There’s a forest in the city!
There are plenty of parks in the city here, but not enough ‘forest’ ….. but hang on, are there even one here in Bangkok? Parks are for jogging, while forest are for walking, in my definition. But of course that’s not the difference before I get tsk tsk tsk comment from readers. The PTT’s Metro Forest, or Forest in the City [directly translated from ป่าในกรุง Pa Nai Grung)] has been in my bucket list for so many gazillion years .. and finally, hello hello, glad to make your acquaintance!
Metro Forest was closed during some part of the pandemic .. it has been reopened since Nov 2021, but reservation of at least 3 days in advance is required. Fret’ not, as they do allow same-day reservation in the case of not many people turning up and that’s exactly what bf did : ) We were allowed same-day entry, and we chose the morning slot for a more pleasant walk/less hot. There are 2 visiting slots: morning session 9am-12pm and afternoon session 1pm-4pm and it’s FREE entry.
There are no MRT/BTS to the Metro Forest, unfortunately. The closest train station is Airport Rail Link (ARL) Lat Krabang, and that’s approx. 10km away .. which explains why it took me forever to make a trip here. For drivers, parking is by the roadside, but there are guards ‘looking’ over the cars and pointing you to where to park. Upon entry, temperature check and also providing name/contact number to be checked against the reservation list. Few visitors were turned away without reservation.
There are some rules that we are required to follow:
- Always wear a surgical mask
- Children aged below 12 years old, to be accompanied by the parents or guardians
- Do not take graduation photos (graduation gown) and Pre-wedding photos or profitable commercial photography
- No pet
- No smoking
- No running, climbing, jumping, especially in the Sky Walk, Tower and Roof Garden and do not walk away from the provided route
- Do not destroy or “migrate?” the environment
- Throw/dispose the trash or rubbish into the provided bin only
- No alcohols, drugs or any illegal items
- In case that you visiting as a group and make a permission to use the area for dining, please contact the personnel and bring all of the food waste, food containers, water bottles back with you and must be eaten in permitted areas only. If you violate or fail to comply with the prescribed guidelines including unwanted behavior and actions that infringe on the rights of others in various forms, the staff of the PTT Metro Forest reserves the right to refuse your entry or request you to leave the area for the safety of other visitors.
The Metro Forest is rather small, but 12-rai/19,2000 sqm man-made forest is better than nothing (1 rai = a unit of area equivalent to 1,600 square meters).
It was a happy walk, just like inside a forest .. with lots of greens and it’s divided into three sections – 75% forest, 10% water and 15% land. Key highlights to us are the 200-meter-long skywalk that leads to the 23-metre-high observation tower. There is also a rooftop garden, but it seems to be not managed (at all) .. in short, skip it. There are also information panels in Thai throughout the park, if you’re into flora ..
During our visit, most visitors were there for the greenery, but we encountered two visitors there for pose, pose, pose , i.e. photography but generally people are pleasant enough to give each other space. We were amazed seeing a woman on crutches, navigating the skywalk’s stair .. salute!
The view from the observation tower is amazing – glad we made that trip. Thank you, แฟน. Altogether, we spent almost 1 hour at the Metro Forest, and ended our trip with coffee at Amazon Cafe (also part of PTT group) adjacent to the main entrance.
PTT Metro Forest ศูนย์เรียนรู้ป่าในกรุง ปตท.
81 Sukhaphiban 2 Rd, Dok Mai, Prawet, Bangkok 10250
Tel: 02 136 6380
Business Hour 9am-4pm from Tue-Sun (Closed every Mon)
Booking: https://learningcenter.pttreforestation.com/en/center/1/booking
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pttmetroforest
Nearest public transport: ARL Lat Krabang, approx 10 km away
