For a less-touristy day out in Bangkok (and to escape the smog, traffic, and general busy-ness of the city), the Green Lung is the ticket. 

What is the Green Lung?

If you looked at a satellite view of Bangkok, you’d notice a green space around a bend in the Chao Phraya river that looked peculiarly like a lung. 

Officially named Bang Krachao, this preserved area quite literally provides clean breathing air to Bangkok (as do the greener surrounding provinces to the city). 

 After the hustle and constant motorbike/traffic/nightlife noise of Bangkok, it’s also a welcome oasis. 

How to get to Bangkok’s Green Lung (for cheap!) 

Ride the MRT (Bangkok’s Metro) to the Klong Toei station (costs will vary based on your origin point, ours cost 19 THB one-way from Sukhumvit to Khlong Toei).

From there, it’s a bit of a trek to the pier. Some recommend getting a taxi, but if you’re cheap like us, walking it takes about 40 minutes. When researching the area, it was mentioned that Khlong Toei is the biggest slum area in Bangkok and one best avoided.

If the idea of walking through it freaks you out, then maybe a taxi (running at about 60 THB to get you to the pier) is the way to go. I wouldn’t blame you. 

We decided to walk, and yes we walked straight through the slum area, possibly without realizing exactly what we were doing. 

But the people here were just as smiley as in the rest of the city, and while the tiny shanty housing was shabby at best, we’ve seen spaces just as appalling amidst the high rise buildings in the richer parts of town and along the canal. 

What I mean to say is that while we were very aware of our surroundings and didn’t take our electronics out or wear anything flashy, we felt nearly as safe as we’ve felt elsewhere in the city. I’ll leave it for you to judge though and I would say to only do this during the day for an added level of safety, and maybe not alone. 

That being said, we reached the pier with only one minor issue, and that was getting lost and ending up at the wrong temple. 

So to save you the struggle, you want Wat Khlong Toei Nok, NOT Wat Khlong Toei Nai. You can see why we got confused.

From Wat Khlong Toei Nok, you can walk down to the water to Khlong Toei Pier (this also pulls up on maps as long as you spell it “Toei”, not “Toey” as you’ll see on some articles). 

From here, you take a boat ride across the river for 10 THB (pay the lady at the window). 

She will also attempt to rent you a bike for 80 THB, but I’d recommend just paying for the crossing. If you get the bike here, you have to haul it onto the long tail boat and navigate getting it off on the other side all while trying not to fall in yourself! 

Plus it’s cheaper on the other side. 

Renting bikes on the Green Lung

As soon as you get off the boat, you will see a bike rental shop (called M-Bikes at the time of this writing). 

A bike is only 60 THB for the entire day (or 30 THB per hour). Definitely just go for the 60 THB regardless how long you plan to spend because it’s easy to get lost on the Green Lung and take much longer than expected. 

You can get a bike with gears for 100 THB, but the 60 THB one will do you just fine… you can’t switch gears but you won’t need to — the Green Lung is completely flat.

She’ll set you up with a bike, show you how to lock it, and have you take a picture of a map of the Green Lung, and then you’re off!

Biking around Bangkok’s Green Lung

… is confusing, to say the least, but that’s part of the fun. The map is very basic so we just did a “left or right?” game.

The roads are narrow yet manage to have four lanes — two skinny bike lanes on each side, and one middle lane about the width of one car that has a dotted line in the middle to pretend it’s two lanes.

The majority of the people who live here seem to drive motorbikes, so it isn’t really an issue until two vans need to pass each other.

You can also detour from the main route onto these concrete paths that lead off into the jungle. If you’re unsteady on a bike, maybe walk yours if you decide to do that. 

What to see on Bangkok’s Green Lung

For more on what there is to see and do on the Green Lung,  check out this day trip guide.

We simply spent our couple of hours biking all over the place, admiring the huge fancy houses here, enjoying the peaceful quiet, and getting some exercise. 

Other tips

• Go earlier in the day so you don’t feel rushed to get your bike back and you don’t end up biking these winding roads in the dark (like we almost did!)
• Go on a weekend so you can have lunch at the large floating market

The cost of a day trip to the Green Lung of Bangkok

All in all this is a cheap day out:

• 19 THB for the metro to Khlong Toei (price varies)
• 60 THB if you decide to taxi to the pier
• 10 THB for the boat ride over to the Green Lung
• 60 THB for an all-day bike rental
• 10 THB for the boat ride back
• 19 THB for the metro ride back to your origin (price varies)

Add 100 THB for any other food/drinks/souvenirs you might pick up, and your grand total comes to 278 THB (or $9.20) for the day trip. Not bad, huh?

Any other tips or things you loved about the Green Lung? I’d love to hear it!

The post Biking the Green Lung in Bangkok (costs, how to get there, and more) appeared first on Gone Rogue.