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.