A Few Slightly Left-of-Centre Bangkok Attractions

A Few Slightly Left-of-Centre Bangkok Attractions

Posted by Mark Philip

If you’ve been to Bangkok just once before, let alone on multiple occasions, it’s possible that you might be looking for something other than what the ‘standard’ itineraries usually entail on your next visit.

Undoubtedly some of the more obvious activities usually associated with tourism in the Thai capital should be experienced at least once. However, anyone looking for other things to do in the city might be surprised by the way that the list of possibilities gets longer and longer the more they look into it.

Certainly one thing that can be found in the undercurrent of the Bangkok vibe is innovation – usually from creative and inspired young entrepreneurial-types looking to jump on global trends or even start their own localised trends, and there never entirely seems to be any shortage of them.

This spirit can often be seen from some of the restaurants, cafes, bars, and other entertainment-style venues with various interesting or slightly off-kilter themes like ‘cat cafes’, ‘aeroplane restaurants’, and other interesting takes on existing themes.

But how weird do you want your experience in Thailand’s capital to be? It may be true that many people consider Bangkok to be pretty weird anyway – in any number of ways — but in a constant bid to be innovative or take things ‘one step further’ than anything that already exists, forward-thinking locals are always coming up with new ways to spend time in the city.

So, let us offer you a somewhat different perspective of the city with our guide to a few of the slightly left-of-centre activities in Bangkok that you may wish to experience if you are bored with straightforward temple tours and markets.

1. The Cartoon Temple

Ok, we’ll be honest – this feature is not entirely devoid of temples. However, this particular item is not what you might expect from a Bangkok temple under normal conditions.

Image by nik cyclist from creativecommons.org

Wat Pariwat, in Bangkok’s southern region, looks like a normal Bangkok temple from a distance – but upon closer inspection it becomes a bit more obvious that the statues around the perimeter may not be exactly what you would normally expect to see.

Then when you start to notice some of the finer points, like Pikachu, for instance, and maybe even a few super-heroes, you may start to wonder what is going on exactly. Then there are the Harry Potter characters, the monks with chainsaws, David Beckham (?), and various other images that you just quite simply wouldn’t normally expect to find in a temple in Bangkok.

Wat Pariwat is situated along Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River, and is comprised of several structures, including the ones more familiar to an operational city temple.

The massive courtyard with high walls, however, is where any unwitting visitors are likely to happen across some of the previously-mentioned characters – plus a fair few more. These are cleverly hidden amongst shrines decorated with all manner of mythical creatures usually connected with some form of Buddhist lore.

This place is guaranteed to amaze any unwitting Bangkok temple-goer, and is well worth a look.

Location: 734 Rama III Road Bang Phong Phang, Yannawa, Bangkok 10120

2. The Bangkok Snake Farm

Image by Tapperfrank sourced from wiki media commons

The Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute in Bangkok sounds rather formal and relatively harmless. However, it is also a snake farm and museum, the main purpose of which is to research snakes, their venom, and anti-venom.

Tourists are welcome at this establishment, which is actually run by The Red Cross. The institute was initially opened to gain more insights into vaccines like smallpox and rabies, but the focus eventually moved towards more reptilian pursuits

Image by ekeidar sourced fromwikmedia common

More than 30-odd different species and 3 floors of poisonous snakes are housed in the institute, which also contains a selection of other dangerous reptiles. However, this is no zoo, and the facility functions from an educational perspective.

There is a daily snake show for tourists, which demonstrates the ‘milking’ of the venom from a poisonous snake. Don’t worry though, the reason for this is that the institute produces the majority of Thailand’s anti-venom medicine, and shares its findings regarding the slithery reptiles with visitors to the centre.

Price: 200 baht for foreigners
Address: Thai Red Cross Institute, 1871 Rama IV Road, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330
Contact: 0 (2) 252 0161
Opening hours: Mon-Fri, 8.30am to 430pm; Sat-Sun and Holidays, 8.30am to 12pm

3. The Counterfeit Museum

Image by PPun sourced from wikimedia common

Anyone who has visited Thailand before is probably aware of the huge counterfeit market which includes pretty much everything that is available from designer clothes brands to watches, books, toys, and computer software to name but a few of the more than 3,000 exhibits held within the premises.

So how about a museum that contains a vast array of goods that have indeed been counterfeited over the years. And just to put a twist on things it is situated in the office of an operational law firm. And due to the location, the museum actually only accepts guests by appointment, so it is best to book in advance.

The items held within the office have apparently either been donated or acquired, with a lot of them having been used in intellectual property court cases.

Image by PPun fromwikimedia commons

The counterfeit goods in question, your honour, include all the well-known ‘name’ brands such as Adidas, Nike, Dragon Ball, Gucci, Prada, Casio, etc., etc., and apparently the majority of the goods  are made in China, rather than Thailand. Although of course anyone who has been to Thailand knows that goods like these are everywhere.

Entrance Price: 100 baht
Address: 1011 Rama 3 Road, Supalai Grand Tower, Bangkok, Thailand
Contact: +66 2056 5548
Opening hours: Appointment only, book your visit 1 day in advance.

4. The Sathorn Ghost Tower

Now this is a bit of a weird one. It’s not really a ‘ghost’ tower as such – at least in terms of being haunted (although there will undoubtedly be stories pertaining to that among the local Thais).

Image by neajjean from wikimedia common

This is more like ‘ghost town’ ghost – i.e. abandoned – which is exactly what happened to this huge and disused structure that was originally intended to be one of Bangkok’s prime city-centre residential and office spaces.

However, the construction began at an ill-timed and inopportune moment in Thai history in business terms – the 1997 crash that hit the country’s economy rather severely. It all went downhill from there in terms of unpaid debts and the Asian Financial Crisis, and many other building projects met the same eventual fate as this particular tower, although some of them did eventually get finished.

Image by alexander blecher soyrced from wikimedia commons

The 49-storey Sathorn Skyscraper wasn’t that far off completion as it turns out – and a couple of the things that make visiting this particular ‘attraction’ slightly left-of-centre are the fact that it is A — disused, and B – off-limits to the public (well, almost).

The story is that the ‘security guards’ stationed outside the tower to ‘protect it from potential trespassers’ have turned ‘admissions’ into a little side-line (whether they are ‘real’ or not is anyone’s guess).

So no real safety guarantees at all here from visiting this huge, apocalyptic-style and somewhat eerie high-rise with its exposed infrastructure in some parts and wild greenery springing up from various others.

Anyone who fancies this as an alternative sightseeing activity in Bangkok will be pleased to know that you can get in, and some of the views will be amazing, as the spot for this particular residence was indeed chosen because of the views it offers.

It’s also worth bearing in mind though that this is nothing short of a condemned building, with holes in some of the floors and not a hint of any health and safety measures in sight – so do so at your own risk!

The slightly safer (and more legal) option for a view along these lines is the car park just opposite the tower on the northern side, although this is a mere 10 floors in height.

Address: Soi Yan Nawa, Bangkok, 10120

5. The Sook Station (Prison Hotel)

While the idea of getting locked up during their time in Bangkok is probably one of the scariest and least desirable things anyone could imagine happening during their time in the kingdom of Thailand – there are those who consider it something of a novelty.

But fear not, this is nothing close to the real ‘Bangkok Hilton’ – in fact here we are looking at a significantly more comfortable and quirky option of accommodation in ‘The Sook Station’..

The Sook Station is one of Bangkok’s more unusual places to stay in that upon arrival you are given a mugshot, striped ‘inmate’ pyjamas, and a there are a few other touches to evoke the feeling of being in prison.

The rooms are decked-out to look like prison cells, resplendent with black-and-white striped curtains also depicting iron bars. This is undoubtedly an absolutely unique Bangkok hotel with slightly more than a left-of-centre feel to it.

Location – 45-49 Sukhumvit 101/2 Alley, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10260

Rates -The tariff starts at around just under 4000 baht per night.

6. Insects in the Backyard (Bug Restaurant)

Although the very idea of them being anything close to edible is enough to send many customers scurrying away, insects and specific dishes prepared with them are nothing new to Thai culture.

But for the majority of visitors to the Thai capital it’s possible that a ‘bug restaurant’ might sound somewhat like one of the more unusual places to visit. But ‘Insects in the Backyard’ is apparently the first restaurant in the country to focus solely on what are considered to be the cream of edible insects.

In fact, this unique and highly left-of-centre Bangkok eatery is a veritable insect wonderland, boasting a range of dishes cooked and prepared in various ways using available prime insects of the day.

For unsuspecting walk-in patrons, the huge grasshopper dummy overhanging the facade of the restaurant might prove something of a giveaway. Other than that, the trendy, modern décor with a touch of the rustic could have many an unwitting customer to believe they have stumbled on a regular Thai eatery – that is until they see that the menu features various Thai and Western dishes with insects as the central ingredient.

Location: Bang Phlat, Bangkok 10700

Hours: 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm

7. Bangkok Float Centre

Total sensory deprivation is possibly not everyone’s experience or idea of Bangkok. In fact, it’s probably just the opposite – but the city does indeed have a special place where you can go and literally shut off from everything, by way of the Bangkok Float Centre.

The potential mental and physical benefits of float tanks have been well-documented for decades now, and although the majority of Bangkokians would hardly even know where to find one, but in Bangkok they are.

So head on out to the Bangkapi region of the city if all the stress and strain of the shopping, chaos and din gets a little too overwhelming and you feel the need to escape from it – literally!

Price:  2000 baht
Address: 4th Floor, Show DC Mall, Jaturatid Road, Huai Khwang, Bangkapi, Bangkok 10110

Hours: 10 am–10 pm

8. Street Art Trails

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

You may not think of Bangkok as a particularly ‘arty’ place (although it does currently have a highly-burgeoning Boutique Art Gallery scene).And admittedly, it can sometimes be difficult to peer beyond the dull, grey, external veneer of the endless concrete, old and new, in a city that seems to be more humid and deprived of oxygen every time you visit it.

But there’s one thing Bangkok definitely is – much like many capital cities that pull influences from a broad range of sources—and that is quirky. And quirky means contrast.

So if you are prepared to do a little digging in your quest to find alternative activities in Bangkok, you may likely find that, in typical ‘quirky contrast style’, it is also known to exhibit another type of art, sometimes in somewhat unsuspecting-looking places.

We are talking Bangkok graffiti now, and if you’ve ever daydreamed from the window of the BTS Skytrain mid-afternoon, you might already have noticed that the city is rather riddled with colourful graffiti.

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

If you go on the lookout though, a good place to start is along the increasingly-hip Charoen Krung Road, along a few small alley ways near the Chao Phraya River.This road is itself a ‘trail’ of sorts in terms of graffiti street murals.

The region is quite well-known in Bangkok for a graffiti reference point, and some of the work, including contributions from international artists, has apparently existed for years.

Charoen Krung Road, Bangkok

(Start from Saphan Taksin Pier if walking).