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Samut Prakan สมุทรปราการ

Samut Prakan Travel Guide: Ancient CitySamut Prakan Travel Guide: Ancient City
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Samut Prakan สมุทรปราการ is the city as well as provincial capital at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River to the south of Bangkok, Thailand. It is also the location of Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Central City Shopping Center, Bang Na, Samut PrakanCentral City Shopping Center, Bang Na, Samut Prakan
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The province of Samut Prakan was created during the Ayutthaya period. The name roughly translates as "ocean fortress", as it was where the Ayutthaya kings erected fortifications facing the Gulf of Thailand. At that time, the administrative center of the province was at Phra Pradaeng. The town was also fortified with town walls and moats. After the fall of Ayutthaya and the relocation of the Siamese capital to Thonburi, the ruler at that time, King Taksin, disbanded the fortification of the town.

In 1819, King Rama II established a new administrative center for Samut Prakan and erected a total of six forts on either sides of the Chao Phraya River. Today only two of these forts are still standing, Phi Sua Samut and Phra Chulachomklao. He also built the Phra Samut Chedi on an island in the river.

Erawan Museum, Samut PrakanErawan Museum, Samut Prakan
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Travel to Samut Prakan

Samut Prakan is off the tourist path. Usually only the locals go there. In any case, you can arrive at Samut Prakan by following Sukhumvit Road. It is 29 km from Bangkok. There are also air conditioned buses (and non-air conditioned ones) to Samut Prakan, more serving the locals than tourists. Air-conditioned bus 102, 126, 129, 142, 145, 502, 506, 507, 508, 511, 513, 523 and 525 go to Samut Prakan from various parts of Bangkok and Nonthaburi.

To use public transport, take the Skytrain Sukhumvit Line all the way to the last station, the On Nut Skytrain Station. From there, take bus 511 and tell the driver to drop you at Muang Boran. There, take a songthaew (passenger pickup truck) to visit the sights in Samut Prakan. If you can afford it, then take a taxi to Samut Prakan. Prepare to pay about ฿500. If you take the taxi to On Nut Skytrain Station, it costs ฿170.

Travel within Samut Prakan

Take the songthaew to go to different places in Samut Prakan.

Places of Interest in Samut Prakan


  1. Ancient City
    Also called Mueang Boran, this is a theme park with scaled replicas of ancient buildings of Thailand.

  2. Chulachomklao Fort
    Fort at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.

  3. Erawan Museum
    Museum in Samut Prakan dedicated to the three-headed elephant.

  4. Royal Thai Naval Academy
    Academy where naval cadets are trained for the Royal Thai Navy.

  5. Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm
    This is the largest crocodile farm in the world, and often a stopover for tours heading to Pattaya.

  6. Wat Bang Nam Phueng Nok
    Buddhist temple at Phra Pradaeng in Samut Prakan.

  7. Wat Prot Ket Chettharam
    Buddhist temple in Samut Prakan with a white chedi.

  8. Wat Khun Samut Trawat
    A Thai Buddhist temple located on an island in the mouth of the Chao Phraya River.

  9. Wat Ruag
    Buddhist temple at Phra Pradaeng in Samut Prakan.

  10. Wat Song Tham Woraviharn
    Buddhist temple in Samut Prakan.

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About this website



Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

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