki, and watching performances.
48. If you get tired of wandering, you can always sit on the grass and taste the local dishes. Eh, I still remember how good this pie was. 🙂
49. It’s also good in the park in the pre-Christmas period, when the trees are abundantly decorated with New Year’s illumination.
The head of a large lizard emerged from the water. From a distance he looked like a crocodile. And just the thought that we are not in the jungle, but in central park large metropolis, stopped him from escaping. The lizard climbed out of the water and lazily, swinging its long heavy tail, wandered along the green grass under the nearest tree. Three comrades were already waiting for him there. large sizes. Today we’re all about an amazing place where monitor lizards can be seen in their natural habitat. This is Lumpini Park in the capital of Thailand - Bangkok.
I already wrote about how we spent and lived in the huge Ekamai metro station. Sasha worked most of the Bangkok holidays, so Arinka and I went to have fun together. We visited the aquarium, spent a day in a children's country... And, of course, we couldn't ignore the gorgeous park in the center of Bangkok, where real monitor lizards live.
Lumpini Park is almost a hundred years old. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was ordered to be founded by King Rama VI. Then it was the outskirts of Bangkok, and now it is one of central regions metropolis.
The park is very large, almost 57 hectares of land. Most of occupies the lake.
Take some buns or cookies with you; you can feed the pigeons and fish.
We decided to take a catamaran ride around the lake. This interesting adventure and in itself, but in addition, it was here that our hunt for monitor lizards began. It turned out that they bask in the sun next to the water and sometimes go into the lake to cool off.
And here is the first monitor lizard. He scared us the most because we had never encountered such large lizards so close before.
The lizard was so big and fat that it really resembled a crocodile. If the head had been of a different shape, it would have been impossible to tell the difference at all. The impression of what is happening is very strange. On the one hand, fucking from the sight of a formidable and powerful creature. On the other hand, there is an understanding that since we are in one of the central parks of the Asian capital, then a priori nothing can threaten us.
The meeting with the monitor lizard inspired us so much that Arinka and I got off the catamaran and went hunting on land. Lumpini Park is very green, surrounded by flowers and tall trees. It is pleasant to walk here even at noon, when the unbearable heat descends on Bangkok.
Approximately a quarter of the park is occupied by bodies of water. You cannot swim in small lakes, the water is dirty, but here, in addition to monitor lizards, you can see many exotic birds, fish and even turtles.
Another lake with a view of the high-rise buildings.
Picnics are organized in the park, as sitting on the lawns is allowed here. If you want to do the same, you can buy food in the shops right next to the entrance to the park. We had lunch with papaya salad for 30 baht (just under 1 dollar), and rice with chicken for 40 ($1.2).
Just before you settle down for lunch, make sure that there are no such curious creatures nearby.
Lumpini Park has a tennis court, outdoor exercise equipment and several playgrounds. In addition to Thais, expats who work in Bangkok also come here to walk their offspring.
Lumpini Park sometimes hosts orchestras and dances in the evenings.
Would you like to take a painting lesson?
Lumpini Park also has several pagodas and unusual sculptures.
How to get to Lumpini Park in Bangkok?
Lumpini Park is located in the central part of Bangkok, just 1.5 kilometers from the famous entertainment center.
You can get to the park by taking the MRT underground metro to Si Lom or Lumphini stations. It doesn’t matter which station you get off at, both are literally across the street from the park. Take the elevated BTS skytrain to Sala Daeng station. It is closest to Lumpini Park.
From the famous tourist area Khaosan Road to Lyumpini Park are served by buses No. 15 and No. 47. It's better not to drive during rush hours by land transport so as not to get stuck in traffic.
Opening hours of Lumpini Park in Bangkok
The park is open from 4:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Admission is free.
Map of Lumpini Park in Bangkok
Just below you will see two photos - this is a map of the park and a description of the marks on it.
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