Lumphini Park

This guide to Lumphini Park in Bangkok starts with a king's plan that never happened: in 1925, Rama VI donated royal land for a world's-fair-style exhibition, then died before it opened. It follows how the abandoned fairground quietly became something else instead, opening as Bangkok's first public park in 1929. You'll hear about the tamarind trees, chess tables, and paddle boats that replaced the planned carnival halls. Walk the lakeside path and see what else claims the park as its own.