Bang Pu Nature Park
Sukhumvit Road, Samut Prakan
About
Just about a 30-minute drive out of Bangkok heading east and along the seashore is Bang Pu. It is a popular escape from the city and you will find Thais lining the long concrete pier, watching and feeding an enormous number of seagulls. Before the entrance to the pier is a nature park where birders will have a lot of luck seeing a wide range of shorebirds. There is a large blind suspended over the water and within is some information on what species might be seen. Common along the pier are Brown-headed and Black-headed Gull, Whiskered, Common and Little Tern, Black-tailed Gull, Heuglin's Gull, Pallas's Gull, and Great Frigatebird. During migration you may see Greater and Lesser Sand Plover, Little Ringed and Kentish Plover, Grey and Golden Plover, Redshank and Greenshank, Turnstone, Sandpipers, Stints and Black-winged Stilts. Bring binoculars and look out toward the bamboo erosion barrier and the mangroves to find Little Cormorant, Little and Great Egrets, Little Green Heron, and Black-crowned Night-Heron. Other wildlife includes snakes, fiddler crabs, shellfish, and crustaceans, and a heap of mudskippers. At the end of the concrete pier next door is Bang Pu Seaside Resort, an expansive seafood restaurant. From Central World in downtown Bangkok straight out on Sukhumvit Road into Samut Prakan, Bang Pu is just about 35 km. Bang Pu is on the right side of the road and you will pass the entrance on the divided road and have to make a u-turn to get back to it. There is ample parking in a lot and even out on the pier itself. Want to make a day of it Stop at Ancient City and/or Erawan Museum on your way here.