Samut Prakan (26 Aug 12)

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For those of you who've missed me, here are some photos from a one-day trip I made to nearby Samut Prakan, a short one hour bus ride away from downtown Bangkok. Despite already having spent over a month in Thailand, this was in fact the first time I was taking the public bus! Previously, for my inter-city journeys I'd relied on a combination of tourist buses, minivans and trains, so with this latest journey I believe I've more or less fully completed the puzzle! This of course does not include the subway, sky-train, taxi, motorcycle taxi, sawng-theaw and ubiquitous tuk-tuk that together form the dizzying array of Bangkok's transportation options.

As for Samut Prakan, it is almost yet another unassuming, typical Central Thailand city, but with a distinct difference. Specifically, it boasts a few seemingly tailor-made tourist attractions, namely a crocodile farm that was the first, and is the largest, in the world; the famous Erawan Museum, as well as the Ancient City, an outdoor museum showcasing almost life-sized replicas of some of the most famous sites in all of Thailand, in a large area spanning some 200 hectares!

Having previously visited a site in Thailand that seemed to have similarly far-reaching ambitions (i.e. Mini Siam in Pattaya), but in fact turned out to be rather kitschy and over-the-top, I was somewhat skeptical of the Ancient City. How wrong I would be. The entire area was in fact beautifully and tastefully landscaped, and the replicas painstakingly elaborate, and seemingly quite true to the originals. In all, it really was rather impressive, enhanced by the fine weather that held up all afternoon, and the absence of the tourist hordes. It was a memorable, leisurely cycle through the entire area, and in fact so pleasing that I almost felt guilty there seemed to be so few others around, given the immense effort it had surely taken the Thais to construct the place.

Having spent a longer time than I'd anticipated there, I had to head back to Bangkok without checking out the other major sights, i.e. the crocodile farm and Erawan Museum. But it's only an hour away from Bangkok, so I'm sure I'll have to chance to re-visit in the future, and when I do, you'll see the pics too!

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Photos

Phra Pad Sam Yod
Replica of the Lopburi monument.

Bicycle, Bicycle
"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike..."
Literally thousands for hire in anticipation of the tourist hordes, but it seems decades on from the completion of the project, the Ancient City is still quite under-visited, with idling bikes of hire as proof.

Samut Prakan
The Ancient City aside, almost as typical a Thai city as you can get...