A nostalgic trip down memory lane to the Science Center for Education and Bangkok Planetarium near Ekkamai BTS Station
I actually remembered a field trip long ago since my school years in Bangkok. We went to this awesome and sophisticated science exhibition center with gizmos and weird apparatuses.
While the boys ran amok testing and trying all the scientific experiments, most girls were content to see how light they would be on the Moon or Mars.
Visiting the Bangkok Science Museum and Planetarium again this time is more than a trip down the memory lane. Talk about total nostalgia!
From the Ekkamai BTS Station, take Exit 2 and walk towards the Ekkamai Bus Terminal, the museum and planetarium is just a few minutes easy walk.
The entrance bears the big bold signs, “Science Center for Education” and “Bangkok Planetarium” next to each other.
Stepping inside, there is a man-made moat where large fish can be seen breaking the surface of the water from time to time and small birds flying from trees to trees. The day was bright but the weather was actually nice for Bangkok, the not-so-humid kind of day.
To the left is the Science Museum building and where the ticketing office stands. It only costs 30 baht for adults and 20 baht per child. However, if you want to stay for the planetarium show, that’s an extra 50 baht per adult or 30 baht per child or student. One catch is if you want to attend the English language planetarium show, you will have to visit only on Tuesday and only at 10am.
So we got the tickets and off we go to explore.
Obviously it has changed quite a bit from what I remembered. But many of the clinging and clanging and the curious children standing around staring at the many machines and mechanisms with heads tilted upwards and mouths hanging open stayed the same.
It began as an education center in 1964 under the care of the Department of Non-Formal Education, Ministry of Education which was built to provide information and education to children and the general public of various topics.
The location temporarily closed down for a much needed fixer-upper in 2016 and has been back in full swing after it reopened.
Today, many of the exhibitions utilizes modern medias, multimedia, and even interactive media where some include interesting activities and immersive experiments for both parents and children to enjoy.
The facility housed other buildings on the premises featuring an array of different scientific exhibitions which include the world of energy, robot technology, the human body, underwater world, prehistoric era, space programs and more. But the most popular has to be the semi-dome planetarium which shows various astronomy shows on a daily basis.
The planetarium now sports the Mark IV Zeiss projector in its 20.60m diameter dome is 13m high and can hold up to 450 seats, it is the first large planetarium project installation in all of Southeast Asia.
There might be some minor inconvenience in finding what exhibition is in which building and how to get there due to the general lack of clear signage but the staff is more than happy to help direct you to the right place.
There is also cafeteria and small market area outside where toys, candies, and other goodies (like the ice cream) can be found.
Open: Tue-Sun 9am-4:30pm, closes Mon
Admission: 30 baht/adult, 20 baht/child or student
Planetarium: (additional) 30 baht/child or student, 50 baht/adult
(English language show is only available on Tuesday at 10am.)
How to get there: Ekkamai BTS Station, Exit 2 and walk towards Ekkamai Bus Terminal
Bangkok Science Museum and Planetarium 928 Sukhumvit Road | 02 391 0544 | www.facebook.com/ScienceCenterForEducation
