Hailed as a rural escape from urban Bangkok, Ko Kret (Koh Kret) is what happens when a backwoods area becomes touristified. It’s a perfect daytrip from Bangkok, particularly when it’s not too hot — just be ready to work through some crowds to find the island’s truly peaceful center.
Credit the king for trying to make river travel more efficient — in 1722, King Thaisa of the Ayutthaya period, he ordered a canal cut to bypass a curve in the river. Over time, the current diverted, making the canal deeper and forming an island. Since then, the island has stayed a mostly rural destination, owing to the lack of bridges and roads — to this day there are no bridges connecting the mainland to the island. There are no cars on the island, nor is there a road for them to drive on — your fastest around the single-lane concrete alleys are motorbike taxis. Unless you’re in a big hurry, you need not bother with them — the island is completely walkable in a couple of hours, and a looping road all but ensures you can’t get too badly turned around.
Presuming you followed the directions (see below), your ferry will arrive at a pier best described as ‘rustic’ — while functional, the decades-old wooden slats don’t inspire the most confidence in the world.
Get 100 meters away, past the rush of souvenir sellers and people selling drinks, to the first major destination on the island: Wat Poramaiyikawas (AKA Wat Poramaiyikawat). Constructed in the Mon style, the uninitiated will see quite a few unusual constructions around. My personal favorite is the laying Buddha, complete with some fun detail on the feet. Not pictured here is some Italian marble, imported by King Rama V, and a white stupa supposedly containing a few of the Buddha’s relics.
Get away from the temple, however, and things get kitschy quickly. A narrow alley has shops on both sides — drinks and crafts a-plenty, along with tourists and the occasional motorbike trying to plow though.
If you insist on having a crystal representation of your favorite monk, at least get the colored lighting base to go with it.
An unexpected performance, beautifully done. Later on was some fun acoustic percussion music, amplified and broadcast throughout the area.
Along the touristy path is another temple — Wat Pai Lom from the Ayutthayan era. It’s a nice mixture of design and color — but more importantly, it’s a refreshing getaway from the crush of tourists.
Head down one of the side alleys to discover the pottery village. While some of the glazed and painted products are of dubious locality, the unglazed offerings seen here are made locally. Not pictured is a older gentlemen spinning clay for some tourists delight. If you’re looking for souvenirs to take home, this area really can’t be beat.
Some souvenirs, however, should really just stay on the shelf.
One of the pagodas in front of Wat Sao Thong Thong (before you snicker, recall ‘Thai’ sounds like ‘tie’, and ‘thong’ here sounds like ‘tong’). Another Mon-style temple, with the pagodas built around 100 years. These are claimed to be some of the highest pagodas in Nonthaburi.
Keep walking on, however, and you’ll find the zone where most tourists don’t go. It’s the same, two-meter wide concrete road a car would have a tough time navigating, but the road gets a lot emptier.
One of the thin side roads leading to some houses out of sight. You might be able to get a motorbike down that, but I can’t imagine too many people trying.
This second act of the island is the reason to visit. Most tourists will reach the end of the kitschy area and turn back, or perhaps spend some time at the temple nearby before moving back towards the pier. Keep going to experience the real island — a few shops along the looping road along the walking trail. This part of the trail has more motorbike and bike riders, a few of which noted our presence by saying ‘hello!’ or somesuch. Expect this non-touristy part of the loop to be a few kilometers in length.
You’ll approach the touristy part of the island soon enough, complete with the squares of gold affixed onto the images. The temples aren’t particularly impressive in and of itself, and the dated tourist signs only seem to confirm the nature of this place.
The pottery streets have been developed somewhat, but I do wish the kiln was similarly opened to people.
A sign of things to come…? As we approached the pier, we saw this backyard, complete with a light blue picket fence and an otherwise faux-retro look.
This really should be a highlight — deep-fried flowers, anyone? Several varieties to choose from, though the names were only in Thai. 50 baht bought you a nice-sized bag, and a mixture of the several offerings seemed a great buy. The taste, you ask? Kind of like a wilted or wimpy potato chip — close your eyes and add a little salt and you might not know the difference. Other souvenirs include a ceramic cup with lid modeled after a Coke cup (30 baht, which came filled with ice and Coke) and cowboy hats made from aluminum from beer cans.
As a daytrip from Bangkok, Ko Kret is hard to beat. It’s cheap, fairly easy to reach, yet once you’re away from crowds you may wonder why they haven’t joined you.
Name: Ko Kret (Koh Kret — เกาะเกร็ด)
Address: Sukhaprachasan 1 Soi 6, Tambon Pak Kret, Thesaban Nakhon Pak Kret, Chang Wat Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand (GPS: 13.91199,100.489871 — for Wat Poramaiyikawas, near the island’s pier)
Directions: From Victory Monument, then get off and walk towards the buses on the NORTHWEST side of the monument. Pass by the first set of platform, cross the side street, then wait around the second platform area for bus 166. Get off when you reach the Tesco, then turn left down the side street. You’ll see the temple straight ahead — look right for the unmarked side streets. You should be able to follow the crowds down the back alleys at this point — it’s a covered-alley sort of maze where the locals point the way to the ferry. The ferry costs 2 baht, and crosses the river from behind Wat Sanam Nua (GPS: 13.912751,100.492533) — it takes about five minutes.
Hours: Daytime hours — most of shops seem to close down around 5 or 5:30pm.
Admission: free
Phone: 02–584–5120
Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Ko_Kret (unofficial but informative)
Ratings out of 5 ratchaphrueks (What’s a ratchaphruek, or how do I rate destinations?)
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