Our Side of the River — Sky Park, Kudi Chin and Wat Kalayanamit on Foot, No Boat Needed

Why this is the route for a weekend

Because nothing on it depends on something that might not turn up. No express boat to wait for, no ferry times to check, no car to call. Every stop is on the same Thonburi bank as the hotel, linked by the riverside path and the lanes of the community. The furthest point, Wat Kalayanamit, is about 2 km from our door, and wherever your legs give out a Grab gets you home in ~10 minutes. The other reason is the light: the Sky Park is best at sunset, Kudi Chin is best in the early evening when residents sit out in front of their houses, and Wat Kalayanamit is quietest towards dusk. Start mid-afternoon and the route follows the light from one stop to the next.

The route — from our front door to the giant Buddha

1. 3:30 PM — Leave the hotel and walk along the river towards the Memorial Bridge (~15 min). From Tha Din Daeng Soi 16 head south on the road that runs parallel to the river, past the market and the old riverside houses of Khlong San. It is about 1.3 km to the Thonburi foot of Memorial Bridge (Saphan Phut), where the stairs and lift up to the Sky Park are. The afternoon sun is still strong — carry water and keep to the shaded side.
2. 3:50 PM — Chao Phraya Sky Park: out over the water (~30 min). The park was built on a skytrain bridge left unfinished for more than 30 years between Memorial Bridge and Phra Pok Klao Bridge. Walk out to the widest point mid-river: upstream you see Wat Arun and the temple spires of the old city, downstream the towers of Charoen Nakhon and ICONSIAM. It is the only spot on this route where both banks are in view at once. We don't print a closing time because it has changed before — read the sign at the entrance or ask us before you set off. If you arrive as the light turns orange, linger: nothing later on the route has a view like this.
3. 4:30 PM — Back down on the Thonburi side: Wat Prayurawongsawat and its UNESCO-awarded white chedi (~5 min from the stairs). Come down the Thonburi end of the Sky Park and turn left towards the bridgehead; the temple sits right beside it. The white chedi you saw from above, about 60 m tall, is here, and its restoration won a UNESCO Asia-Pacific cultural heritage conservation award in 2013. Inside the grounds is Khao Mo, an artificial rock mountain in a pond full of turtles that children love. Free to enter; dress modestly.
4. 5:00 PM — Along the water into Kudi Chin: Santa Cruz Church and khanom farang (~10 min). From Wat Prayurawongsawat follow the riverside path north under the Memorial Bridge; within a few hundred metres you are in Kudi Chin, the quarter of Portuguese-descended families who settled here in the Thonburi period, more than 250 years ago. The pinkish-red dome of Santa Cruz Church is your landmark, with an open riverside square in front. The lanes around it hold old wooden houses that are still lived in, and the stalls selling khanom farang Kudi Chin — a small egg cake baked in charcoal ovens and topped with raisins and candied gourd, a recipe inherited from the Portuguese. Buy a bag while you can; most sellers close before dark. In one lane is the small Baan Kudichin Museum, a house that tells the community's story with a café downstairs. Its hours vary — if the door is open, go in.
5. 5:40 PM — Kian An Keng shrine: a Hokkien shrine on the bank between church and temple (~5 min). Keep following the river north from the church for a few minutes and you reach a small Chinese shrine facing the water. Kian An Keng belongs to the Hokkien Chinese who have lived on this stretch since the early Bangkok period; much of its tiled roof and carved woodwork is original. Standing in its forecourt you realise that within five minutes' walk you have passed a Catholic church, a Chinese shrine and are about to reach a Thai temple — the clearest miniature of old Thonburi there is.
6. 6:00 PM — Wat Kalayanamit and the giant Buddha (~5 min). A few hundred metres on from the shrine is Wat Kalayanamit. Its great hall holds Phra Buddha Trai Rattananayok, known to everyone as Luang Pho To (Sam Po Kong), a huge seated Buddha much revered by Thai-Chinese families. The temple draws a fraction of the crowds of Wat Arun or Wat Pho and is nearly silent in the evening. The hall usually closes around dusk — to pay respects inside, arrive before 5:30 PM or swap the order and do the temple before Kudi Chin. The forecourt opens onto the river and is a little-known spot for watching Wat Arun light up on the far bank.
7. 6:30 PM — Home. From Wat Kalayanamit a Grab or taxi back to Khlong San takes ~10 minutes (pin “House of Happiness Tha Din Daeng 16”). If you still have energy, walk back the way you came through Kudi Chin and under the Memorial Bridge, about 35–40 minutes; the riverside path is lit all the way. For dinner, the Thonburi side of the bridge has rice-and-curry and noodle shops open into the evening. After 6 PM it's self check-in at the hotel — we send the entry steps on LINE or WhatsApp.

Photos from the route

Chao Phraya Sky Park — the one spot with both banks in view Wat Arun lit up — as seen from the riverside forecourt of Wat Kalayanamit

Illustration · Wikimedia Commons · เครดิตรูป

Good to know, and our tips

• Dress for all three places. Temples and the church ask for covered shoulders and knees; take your shoes off before entering a temple hall. Santa Cruz Church opens its doors only for services and the hours posted at the gate — outside those, enjoy it from the square and the riverside. Don't photograph people at prayer.
• People live here. The lanes of Kudi Chin are about two metres wide and the space in front of each house is its living room. Walk quietly, don't peer in, photograph buildings and lanes freely but lift the camera as a question before photographing people. Most khanom farang sellers are houses with a counter at the front — call out and give them a moment.
• Any day works, but weekends pay off most. The route doesn't rely on the express boats, which currently run Monday to Friday only. At weekends the community is livelier, with residents out in front of their houses, and the Sky Park fills up for sunset. For a quiet Sky Park, go on a weekday.
• Budget for the whole route. Entry is free everywhere. A bag of khanom farang costs tens of baht to a little over a hundred, add water along the way and a Grab home of roughly ฿70–100, and you are unlikely to spend more than ฿300 a person. Carry small notes — the community sweet stalls don't take QR payments.
• Fine with children and older travellers. The ground is flat throughout, the Sky Park has lifts at both ends and there are benches along the way. The one thing to watch is the narrow lanes of Kudi Chin, where motorbikes pass slowly among the walkers. If anyone tires mid-route, the easy places to call a Grab are outside Wat Prayurawongsawat and outside Wat Kalayanamit.

Common questions

Related guides

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