From a vertical gondola ride in Singapore to Bangkok’s downtown forest park, seven new Southeast Asian tourist attractions
- Countries and businesses in Southeast Asia have new attractions for returning visitors, from a sculpture park in Da Nang, Vietnam to a theme park in Malaysia
- In Thailand, the dramatic 2018 rescue of children from a flooded cave is the subject of an exhibition in Chiang Rai, and Manila has a man-made beach
Local governments and businesses across Southeast Asia have been busy during the pandemic, opening all sorts of tourist attractions, from the green to the glam.
Benjakitti Forest Park, Bangkok, Thailand
It’s hard to believe I’m in downtown Bangkok. The mad traffic is absent, the city’s din is muted, its nest of skyscrapers is distant, and a flock of birds has just swooped over my head and landed in the wetland below my feet. Benjakitti Forest Park is borderline surreal and so welcome.
In the past few years, Bangkok has seen many unnecessary new shopping centres built, but what was desperately required was more parkland. Finally, this problem is being addressed. In December 2019, the Thai government launched the ambitious Green Bangkok project, under which a host of new green spaces have been opened during the pandemic.
The most valuable and impressive is the Benjakitti Forest Park. Located near the tourist neighbourhoods of Asoke and Nana, it is, at 72 hectares (178 acres), the city’s biggest park. Its finest feature is the sprawling wetland, which has attracted a significant population of birds already.
Visitors can enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the area by walking the 1.6km (1 mile) elevated pedestrian bridge that snakes through the park and over the wetland habitat.
Saloma Link Bridge, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Malaysian capital has a trove of photogenic attractions, including the 452-metre Twin Towers, which dominate the skyline, the giant rainbow-coloured stairway that leads to the Batu Caves and the Islamic architecture of the National Mosque of Malaysia and Jamek Mosque.