http://www.cu100.chula.ac.th/cu-centenary-park/
It was a very hot afternoon, and the park was nearly empty when I visited. A few gardeners were working hard despite the heat, tending to the beautiful flowers and gardens.
I took a few photos of the park, but I also want to talk a little about its concept and purpose.
As you may or may not know, Bangkok is slowly sinking by a rate of about 2cm per year. It may not seem like much, but if something doesn't change, Bangkok may very well end up like Holland, being forced to build a sort of seawall around the city to protect it. After all, we are on the coast!
As the city sinks, flooding gets worse, along with other structural issues.
One way that this problem can be stopped is by increasing the city's green spaces, allowing rainwater to reabsorb into the ground rather than sitting on top of concrete.
To this end, the Bangkok city government has launched an initiative to increase parks and green spaces throughout the city. CU Centenary Park is a creative design concept (and a bit of an experimental one, at that), designed to maximize the ground water reabsorbed after rainfall to help the city stop sinking.
I'm not 100% sure of the exact science behind it, but the park is built on a bit of a slope, which allows the rainwater to drain back into the ground at a much more efficient rate.
Science aside, the park is just a lovely place to relax, even in the heat of the afternoon. It's really wonderful to have so many beautiful parks throughout the city.
Sometimes, it doesn't even feel like you are in a concrete jungle.
I've always liked the look of a beautiful green space surrounded by city buildings. It's important to have both modern development and preserved natural spaces alongside one another.
It's spring in Thailand, and creeping up on the hot season. That means that the trees known affectionately as "Thai sakura" are in full bloom.
Sakura are Japanese cherry blossoms. While these trees aren't cherry trees, they do bloom every spring in beautiful pink blossoms. They are most famous up in the north (in the Chiang Mai region), but Bangkok's parks are home to some of these beautiful trees as well.
Technically speaking, these beautiful flowers come from the chompoo tree, which is the symbol of Chulalongkorn University (which owns the park).
King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), the namesake of both the university and the park, was born on a Tuesday, and thus his royal color was pink.
He was also very fond of the chompoo tree, and so there are many planted around CU Centenary Park in honor of the beloved Thai monarch.
Chaophraya Skypark: another cool city park that I visited recently which is built atop a bridge spanning the Chaophraya River! >> https://michaeldesrosiers.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-chaophraya-skypark.html
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