Discovering Thailand MUANG BORAN - THE ANCIENT CITY

Wendy Hill

 

Most visitors to Thailand are interested in the more common tourist sights like the Temple of the Emerald Buddha & Grand Palace, or the islands or Bangkok's fabulous shopping. I have wanted to go to Muang Boran for some time but could never find a willing victim to go with me until my Mom arrived.

Muang Boran officially opened on 11th February 1972 and is laid out over 320 acres in a shape corresponding to the map of Thailand. It contains 116 monuments built to scale a third of their actual size. It was officially opened on 11th February 1972 and when we were there in February, extensive maintenance work was being done. The international guide book that I read rated Muang Boran as "surprisingly good", but I was still not too sure what to expect.

The Ancient City has been created to serve as an open air museum and education centre to preserve the history and culture of Thailand and includes a Floating Market, an old Market Town and other accurately reproduced monuments and historical sites from all over Thailand.

You can easily spend a good couple of hours exploring the various monuments either in your own car or you can hire a golf cart or bicycles or join a guided tour. They sell really good guide books which are also available in English and as each monument is numbered, it is easy to read the corresponding story in the guide book. There are food vendors dotted around the park and wonderful shady areas to sit beneath the trees.

So if you are looking for a great family outing or if your visitors are only here for a short time, if they really want to experience Thailand in a few hours they can do so at the Ancient City.

Operating hours: daily from 08:00 am to 05:00 pm.
Location: km 33 (Old) Sukhumvit Road, Bangpoo, Samut Prakan
By Car or Taxi: Take the Express Way as far as the Samrong-Samut Prakan Exit. Turn to the Samut Prakan Intersection. Turn left along the old Sukhumvit Road (towards Bangpoo) until you get to km. 33. The Ancient City is on the left.
By Bus:Take air-conditioned bus No. 511 (Pinklao-Paknam) to the end of the line. From here, take the mini-bus No. 36. It passes the entrance to the Ancient City.
Tel/Fax: 02 323 9253 or 02-709 1644
Web: www.ancientcity.com for details of admission fees