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LEXICON

 

 

Garden Bridge

Nickname of an abandoned rail bridge over the Chao Phraya River (fig.) in Bangkok, which has been made into an elevated garden, after having been neglected for about three decades. It was initially constructed as part of the Lavalin Skytrain project which began in 1984 and was abandoned, unfinished, in 1992 due to a lack of proper funding, and despite the tracks it was never used. Having been given a new life and purpose, it opened in mid-2020. Its reconstruction took just over a year, reportedly at a cost of 122 million Thai baht. It runs parallel to —and is wedged in between— the two viaducts that form the twin Phra Pok Klao Bridge (fig.), just south of the Memorial Bridge (fig.). It connects Phra Nakhon with Thonburi and on the Phra Nakhon side the way in is through Suan Somdet Phra Pokklao, a small public park which is also home to Praisanihyakahn, i.e. Thailand's first ever Post Office (fig.), whilst in Thonburi the entrance-exit is within the Chaleum Phrakiat Forest Park, a small public park underneath the Thonburi end of the bridges. The bridge spans 280 meters and is 8.5 meters wide, and features grasses, plants, shrubs, and small trees. On either side, the bridge is accessible by staircases, but there are also elesvators and ramps, though those are in some places a little steep and sometimes rather narrow. At night, the sides of bridge are illuminated with a colourful display of lights. The green pedestrian bridge is a cooperative project between the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and the Urban Design and Development Centre of the Chulalongkorn University (fig.), and is officially known as Chao Phraya Sky Park, and in Thai as Suan Loi Fah Chao Phraya. See also TRAVEL PICTURE and MAP.