Historic building - Temples - Museum - Top sights
Phahonyothin
The Phahonyothin area of Bangkok is centered around Phahonyothin road, starting from the Victory Monument, a major bus/Skytrain interchange. Also spelled Phaholyothin, Paholyothin etc, it runs parallel to and eventually merges with Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, stretching northward all the way past the old Don Muang Airport (now replaced by Suvarnabhumi) towards Rangsit and Highway 1 to Ayutthaya and (if you keep driving long enough) Chiang Mai.
Bangkok Butterfly Garden and Insectarium
Bangkok Butterfly Garden and Insectarium Situated in the southeastern area of Vachirabenjatas Park (Railway Park), Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road, the garden covers an area of approximately 6 rai. It displays 20 kinds of more than 500 butterflies. The garden, which connects to the Chatuchak and Queen Sirikit Parks, is an appropriate natural classroom for learning, conducting research, as well as, collecting and exchanging knowledge on butterfly species and insects, their life cycles and ways of living.
The garden is open daily except for Monday during 8.30 am - 4.30 pm Open: Tuesday - Sunday and public holidays from 8.30 am. - 4.30 pm
Admission: Free.
Victory Monument
Constructed in 1941 by military dictator Plaek Pibulsongkhram to commemorate the 59 Thais who lost their lives in the short and inconclusive French Indochina War. However, Pibulsongkhram was kicked out in 1944 and the patch of land gained by the Thais was handed back to Laos and Cambodia in 1945, making the "victory" a little hollow, and these days this spiky Bangkok landmark is now better known as Bangkok's largest local bus hub. If traveling north by Skytrain, you'll be treated to a 180-degree curving panorama of the monument, and this is the best view you can get as actually reaching the base of the monument would require passing through a triple-laned traffic circle maelstrom of buses.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
BTS Mo Chit, Metro Kampaeng Phet. Northern Bangkok's biggest draw, this incredibly vast, 35-acre outdoor market has over 8,000 vendors selling anything and everything under the sun. To put that number in perspective, if you browsed each stall each one minute, non-stop for 8 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, it would take you around two months to visit them all! A good rule of thumb is to buy immediately if you spot something interesting, because you will never find the same stall again. The market opens at 7 AM, so get there early to beat the crowds and the heat. Keep an eye on your belongings here as pickpockets work in the crowds, and avoid Chatuchak on rainy days as the roofs and drains here aren't quite up to a tropical downpour.
Open: Saturdays and Sundays, 6.00 am - 5.00 pm
Admission: free
Chatuchak Park
This is located at the junction of Phahonyothin and Vibhavadi Rangsit roads. There are nine pieces of ASEAN sculptures that enhance the character of the park.
Open: Daily from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admission: Free.
Children’s Discovery Museum
The museum is located inside Queen Sirikit Park and was established under the royal initiative of Her Majesty the Queen, in her realizing the significance of creating a pleasurable learning process for Thai children. Based on the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s children and family activities, the Children’s Discovery Museum took shape in the form of 3 exhibition buildings and an open-air activity ground covering a total area of 5 rai. The construction was completed in 2001 and undertaken under the project to celebrate the 60th birthday anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen. The museum offers exhibitions as well as funny activities for children to enjoy and learn about human life, sciences, culture and society, nature and the environment, including an exhibition in honour of Her Majesty the Queen.
Open: Daily (Tues-Fri from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat-Sun from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Admission: Adult 70 baht, Child 50 baht.
Bangkok Dolls & Museum
Bangkok Dolls & Museum Located at 85 Soi Ratchataphan (Soi Mo Leng) off Ratchaprarop Road. It was established by Khunying Tongkorn Chandavimol in 1956 after having completed a course on doll making from the Osawa Doll School in Tokyo, Japan. Her intention was to make as well as publicise Thai dolls. Bangkok Doll’s products are well recognised internationally and renowned among doll collectors. They won the first prize and the Honorary Gold Peacock Feather Award from the 3rd International Folklore Dolls Biennial 1978 in Poland. The place serves as both a museum and workshop where various kinds of dolls are displayed and made totally by hand, using mainly locally available materials. There are several categories of dolls such as Khon dolls, hill tribes, Thai rural lifestyles as well as Khon mask miniatures. There is also a corner in the workshop where a private collection of some 400 dolls from around the world are displayed.
The entrance is free.
Open: Mon-Sat from 8.00 am - 5.00 pm.
Philatelic Museum and Library
Located on the 2nd floor of the Metropolitan Postal Bureau (North) (behind Sam Sen Nai Post Office), Phahonyothin Road, Sam Sen Sub-district, it displays the history of the Thai postal service and development of Thai stamps from the past until present time. Moreover, “Solot”, the first Thai stamps used in the reign of King Rama V and the foreign ones of the member countries of the Universal Postal Union are on display. Also, there is a library collecting books and knowledge on post both in Thai and foreign languages. In the same area, stamps and accessories for stamp collection are on sale at the ground floor of the building. Next to the museum, there is also a room imitating the operational site and equipment of the post office in the past, providing services of postal money orders, selling stamps, etc. In front of the building, Thai postal boxes in various periods, as well as, those from foreign countries are exhibited.
Open: Wed–Sun from 8.30 a.m to 4.30 p.m
Admission: Free
Thai Labour Museum
This museum is located at the former office of the State Railway of Thailand Labour Union on Nikhom Rotfai Road, Makkasan, Ratchathewi. It exhibits a historical background of Thai labour in 7 rooms: Room 1, slave labour and corvée system – the foundation of ancient Thai society – presenting the history of Thai labour since ancient times; Room 2, Chinese coolies - early hire workers - featuring their way of life; Room 3, labour and the country’s reforms in the reign of King Rama V – a major transitional period in Thai history; Room 4, labourers and the 1932 Revolution – labourers before and after the revolution; Room 5, from World War to the Cold War – Thai labour under critical situations during World War II and the Cold War; Room 6, from the 14 October uprising to the economic crisis – life of Thai workers during the pro-democracy period, women and child labour, truck drivers and boxers; Room 7, labour artist Chit Phumisak – dedicated to Chit Phumisak, a significant thinker and intellectual. The exhibition in each room is displayed through various media such as television, slides and computer, which make it more interesting and easier to understand. The museum also provides a library service with books and research reports about labourers and computer training for workers.
Open: Wed-Sun and Public holidays from 10 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.,
Admission: Free
The State Railway Hall of Fame
This is a train museum where steam engines, train models, and miniature trains are exhibited along with the story of world railway systems. It is on the western side of Chatuchak Park adjacent to Kamphaeng Phet Road.
Open: Sat-Sun from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m
Admission: Free
Central Plaza Lardprao
Central Plaza Lardprao is a shopping mall on Phahonyothin Road at the end of Lat Phrao Road in Chatuchak district, Bangkok.
The mall opened in 1982 and was the first shopping mall of Central Group, Thailand's largest retail corporation.
Location: Pahonyothin
National Memorial
It is on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road slightly beyond Don Muang Railway Station. Covering an area of 38 rai, the National Memorial is under the responsibility of the Armed Force Education Department, Supreme Command Headquarters. There are wall paintings depicting historic events in Thai history from the Sukhothai period to Rattanakosin period, replicas of royal decorations, bas-reliefs of the establishment of the city and models recounting historic battles in Thai history.
Open: Mon- Fri from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: Free
Queen Sirikit Park
This is situated east of Chatuchak Park on Phahonyothin Road. It was built to commemorate the 60th birthday anniversary of HM Queen Sirikit. A big pool in the park contains three fountains and a fine collection of both Thai and foreign lotuses.
Open: Daily from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admission: Free.
Or Tor Kor Market
Right next to Chatuchak, far fewer tourists make it to the best place in Bangkok to buy high-quality plants and produce straight off the farm at Thai prices.
Rattanakosin - Riverside - Chinatown - Sukhumvit - Silom & Sathorn - Pathumwan - Ratchadaphisek - Phahonyothin - Around Bangkok