Interlude 2: Suan Rot Fai (Railroad Park) in Bangkok

07/29/2012.  8:00 AM.

Start:  GPS N 13, 48.953, E 100, 33.205

Suan Rot Fai, or "Railroad Park", is a large public park of approximately 150 acres located amid the skyscrapers of northern Bangkok. It was renamed Wachira Benchatat Park in 2002 in honor of the Crown Prince of Thailand, but most people still seem to call it Rot Fai Park, and a sign near the entrance still carries the old name (see photo at left). The park is located just west of Chatuchak Park, across a busy street.

Suan Rot Fai used to be a golf course, and the ghost of that former function is still visible, with overgrown fairways, water traps, and the occasional outline of a sand bunker still visible. Some areas are kept mown, while others are overgrown, offering a nice mix of habitats for different kinds of birds. One birder particularly known for birding in urban areas placed this park on a Top Five List for urban birding locations around the world.

Access to Rot Fai Park is relatively easy by BTS Skytrain or the MRT Subway.  I took the BTS Skytrain to Mo Chit, and followed the signs to Chatuchak Park until I reached Exit 3. The exit leads to an overpass that crosses Phahonyothin Road, then down to street level on the opposite side of the road.  Just to the left of the stairs is a line of taxis. I asked the driver to take me to "Suan Rot Fai" and was there in a few minutes at a cost of about 50 baht ($1.60). UPDATE:  On a subsequent visit I discovered an entrance to Suan Rot Fai just across the street from Chatuchak Park. This entrance is a short distance south of the parking lot for Chatuchak Park. There is a greenish metal bridge that leads from the street to the Bangkok Sport Complex as well as the park. I used this as an exit point on my second visit because there are plenty of taxis on the road, and it saved me having to walk all the way back to the main entrance. If you want to use it as an entrance and avoid taking a taxi, it would be relatively easy to walk from Mo Chit station, through Chatuchak Park, then across the street to Bangkok Sport Complex.  You will want to head toward the far north of Chatuchak Park, well past the second bridge, in order to find this entrance.

The sky was cloudy when I arrived and remained mostly cloudy the whole time I was in the park. Birds were active everywhere from the time I entered. The park is heavily used by bicyclists, and it is possible to rent bicycles from vendors near the car park. I chose to go by foot, but might consider renting a bicycle and parking it when I want to walk around the interior of the park in a future visit.

The park has an outside set of paved biking trails that mostly follow the contours of the edge of the park, but there are also some paths into the interior. I decided to head for the interior first and to try to stay off of the bike paths as much as possible, mostly because it was a Sunday morning and there were a lot of visitors. Later, I found a map online suggesting that the best birding spots tend to be closer to the perimeter. A good excuse to go back again if I get a chance.

Birds Sighted at Suan Rot Fai:
Common Myna: Just inside the entrance to the park. This is a common bird in Central Thailand and in the park, and was seen many times.

Oriental Magpie Robin:  GPS N 13, 48.929, E 100, 33.205. I saw a juvenile in addition to several adults over the course of the day.

Spotted Dove:  GPS N 13, 48.901, E 100, 33.241. Relatively common in the park.

Coppersmith Barbet: In the same tree with the first Spotted Doves I sighted. The tree was on a small island in the middle of a pond.  See photo on left (photo is from the web).

Little Egret:  Wading in the pond beneath the tree with the doves and barbet. Three species of Egret have been seen in the park previously, but I saw this one's distinctive yellow feet as it walked around the shallows so could positively identify it.

Asian Pied Starling:  GPS N 13, 48.871, E 100, 33.273. Saw these in several places around the park.

Indian Roller: Near the place where I saw the Asian Pied Starlings. Saw them in flight this time.

Large Billed Crow: Fairly numerous around the park. In one place, a group of 8 or 10 were raiding a garbage can, dragging the contents all over the place.

Scaly Breasted Munia: GPS N 13, 48.869, E 100, 33.270. I initially saw just a pair of these, but later would see a small group of perhaps 20 birds.

Pied Fantail: GPS N 13, 48.834, E 100, 33.274.

Peaceful (Zebra) Dove: GPS N 13, 48.795, E 100, 33.286. It appears that the Peaceful and Zebra Doves have now been split into two separate species. The Thai version would be the Zebra Dove.

White Vented Myna: GPS N 13, 48.775, E 100, 33.290. This is also called the Great Myna. A fairly common bird in Central Thailand.

Javan Pond Heron: These are easily confused with the Chinese Pond Heron, but the season is not right for the Chinese Pond Heron.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow: GPS N 13, 48.750, E 100, 33.305. Quite common in some parts of the park.

Black Collared Starling: GPS N 13, 48.742, E 100, 33.274. Only saw one of these. It was very boisterous.


Olive Backed Sunbird: GPS N 13, 48.740, E 100, 33.137. See photo below (from the web).

Asian Openbill:  GPS N 13, 48.746, E 100, 33.119. I stopped to use a restroom around the middle of the park. The restroom was around the back overlooking a medium-size pond. When I stepped out of the restroom, the Asian Openbill was perched on a rock only about 15 feet away. It stayed for a minute or so, but left just as I got my camera out to try to snap a photo.

