Bangkok Layover Near Phaya Thai Station
Part of the full Bangkok Layover Guide: The Grand Palace, BKK
Bangkok’s Phaya Thai station sits within one stop or a ten-minute walk of a revolving viewpoint 309 metres up at Baiyoke Tower, the 450-year-old Lacquer Pavilion at Suan Pakkad Palace, and the bayonet obelisk of the Victory Monument.
The revolving deck 309 metres up at Baiyoke Tower
Ten minutes east of the station on Ratchaprarop Road, an 88-storey slab holds a public observation deck on its 77th floor and, above that, an open-air platform on the 84th that turns slowly through a full circle. It was the tallest building in Bangkok from 1997 until 2016 and now ranks third, behind MahaNakhon and the Magnolias towers at the river. The deck opens at 10:00 and closes at 21:00, and coin-operated telescopes and screens up there label what you are looking at. Deck tickets are sold through a tours and activities platform, which is worth doing before you get there rather than at the lift lobby.
The 450-year-old Lacquer Pavilion at Suan Pakkad Palace
Prince Chumbhotbongs Paribatra and his wife opened their house on Si Ayutthaya Road to the public in 1952, and the compound is still a set of traditional teak houses joined by covered walkways in a garden, ten minutes’ walk south of the station. The piece that gives it its reputation is the Lacquer Pavilion, a small building over 450 years old whose interior walls are covered in Buddhist scenes drawn in gold on black lacquer, moved here from an old temple and reassembled. Ban Chiang pottery in the same collection runs to four thousand years old. Entry is 100 baht and the gates close at 16:00, earlier than almost anything else worth doing in this part of Bangkok.
Phaya Thai stacks two railways at different levels with a linking walkway between them, so crossing from one to the other with a suitcase means several escalator changes rather than a flat platform swap.
The Victory Monument’s five clasped bayonets
Corrado Feroci, the Italian sculptor who worked in Thailand as Silpa Bhirasri, made the five bronze figures at the base of this obelisk and then called the finished thing “the victory of embarrassment.” It went up in June 1941 to mark Thailand’s win over Vichy French forces in a war that had lasted a few months; the shaft is shaped as five bayonets clasped together, the names of 656 dead are cut into it, and the bronzes below stand for the army, navy, air force, police and the civilian population. It sits one stop north of Phaya Thai in the middle of a roundabout that doubles as a hub for the city’s bus and minivan routes, so the monument is easier to look at from the elevated walkway ringing it than from the traffic island itself.
The airport train leaves from the platforms above the street
Phaya Thai is the city end of the line out to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK): eight stations, about 26 minutes, 45 baht, with departures every ten to fifteen minutes from 05:30 to midnight. It is a direct run with no change anywhere in it, which is the real argument for spending a short gap around this station rather than travelling further into the city. Allow for the walkway and the level changes between the two railways on top of the ride, and for however long your airline wants you at the desk.
Frequently asked questions
What should I do during a layover near Phaya Thai Station in Bangkok?
Three things sit close enough to be worth it on a short gap. Baiyoke Tower's observation deck and revolving 84th-floor viewpoint are about ten minutes east of the station and open until 21:00. Suan Pakkad Palace, a compound of teak houses around a 450-year-old lacquered pavilion, is a ten-minute walk south on Si Ayutthaya Road for 100 baht and shuts at 16:00. The Victory Monument's bayonet obelisk is one stop north and free. The palace closing early is the constraint to plan around, not the tower.
Can I reach the Grand Palace from Phaya Thai station?
Yes, but it is a change and roughly forty minutes each way rather than the walk everything else here is. The temples and the river are covered in the main Bangkok itinerary, which is the better plan above about five hours; under that, the tower and the palace museum near this station cost far less travel time for what you see.
How late is Baiyoke Tower's observation deck open?
It runs 10:00 to 21:00, which makes it one of the few things around Phaya Thai still worth doing after the museums shut at four or five. The ticket covers both the 77th-floor deck and the revolving viewpoint on the 84th, and coin telescopes and multimedia kiosks up there help pick out what you are looking at 250 metres below.
Is a night-time Bangkok layover near Phaya Thai worth leaving the airport for?
It works better here than in most parts of the city, because the two things open latest are both within reach: the tower deck until 21:00, and the Victory Monument roundabout, which is lit, busy and free at any hour. The airport train from this station runs until midnight, so the practical cut-off is the last train rather than the last attraction. Suan Pakkad Palace and the temples are daytime-only and not part of a night plan.