The island of Bang Krachao is often known as “Bangkok’s Green Lung,” but also colloquially as “Pig Stomach Island.” This used to be a peninsula formed by a bend of the Chao Phraya River, but these days, a thin canal separates it from the mainland, making it technically an island. Although not located within the limits of Bangkok proper, it is almost completely engulfed by its metro area, making it one of its most important zones of low-rise development and biodiversity in Thailand’s capital.
“Pig Stomach” comes from its shape, resembling the porcine offal, while Green Lung is fairly self-explanatory given the abundance of trees and greenery here. Within this Green Lung, there is a greener heart, and that is Sri Nakhon Khuean Khan Park and Botanical Garden, a sprawling area of islands, ponds and canals that attract many species of birds, insects, fish and even the occasional monitor lizard.
A bird-watching tower is the most representative structure of the park, allowing for a view across the canopy, where you can appreciate that no building on the island seems to be taller than the trees.
For the botanical garden aspect, many of the trees and plants have bilingual signs in Thai and English that explain their names as well as uses in cuisine, traditional medicine, etc. Birders can look out for local specimens of kingfishers, woodpeckers, flycatchers and others. Outside of the park, the muddy banks of the Chao Phraya river surrounding Bang Krachao are often populated with mudskippers.
