Bangkok Guide - Tourism in Bangkok Explained
Organised tours to Damnoen Saduak will probably also include a visit the Rose Garden and the chedi at Nakhon Pathom. The Rose garden is set in large landscaped tropical gardens but is mostly visited for the "cultural show" that"s put on there - Thai traditional dance, Buddhist ordination ceremony, muay thai (Thai boxing), elephants at work, and takraw (a common sport in Thailand).Also in the grounds is a luxury riverside resort, thousands of rose bushes and hundreds of exotic birds. Close to Rose Garden are the Thai Human Imagery Museum and the Samphran Elephant Park. The human imagery museum is a Thai Madame Tussauds with images of famous monks and all the Chakri dynasty kings. The Elephant park has a variety of elephant and crocodile shows ( featuring these animals wrestling, performing in various ways, including tug-of-war).
Nakhon Pathom, around 60 km west of Bangkok, is a town famous as the reputedly the oldest in Thailand and the place where Buddhist missionaries first entered Thailand from India. It is a typical provincial Thai town with only the gold encrusted Phra Pathom Chedi giving a clue as to its celebrated past.
This is a massive 127m high, making it the word"s largest Buddhist monument, and the most important in all of Thailand. As well as the main chedi, there are numerous bots, Buddha images and other structures nearby. This area is mostly visited either on a day tour from Bangkok, or sometimes on route to Kanchanaburi.
Kanchanaburi is home to the River Kwai and its infamous bridge. The building of the bridge in 1943 was part of a wartime project to link existing Thai and Burmese railway lines to create a direct route from Bangkok, Thailand to Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar) in an effort to support the Japanese occupation of Burma. Over 100,000 conscripted laborers and 12,000 prisoners of war died during the whole project.
To the northeast of Bangkok in Minburi are both the Suwan Siam Water Park and the Safari World Park.
Easy to combine in one day trip, the water park is set in large landscaped gardens and has surf, whirlpools, fountains, waterfalls, large water slides and flumes. Other family attractions here are children"s playgrounds, colorful aviaries, an open zoo and botanical gardens.
With more than 150 acres, Safari World is the largest wildlife park in Southeast Asia. There are almost a hundred different animal species, including giraffes, zebras, elephants, lions and tigers. The marine section has trained dolphin shows and an aviary section with eagles, macaws and parrots. There are various shows available (including dolphins, birds, seals and 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, most taxi drivers can be persuaded to take you through it if pay them a little more for it. The other sections can be visited on foot.