Lumphini Park in Bangkok

I was fascinated by the crows of Lumphini Park that I dedicated one blog post about them. I was talking too much about them that I noticed that I no more space to talk about the park where I found these big black birds.

Crows are not the only interesting things that visitors can see in Lumphini Park. The park is a haven not only for the black birds but also for the health buffs. Lumphini Park was the go to place of those who want to jog and to exercise.

How to Go to Lumphini Park

Lumphini Park is located at the heart of the business district of Bangkok so it can be accessed by buses and taxi cabs. The best way to reach the park is by riding the underground MRT train and hopping off at the nearest MRT station to the park, which is the MRT – Silom Station. The exit of the MRT – Silom Station is located near the big statue of King Rama VI at the park's main gate.

Few Things about Lumphini Park

Lumphini Park is few of the wide open spaces in Bangkok. This place is precious for the residents of Bangkok because it is one of the rare spaces where they can enjoy nature. I bet that many Thais are thankful to King Rama VI, who donated the royal property to be converted to Lumphini Park.*

King Rama VI

My hunch is not incorrect because saw garlands and incense oferred to King Rama VI. There is even a kneeling cushion placed for those who want to honor their old king.

This is not the first time that I saw a statue of a Thai king to be laden with flowers and incense. I saw many Thais honor the old kings and even pray to them. I even saw similar practice done for the statues of local heroes and notable people. It makes me wonder if the Thais are worshipping their kings and heroes of old.

Lumphini Park was named after Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha in Nepal.*

The good thing about Lumphini Park is there is no entrance fee. Anyone, even foreigners, can enter this park without paying a single cent.

What to See and Do in Lumphini Park

As I had said, the park is a haven for health buffs. The place is very safe for joggers and many Thais and some expats go to this park to jog in the early morning or late afternoon. Lumphini Park has wide open spaces that are perfect for aerobics, tai chi and picnics. Lifts and other exercise equipments were set-up to be used by park visitors for free.

The park also has playgrounds for the kids.

Like Chatuchak Park, Lumphini Park has an artificial lake where one can “sail” using the pedal-boats for rent. Riding the two-seater boat is perfect for bonding for couples or father and child.

It seems like Thais like to have clock towers in public areas. I have seen one in Chatuchak Park, Chatuchak Weekend Market and even in Chiang Rai town of Northern Thailand. Lumphini Park also has a clock tower.

It is a pagoda-inspired clock tower. It actually looks good and I rank it as the best or second to the best clock tower I've seen in Thailand.

I enjoyed looking at it. I even toyed with my camera taking pictures of this clock tower.

The photo looks old, right?

Strolling around Lumphini Park, I saw Thai structures like this one:

Another weird thing that I saw is a big globe in the middle of greens.

This is no ordinary globe. This is a sundial given as a gift to the current king's sixth cycle birthday. Can you guess what time did I took the photo of the sundial?

These are the few things that I saw during my stroll in Lumphini Park. I know that the attractions are not enticing for tourists, especially those who have tight schedules. It is better that you go to grand tourist spots like the Wat Arun and Grand Palace instead of spending your time in Lumphini Park. But if you have some time, then I suggest that you drop by this place and relax a little before continuing your trip around Bangkok.

Crows Surrounded Me in Lumphini

I still have a couple of hours of sunlight after I shopped in Siam Center. The time is long enough so I used it to visit two places in the City of Bangkok. These places are the Holy Redeemer Church, which I talked about in the previous post, and Lumphini Park.

I read in a tourist guide booklet that Lumphini Park was created according to the wishes of King Rama VI. The park was then named after Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha in Nepal.* The park is a popular place for joggers, bikers and other health enthusiasts. The best thing is that there is no entrance fee for this park.

An afternoon at Lumphini Park.

Silence prevailed in Lumphini Park. I had a moment to take a rest, to breathe. Looking at the lake and slow movement of the swan boats somehow soothed me. Indeed it is good to sit and relax some of the time.

I'm enjoying the silence until a pair of crows started fighting for some trash. It is one of the rare times that I see this noisy bird. I watched the crows peck and scratch one another then another crow came then another and another then the whole place became very noisy. There are crows on the trees. Crows on the ground. Crows on the benches. Crows everywhere!

I made a move to take a photo but they suddenly flew away. It seems like these “harbingers of death” are still afraid of humans.

I noticed, as I walked around, that Lumphini Park is a crow territory. Other birds, like pigeons, may be seen in the park but the crows dominate them all. The crows like Lumphini Park because it is wide enough and human visitors provide food.

It is my first time to photograph crows and I had a hard time because they keep on moving. Now I know why photographers of National Geographic have “ultra-zoom” cameras. Animals can be photographed well if the photographer is very far away.

I think I should invest well in cameras and lenses if I want to become a professional “nature photographer”.

Of the many photos that I took of the crows, I think that this is the best:

This is one cool crow playing with a stick.

I'll be talking about Lumphini Park in the next blog post.

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*Wikipedia article for Lumphini Park.