i'm going to show you one of the most amazing parks in bangkok thailand this
is wachirabenchathat park more commonly known as rot fai park. rot fai means train
and this park used to actually be owned by the thailand state railway you'll see some trains
all around the park but don't worry we'll get to that later right now let's go have a look around
every year they plant thousands of these amazing sunflowers and as you can see it's just really
really beautiful sunflowers are such an important part of thai culture they were King Bhumibol's
favorite flower so it's a really special place for locals to visit it's a great place for tourists to
come to it's just really really beautiful i can literally see thousands of sunflowers everywhere
i look it's so incredible the sunflowers normally bloom sometime between october and february
last year it was more around october this year it's january. whenever it is you need to come and
check it out they're really incredible if you want to see sunflowers in thailand usually you
have to go all the way to Lopburi which is famous for its sunflower fields but you don't have to go
all that way we have sunflowers right here in Bangkok. you just need to come to rot fai park
they're absolutely everywhere right now you really need to come and see it for yourself
there's so much nature here i can see little honey bees and the flowers
and i keep seeing squirrels running through the flowers too. it's so cute. as i'm sure you
can imagine this is a really popular place for taking photos it's usually pretty busy in the
mornings and evenings so if you want it all to yourself i recommend coming in the afternoon
yeah it's going to be hot but you're going to get the most incredible photos all by yourself
there are sunflowers literally everywhere i look it's like looking at a sea of yellow it's just
really really beautiful in this part of the park they've built the most amazing bamboo walkways
it's a really great place to come and reflect and also really good for instagram photos too
on one side you've got the incredible yellow sunflowers and on the other side you have native
thai lotus plants. it's so incredible here you really need to come and check it out for yourself
now we've had a good look at the sunflowers let's see what else is here let's go some of the lotuses
are already out and i can't wait to come back when they're all in bloom it's going to be incredible
the lotuses really remind me of the famous lotus lake in udon thani, which is where we used to live
it's just such an incredible sight. this shade of pink is not something you see in nature very often
it's so beautiful. something i think is so cool and i've never seen before
is these boats they take these boats into the lakes and use them to help care for
the lotuses and the other plants here isn't that awesome it's such a cool thing to see
you never quite know what you're going to bump into here. there are all kinds of statues
scattered throughout the park and it even has this little driving area for children. it's really cool
rot fai park even has its very own butterfly garden yeah a butterfly
garden i've heard it even has a waterfall in there too let's go inside and take a look
inside the butterfly garden there's this educational area
protip: it's the only place in the park you're going to find aircon. it's really lovely popping
in here just to feel a bit more refreshed. now let's go have a look at the butterflies
hey look there's a banana plant! i'm so excited to be inside this building. it's so beautiful from the
outside and even more spectacular from the inside. there are butterflies flying all around us and
there's this amazing fountain too. it's splashing so high up in the air it almost touches the ceiling
there are stairs that lead you all the way to the top of the butterfly garden. it's a really
good vantage point. you can see everything from up here you can see all the all the butterflies and
you can even see the waterfall that's down below. you might get a bit of a fright when you come in
here and see just how big these butterflies are. some of them are almost the size of birds i've
never seen butterflies anywhere near this big outside of asia. it's crazy. i'm not sure exactly
how but a lot of the butterflies seem to escape the butterfly garden. you'll find them throughout
the park. honestly i've never been to a park that has so many butterflies absolutely everywhere
wow that butterfly looks just like a leaf but when it opens its wings its vibrant bluey purple
and orange. that's so amazing. i had to stop and show you this. it really reminds me of a tree we
have in new zealand called a pohutakawa tree. i think this might be a hibiscus but i'm not sure
if you know let me know in the comments and if you don't know what a pohutakawa tree is make sure
you look it up. they're really cool. this park even has its very own waterfall. let's go take a look
this is so cool i feel like i'm in a jungle or something
rot fai park is a really popular running spot but it also has this amazing bike track
you can rent a bike for between 20 and 60 baht and ride it around the whole park. the paths actually
go different ways to the walking paths so you can explore completely different parts of the park
it's really cool and i totally recommend it. i love coming here and doing it
this park has so many different ecosystems as you can see behind me. it's way more dense and it's way
more wet there's even a river right down here. you're going to find different animals in this
part of the park. we often see monitor lizards swimming along the rivers which is so cool. i
really love monitor lizards. there's also a little bridge behind me right here it's part of the
bike track. you'll often hear bikes ringing their bells and zipping along the bridge super quickly
this is a real community style park. there's this enormous space here and if you pass by
at about 6 p.m you're gonna see big tai chi classes or group dance sessions. it's so cool
this park also has a place to play petanque. if you walk past in the evenings you'll see locals
throwing the big metal petanque balls against each other. it's a really cool thing to watch
if you get hungry or thirsty while you're here don't worry
there's this really helpful little shop right here
this park is a really popular spot for runners and as you can see the
distances are all really clearly labeled so you know exactly how far you've gone
a lot of people might not know that rod fai park actually used to be a
golf course that was owned by the state railway of thailand
if you know anything about golf then you'll be able to see evidence everywhere that this used
to be a golf course. right behind me these mounds would have been tee boxes and i'm
gonna flip the camera around to show you what would have been the tree line fairway
as you can see behind me this tree-lined fairway with water hazards all around
would have been quite a tricky shot. this mound would have been one of the championship teams
and this would have been another tee box
next time you come here come and see how many fairways you can find
i wonder if you can find all 18.
this park used to be owned by the state railway of thailand and that's how it got its nickname
rot fai which means railway so of course you can see some different railway carriages displayed
around the park they're really cool to look at and a really nice slice of the city's history. wow
imagine riding this train back in the day. that's so cool. random fun fact this train was made by
mitsubishi in japan in 1950. it was used to carry freight and people for over 30 years in thailand
there are lakes all over this park and i'm pretty sure this one's the biggest
if you're looking for monitor lizards this is probably where you're gonna find them
you might see them swimming under the water or hanging out by the water's edge but what
i really love about this huge lake is the walking path that goes around it
it's really beautiful and really cared for and it's a great place to take it all in
it's just so peaceful here i love it
there are so many beautiful flowers all over this park
you're probably wondering where exactly rot fai park is. it's just down the road from chatuchak
market and it's right next to chatuchak park. all you need to do is cross the road
one thing i probably should mention is that they're currently renovating this park
they're actually going to be joining chatuchak park and rot fai park together
so if you want to see this park like it is right now you need to come quickly
don't worry if you miss it though it's going to get even better
if you like seeing rot fai park at this amazing time
of the year give this video a like and i'll catch you in the next one