Leisurely ride in an urban oasis
It’s been quite a while since Suan Rod Fai (officially named Vajirabenjatas Park) launched its new cycling lane. However, a great many Bangkokians have never heard about the cool improvement. Today let’s check it out together. Located right next to Chatuchak and Queen Sirikit parks, Suan Rod Fai is not just the only in the three-park complex that allows cycling but also one of the few places in Bangkok where city slickers can enjoy a leisurely bike ride among refreshing greenery.
The new bike lane is nicely paved and painted in green to distinguish it from the separate lanes used by strollers, joggers and other park-goers. Forming a loop that encircles most of the park’s compound, it is also longer than the previous one.
If you arrive at Suan Rod Fai on bicycle, you can start exploring the new cycling lane from either of the park’s gates, the main one on the north side or the smaller one on the east side. For those who don’t bring a bicycle, rental rigs are available at the stalls near the main entrance and the car park. The fees are cheap, from 30-50 baht a day. The bikes are rideable but understandably not of the best quality nor in the optimal condition.
Attendants at those stalls are far from polite so don’t pay much attention to their manners (or the lack of it), just choose the bike with functioning brakes and well-pumped tyres, pay the money and ride off.
Let’s suppose you enter the park via the main entrance. Once you find the new green cycling lane, follow the arrow. It’s one-way traffic. Not far from the starting point, you’ll pass a vintage locomotive, which serves as a soft reminder of the place’s previous life. Before being turned into a public park in 2003 it was a golf course of the State Railway of Thailand. The name Suan Rod Fai means “Railway Park”.
After the first turn, you’ll be greeted by a lush lawn and a big pond with tall buildings towering in the background. From there, the looped cycling course leads to different parts of this urban oasis where you’ll find different types of vegetation that are home to a variety of birds, squirrels and other animals.
Like other Bangkok parks, monitor lizards are a common sight. Along the way, there are also bridges, mild slopes and curves.
The bike lane is not wide, about 2m from one side to the other, therefore one should keep left so that faster bikers have room for overtaking. For safety and etiquette reasons, family and friends should not hog the path but ride in a single file.
Unlike Benjakitti Park next to Queen Sirikit National Convention Center or the currently temporarily closed Sky Lane at Suvarnabhumi Airport, this place is not recommended as a training ground for serious cyclists. Going full steam during the park’s peak hours is dangerous and not even possible. Besides, there’s a speed limit of 30kph.
The new cycling lane at Suan Rod Fai may not be perfect for everybody. Still, it’s a wonderful feature that is not available in every public park. If all riders have care and respect for one another, we can all have a happy ride.
Well, see you here again next Thursday. Until then, if you have questions, news or biking insights you wish to share, please feel free to send an email to pongpetm@bangkokpost.co.th or go to community page on Facebook.
Pongpet Mekloy is the travel editor and a mountain bike freak.