Wachirabenchathat Park

What it is

Suan Wachirabenchathat is a 375-rai public park in Chatuchak district, run by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, which lists it under its older popular name Suan Rot Fai, the Railway Park. At roughly 60 hectares it is one of the largest open green spaces inside the city, and its character is different from the ornamental parks nearer the centre: this is a park built around movement, with a dedicated bicycle network, long jogging routes, sports facilities and boating water rather than a landscaped promenade. The Bangkok administration publishes it as open every day from 04.30 to 21.00, with cycling permitted across the full opening period, and lists entry as free.

Checked 2026-08-25 · Source

What's inside

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration lists for Suan Wachirabenchathat a network of walking and jogging paths, dedicated bicycle paths, children's playgrounds, and a sports centre with a swimming pool, futsal courts and pétanque. On the water there are pedal boats and kayaks for hire. The park also contains a butterfly and insect park, a wooded forest-park area, a traffic-education city where children learn road rules on scaled streets, and an environmental study centre — the administration presents the park as a place for nature study and ecosystem learning as much as for recreation. The single most conspicuous feature is a fountain the administration describes as the tallest in Thailand, at 72 metres. Restrooms, parking and areas where pets are allowed are also listed.

Checked 2026-08-25 · Source

How long to spend

Two hours is a realistic first visit to Suan Wachirabenchathat, and the figure is driven by the park's size rather than by the number of things in it. At 375 rai the perimeter is long enough that walking one lap and stopping twice consumes most of the morning; hiring a bicycle changes the arithmetic entirely and lets a visitor see the whole park in about an hour. Families intending to use the playgrounds, the traffic-education city and the boats should plan for a half day. Anyone coming only for a run or a ride and leaving afterwards will want the ninety minutes the loop takes at an easy pace.

Checked 2026-08-25

Season and crowds

The published opening time of 04.30 is not decoration — it exists because Bangkok's runners and cyclists use this park before sunrise, and the two hours after opening are the coolest and busiest of the day. The next good window is the last two hours before the 21.00 close, when the heat has gone. Between about ten and four the open sections are severe: there is very little continuous shade on the cycle circuit, and the wet season from roughly May to October adds afternoon thunderstorms to that. Weekday mornings are calmer than weekend mornings, when the sports centre and the playgrounds fill.

Checked 2026-08-25 · Source

Tickets

Entry to Suan Wachirabenchathat is free. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration states this plainly on the park's own page, alongside opening hours of 04.30 to 21.00 every day, and free entry applies to the park grounds generally rather than to a category of visitor. What the administration does not publish on that page is a charge list for the individual facilities inside — the swimming pool and the sports centre, the pedal boats and kayaks, the bicycle hire, and the butterfly and insect park may each set their own terms, and ssmtour records nothing for them. Carry small cash for those rather than assuming the free entry extends to every activity.

Checked 2026-08-25 · Source

Getting there

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration gives the park's address as Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road, Lat Yao sub-district, Chatuchak district, Bangkok 10900, and publishes a telephone number for the park, 02 537 9221. Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road runs along the park's edge and is where taxis and ride-hailing cars should be directed. The park forms part of the continuous belt of public green space in northern Chatuchak, so it is possible to arrive on foot from the adjoining parks rather than from the road. Parking is listed among the park's facilities for anyone driving. Cyclists bringing their own bicycle can ride in directly, since the bicycle paths run the length of the park.

Checked 2026-08-25 · Source

What to watch out for

Heat and water are the two things to plan for at Suan Wachirabenchathat. The cycle and jogging circuits are long and largely unshaded, and a visitor who starts a lap at midday in April without water is making a genuine mistake rather than an uncomfortable one. The park is shared between fast cyclists and walking families on partly overlapping paths, so keep to the marked side and be predictable. Monitor lizards live in the park's waterways and are harmless if left alone; do not approach or feed them. Pets are permitted in designated areas, which means loose dogs are possible near the lawns. The park closes at 21.00 and the outer paths are poorly lit before that, so do not plan to be at the far end at closing time.

Checked 2026-08-25 · Source

Photography

The 72-metre fountain is the obvious subject at Suan Wachirabenchathat and it is worth checking whether it is running before building a photograph around it, because a fountain of that height is not left on continuously. Otherwise this is a park that photographs best in the first hour after the 04.30 opening, when mist sits over the boating water and the cycle paths carry silhouettes against a low sun — a picture of Bangkok that has nothing to do with temples. Long lenses are useful for birds around the water and in the forest-park section. Keep clear of the cycle circuit when setting up a tripod: it is a working route at speed, not a footpath.

Checked 2026-08-25

Where it is

• 1 hour

  7 min walk · เขตจตุจักร

  Chatuchak Park

  • Must see
  • Nature site
• 1 hr 30 min

  9 min walk · เขตจตุจักร

  Queen Sirikit Park

  • Must see
  • Nature site
• 1 hr 30 min

  14 min walk · เขตจตุจักร

  Children's Discovery Museum

  • High
  • Museum

External links

• Official site
• View on Wikidata