Here's How To Explore the Ancient City in Thailand, the World's Largest Outdoor Museum

One of my favorite tourist spots in Thailand is the Ancient City, also known as Ancient Siam or Muang Boran Museum. It is located in the province of Samut Prakan, just outside Bangkok. It is closer to Suvarnabhumi Airport and since our hotel accommodation was just around the airport in Lat Krabang district, we reached the Ancient City (through a grab car ride) within 40 minutes. The grab ride rate from the hotel where we stayed was only 200 Baht.

The Ancient City is dubbed as the world's largest outdoor museum. It is Thailand's cultural wonder that tourists should not be missed visiting. It is simply magnificent! I was stunned by its beautiful structures and replicas of Thailand's most iconic cultural landmarks.

Visiting this place feels like stepping back in time, to Thailand's golden past. It showcases the country's rich cultural heritage and history, so you get to know more about Thailand once you step in at The Ancient City.

Address: 963 Sukhumvit Road Mueang Samut Prakan, Samut Prakan. Entrance fee for foreigners: 700 Baht for adults and 350 Baht for children. You can reach the area either by grab or bolt or by Thai baht bus (songthaew) from the BTS Skytrain Kheha station.

According to its information, The Ancient City was constructed by Thai businessman, Lek Viriyaphant (1914-2000) who was passionate about Thai history. It occupies over 200 acres in the shape of Thailand and is home to more than 100 Thai cultural landmarks.

The replicas were constructed with the assistance of experts from the National Museum to ensure historical accuracy. Outstanding works include the former Grand Palace of Ayutthaya (destroyed in the Burmese invasion of 1767), Phimai Sanctuary in Nakhon Ratchasima, and Wat Khao Phra Viharn on the Cambo.

Our visit:

We visited Ancient City in October 2024. We booked our ride through Grab (200 Baht). We arrived there at 8:40 in the morning and at 9:10, we started our walking tour. Actually, visitors have many options to explore the place and maximize time:

Through a shuttle service (free), just approach them upon entering the park.
Through renting a bike
Through renting a golf cart

But we decided to do a walking tour, exploring the place on our own, doing so many stopovers in every area, so the result we were not able to visit other important structures because we were short of time as we still needed to go to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which is a wrong decision haha!

So, this is a reminder to first-time visitors to Bangkok: Do not put in one day the Ancient City and the Grand Palace or other cultural landmarks in Bangkok, it's impossible to do this as the Ancient City is a big place. You need one day to explore the entire Ancient City.

We were up to the Samphet Prasat Ayuthaya Kingdom and Ramayana Garden. It was already 1:00 in the afternoon (to think we started our walking tour at 9:10 in the morning! So you see how huge the area is!) and we needed to go to Bangkok to visit the Grand Palace but we did not make it also because of the huge volume of traffic. We reached the Grand Palace at 4:00 in the afternoon and it was already close.

Here's how to explore the Ancient City on your own without missing the point:

You can book your ticket online via Klook and just present the voucher to the information desk once you arrive in The Ancient City
Leave your hotel early, around 7:40AM if you're coming from Bangkok proper, travel time by car is approximately one hour. You may book your ride either Grab or Bolt, or you may choose BTS SkyTrain and disembark at Kheha station. From Kheha station, ride a Thai baht bus (20 baht) going to the Ancient City.
To maximize your time, try availing the shuttle service within the park. Or if you know how to drive a cart or ride a bike, just rent, to explore the entire area.
They will provide a map as your guide so take note of the important sites to visit.
One of my favorite places is The Old Town Market, there are plenty of souvenir shops and food haha! You will be amazed also of this spot because it feels as though you are living in the ancient world.
There are plenty of food stalls inside the park in case you want to take your lunch or snacks there. The food and drinks are super affordable!
But if you want to visit every spot, you may do the walking tour just like what we did, but you need one whole day to explore the entire area. So, set aside one day for Ancient City.

You can watch our video of the place in our Youtube channel:

Click this link The Gourmand Traveler

Here are some of our beautiful photos inside the park during our visit: