The Ancient City (Muang Boran)
Ancient City is a ‘mini-world’ focusing on Thailand’s history and culture. Representations of all aspects or eras of Thai culture are displayed here. A site of some 320 acres, the Ancient City is shaped like Thailand and as you wander around the ‘country’ you encounter the architecture and spirit of each place. Some of the reconstructions are of buildings that do not exist any more. In ‘northern Thailand’ you can see a wooden temple (‘Wat’) that typifies the temples from that area. It’s probably best to travel around the site by bicycle which can be rented from the park. Again, this is an all day event. The journey to the site will take you quite a while and you’ll need a day to wander around everything so it will be an early start and a late finish. This is a great place, but a bit of a commitment in terms of time and effort. Unless you really do have lots of time available, it will probably be better to miss this attraction.
Details: The Ancient City is located in Samut Parakarn – an entirely different province to Bangkok. Admission is 100 Baht for adults 50 Baht for children, plus 50 Baht if you drive your own car.
How to get there: Again, because of the distance involved, and the fact that you are probably taking a child, a taxi is recommended. Although expensive, the savings in convenience entirely outweigh the cost.
The following buses will get you there:
Air-conditioned bus number: 511 (from the Southern Bus Terminal-Paknam) to the end of the line. Take the 36 mini-bus from here to the entrance of Ancient City.
Contact:
Ancient City
Samut Prakan
KM 33 (old) Sukhumvit Road
Bangpoo
Tel: 0-2709-1644
Fax: 0-2323-9253
Website: http://www.ancientcity.com
Bangkok Office
78/1 Democracy Monument
Ratchadamnoen Ave.
Bangkok
10200
Tel. 0-2224-1057, 0-226-1936-7
Fax. 0-2226-1937