Bangkok has a great choice of parks and botanical gardens spread across the city. Most of the larger and better known parks are located within easy reach of the city centre or by BTS and MRT. There are many smaller parks and recreation areas dotted around the city in sometimes unexpected places such as under bridges and flyovers. They are invariably clean and safe places to visit.
Many parks have daily organised activities such as Tai Chi and aerobics. Every day, hundreds of people join in the free aerobics activities at Lumpini Park close to Silom.
Boating lakes are a common sight at the larger parks and it does not cost much to hire a pedalo or rowing boat for some relaxing fun. Two of my favourite parks for boating are Lumpini Park and Benjakiti Park. Kayaks and sailing dinghies are sometimes available at Wachirabenchatat Park (the Railway Park or Suan Rot Fai) but there is rarely enough wind in Bangkok to fill the sails. If you want to go dinghy sailing, there are better places to visit just outside of Bangkok.
Wachirabenchatat Park has bicycles for rent and some of the best cycle paths for traffic-free cycling in Bangkok. Benjakiti Park also has bicycles for rent and generally has fewer pedestrians wandering into the path of oncoming cyclists.
This article lists many (but certainly not all) parks and botanical gardens open to the public in Bangkok, Thailand. If you would like to contribute to this directory, please use the comment form at the bottom of this page.
