Khlong Toei Walkway

I’ve been meaning to get to Lumphini Park at some point and, with time running out here in Bangkok, I decided that I better go this weekend. Lumphini Park is sort of Bangkok’s Central Park – a big, green space in the middle of the city, where people go to walk and run, have picnics, and to just relax and enjoy the (relatively) fresh air.

There is a subway stop at the park, but it’s also possible to walk from CentrePoint. There is a canal –Khlong Toei - just behind the apartments, with a walkway along the canal. (If we stick with the NYC motif, the walkway is sort of Bangkok’s answer to the High Line.) I went this way this morning and it turned out that the walkway was interesting in its own right.

To get there, first you cross a little wooden bridge right behind CentrePoint – avoiding the motorcycles, of course.

The walkway starts out pretty close to the canal, which, pictures notwithstanding, is not the nicest water around. In fact, it’s pretty stagnant and nasty. You can certainly smell it, which may be one of the reasons why there are rarely other people on the walkway.

The walkway goes up and over the Mahanakorn Expressway and then stays up high so when it crosses into a neighborhood next, you’re at rooftop level.

You get an interesting glimpse of Bangkok daily life – a look at what the houses in town must have looked like before high rises took over.

Most of the homes are old and wooden – probably the original canal homes.

Because this is the King’s Birthday weekend, some of the streets have yellow flags flying.

And out of nowhere, there was a mosque sticking up from the middle of all those wooden homes.

Eventually, the walkway crosses over one more main road – Wireless Road – and then you can head down into Lumphini Park - which I'll write about next.