In addition to these identified birds, I saw a swift or swiftlet that I didn't get a chance to identify, a small heron that disappeared while I was trying to look it up in my book, and one species of robin-size bird whose markings didn't seem to match well enough to anything in the book. Perhaps I can narrow that one down by going through the bird checklist for Suan Rot Fai and finding the closest match for next time.

I spent three hours in the park and identified 17 species. The Coppersmith Barbet and Little Egret are new species for my lifelist. All-in-all, an enjoyable outing and a park that I would recommend to birders who want to pick up some of the more common species of Central Thailand.

Interlude 1: Chatuchak Park in Bangkok

07/28/2012.  7:50 AM.

Start:  GPS N 13, 48.206, E 100, 33.231

Chatuchak Park in Bangkok, Thailand is easy to reach by either the BTS Skytrain or the MRT Subway. By Skytrain, take the Sukhumvit Line to Mo Chit Station. Follow the signs to Chatuchak Park. I believe I took Exit 3. Take the skywalk over Phahonyothin Road from the Mo Chit station, and turn right when you reach the bottom of the stairs on the other side of the road. The entrance to the park is adjacent to the Chatuchak Park MRT Station, and is accessible through a small gate. Chatuchak Park is a self-contained park, but just across Kamphaeng Phet 3 Road is an even larger green space, including Queen Sirikit Park,and Suan Wachira Benchathat, which used to be called Suan Rot Fai or State Railway Public Park. This report is limited to Chatachuk Park.

This particular entrance is near the southern end of the park. I would recommend turning left first to hit the small section to the south of the entrance, then turn north and go as far as you wish. The most northerly part of the park is the most ornamental (trees and bushes planted for their beauty, not their appropriateness to the environment) so that would be the area to miss if you visit the park for birding and don't want to walk its entire length. There don't seem to be any truly natural areas here, but some spaces contain larger trees that seem to attract more birds.

The outer pathways in the park are often close to the two big roads that run on either side of the space, so traffic noise is fairly high. This can make it difficult to hear the movements of birds and means that you must rely fairly heavily on scanning the trees and following birds in flight. According to a checklist I found online, 78 species have been identified in the neighboring Suan Wachira Benchathat park, though a few of these are thought to be escapees from the local market. Thai people sometimes make pets of wild birds, and there is also a tradition of paying to release a bird back into the wild as a way of "making merit" to improve one's future life after reincarnation. Some birds end up being captured and released multiple times by "entrepreneurs" trying to capitalize on this custom. These are the two most likely sources of escaped birds in the park. Many of the wild bird species are only present during the migratory periods of September-October and April-May, so the list of birds potentially present at this time of year is quite a bit smaller than 78.

Birds Sighted at Chatuchak Park:

It was around 82 degrees Fahrenheit when I started, under partly cloudy skies.

Pied Fantail:  The first one seen was right at the entrance.

Rock Pigeon:  GPS N 13, 48.281, E 100, 33.240.  These were numerous in the park, probably the most numerous birds present.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow:  Saw these in several places around the park, usually in small groups.


White Vented Myna:  GPS N 13, 48.281, E 100, 33.262. These were fairly common in the park.

Asian Pied Starling:  Also fairly numerous in the park. Usually seen in pairs.

Oriental Magpie Robin:  GPS N 13, 48.297, E 100, 33.273.

Common Myna:  These were probably the second most common species in the park.

Spotted Dove:  GPS N 13, 48.486, E 100, 33.292.

Indian Roller:  GPS N 13, 48.519, E 100, 33.389. These birds are beautiful, particularly in flight. The photo on left is from the web.

Scarlet Backed Flowerpecker:  GPS N 13, 48.585, E 100, 33.441. This one really stands out, despite its small size. Saw one in three different places around the park. See photo (from the web) below.

Olive Backed Sunbird:  Both a male and a female. Sunbirds occupy a similar ecological niche to the hummingbirds of the Americas. Even though they do not have the Hummingbird's fast-beat wings, they are able to hover in place quite well.

Egret (species unknown):  GPS N 13, 48.785, E 100, 33.525. Three types of Egret have been previously seen in a neighboring park. This one flew by quickly and I was unable to make a firm identification.

Peaceful (Zebra) Dove:  GPS N 13, 48.645, E 100, 33.421. These are sometimes just called Zebra Doves, presumably because of some black and white striping on the breast.

Large Billed Crow: GPS N 13, 48.612, E 100, 33.392. Much larger than the American Crow, these also have a very large beak. Reminded me more of a raven than a crow.

Brown Throated Sunbird:  GPS N 13, 48.469, E 100, 33.392. This bird was a beauty. I saw it in a small tree along with a Scarlet Backed Flowerpecker (see photo at left) and a pair of Olive Backed Sunbirds. There must have been something very tempting in that tree.

I exited the park at around 10:45 AM, having identified thirteen species. Had I been more familiar with the birds of the area, I might have picked up two or three more. I identified six new species for my lifelist: Pied Fantail, Asian Pied Starling, Magpie Robin, Olive Backed Sunbird, Large Billed Crow, and Brown Throated Sunbird.