Safari World in Bangkok might be one of the oldest amusement parks not just on our list but for the rest of Thailand. It opened in 1988.

It’s composed mainly of two parks with different themes: the first is the Safari Park which is open all week, and the other is Marine Park which is only open on weekends. 

We’re not fans of this schedule and the fact that the tickets for these two parks are also sold separately.

Safari Park is a 45-minute closed-car ride on the outskirts of Safari World, where wildlife like lions and rhinoceros roam freely. 

Marine Park comprises of mini-parks with their respective shows, such as the Orangutan Boxing Show, the Dolphin Show, and the Sea Lion Show. 

In our opinion, the best attraction in Safari World at the moment is Eggs World, where the life cycle of different bird species, from egg to hatching, is front and centre.

Safari World is generally clean, save from the usual mess that’s understandable because of the presence of animals. It also gets crowded later in the day, especially when tourist and student groups are already on the premises.

We don’t advise eating inside Safari World because it’s expensive and the variety of food you can buy is minimal.

The theme park is great for first-time visits; however, we agree with the rest of the park goers we’ve talked to — management needs to think of new attractions because the current ones are getting stale.

Nevertheless, Safari World was and still is one of Bangkok’s most notable amusement parks, and we still recommend everyone to visit it. Tickets start at around THB 800 for either Safari or Marine Park.

SEA LIFE Bangkok Ocean World is an ocean theme park in the most unusual place — underneath the Siam Paragon mall in Pathumwan. It’s been operating for almost 20 years and is considered one of the best ocean parks in Southeast Asia.

Attractions in SEA LIFE include aquariums with fish, sharks, sea turtles, coral reefs, and other underwater animals. There’s also a penguin enclosure and a 4-D Cinema that shows marine educational films for children.

The park is well-maintained, but the penguin enclosure needs more work.

Perhaps the main attraction of SEA LIFE is its multiple feeding shows daily. You’ll be entertained by the healthy dynamics between the park staff and the ocean animals. 

Overall, SEA LIFE Bangkok is a great place to take your family to bond over a couple of hours. The staff is also friendly and well-versed in English, so the language barrier will not be an issue for foreigners or farangs.

Although we understand the need for ticket price increases and the move to make the entrance a combo ticket to Madame Tussauds Bangkok, one thing we don’t like about SEA LIFE is its pricing. 

Thai nationals must only pay THB 650 for the entrance, while foreigners are supposed to pay more than double that amount. We hope the management will keep to public opinion and reconsider ticket prices. 

If you’re strapped in cash or just can’t travel that far away from the city centre to take time off with your kids below 12 years of age, then you can try going to Kidzoona in Gateway Ekkamai.

In this mini park/playpen, children can play with one another on different equipment like slides, trampolines, and puzzles. 

They could also play with their imagination by role-playing as a doctor, a cook, or whatever else they wanted to, using the different stations with props and costumes.

Kidzoona is also great for parents and adults since relaxation is possible in this theme park. You can leave the kids in Kidzoona and then go shopping in Gateway or eat at the nearby food court; you can even just wait it out in the designated waiting area.

We’re glad the entrance fees are lower than typical theme parks. The entrance fee for a two-hour stay for children starts at THB 290 and THB 100 for adults.

Just one thing that we’re greatly concerned about is cleanliness and the risk of children getting sick. Because there are many contact surfaces in Kidzoona, we’re not sure if the areas here are regularly and properly cleaned.

So if you bring your kids here, make sure you also bring alcohol, tissues, and even soap so you can wash them up after playing.

If you’re planning to go to an amusement park in the middle of summer, you can try Siam Amazing Park. 

It’s the Guinness World Book of Records record holder for the biggest artificial sea in the world, so that’s already one exciting thing you can see for yourself here.

Siam Amazing Park is a waterpark and typical amusement park with rides in one.

It’s divided into six “sub-parks”: Bangkok World, which is a showcase of Bangkok landmarks; Water World, which is the water park; Extreme World and Adventure World, which have rides for adults; and Family World and Small world, which are child-friendly attractions and rides.

During our visit, we noticed that some rides are closed to the public, perhaps due to maintenance. Furthermore, as Siam Amazing Park has been open for more than 40 years, we believe that the park, in general, needs more maintenance.

We love that we can stay here the whole day. It also has an international buffet and several other restaurants where you can eat at.

If you’re coming in directly from the airport, you won’t have any problem with your bags since Siam Amazing Park also offers locker rental services. 

The most baffling thing is that it also provides swimsuit rentals — we just hope that the swimsuits and towels they turned out are adequately laundered.

Another in-mall theme park we found is HarborLand in Gateway Ekkamai. It’s three spaces in one: a typical indoor playground, a laser tag arena, and a rollerblade park. 

Like all other similar establishments in malls, the entrance fee to HarborLand is relatively economical. This park uses European equipment, so you’re assured that you’re still getting the most premium treatment for this price point.

In the indoor playground, children can choose to play on the slides, jump on the trampolines, role-play, do arts and crafts, and read picture books. There are separate zones for smaller and older children to ensure better safety.

If you don’t want to be with your children inside, you can just wait at the parents’ lounge, with Wi-Fi and free seating. However, prepare to have your patience tested because it only plays one song on repeat there.

We suggest you check its website for promo announcements before visiting — it has different promotions for different branches. Kids below 60 cm (2 feet) and senior citizens enter for free.

Entrance fees for a two-hour stay start at THB 130 for kids and THB 170 for adults. We don’t like that HarborLand has more expensive pricing for foreigners, as we just don’t think it’s fair.