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Ko Kret Guide

 

Ko Kret is one of those little hidden beauties near Bangkok which you can spend a day at, relax and forget about all your worries.

Ko Kret is an island surrounded by a flowing river which arch’s around the island.  There are no roads on or to the island, just pathways.  The only way to get to the island is by Boat.

 

How To Get There

Ko Kret is located in Nonthaburi Province, north west of Bangkok, 27 km from Mo Chit BTS.  It is very close to Rama 4 bridge.  When travelling towards Rama 4 bridge do not cross the bridge but instead of keep left and you will see a sign for Tesco Lotus.  Go down this soi, to the end and you will see a temple, go inside the temple and walk to the pier.  At the pier there will be a boat service which will take you across the river for 2 Baht per person.

 

Bicycle

Once you come off the pier there are people renting bicycles for 40 Baht for the day.  This is well worth it if you want to cycle and see the whole of the island and go for an explore along all the pathways and see every inch off the island.

The island is quite big with the path around the island 5km long.  The cycle will let you see all the markets, temples, and villagers who live on the island.

Riding the bicycle is an enjoyable way to get around the island without being tired

 

When is it Open?

Ko Kret is open on Weekends and Holidays, closes around 6pm.

 

How Much Do You Need?

Ko Kret has mainly Thai tourists, whilst I was there I saw two foreigners.  The prices are cheap and won’t cost you more than a couple of hundred Baht.

Whilst I was there I bought a pair of Pakama shorts for 350 Baht, baked coconut desert for 45 Baht, hired two bicycles for 40 Baht each, two cups coconut ice cream for 20 Baht.

 

 

What To Do There?

Shopping

Ko Kret has O-Top market which means the items are made by Thai people.  There was a wide variety of hand crafts, clothing, food made by Thai people.

 

Live Pottery Making

The pottery area is full of pottery which has been recently made by the two resident pottery makers.  You can see both of them live in action making pottery on a pottery wheel.  After you have finished watching them you can browse the different types of pottery which has been finished and available for purchase.

 

Eat

The food is spread out along the island, with small restaurants in the O Top Market, the Temple, the market and along the pathway around the island.  The food consisted of two main dishes, rice and noodles.

In the O Top market you will find some great deserts also, I picked up a baked coconut in a pot.  This tasted really good and for forty baht I couldn’t complain as I got the pot for free.

 

Wat Bang Chak

Wat Bang Chak is a temple on the north side of the river to Ko Kret.  From Ko Kret you can take a boat across the river.

What got me interested in this temple was a huge feature, the big gold statue of Buddha.

 

The temple has many different statues of different Gods and demons, they are very cool and couldn’t resist to take a picture with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The temple also has three statues of a novice monk depicting hear nothing, see nothing, speak nothing.

 

Normally I am bored by the modern temples in Thailand because once you seen one you have seen them all.  However this one was different, it gave out something different, something to distinguish it from others.

 

Why I Like It / Conclusion

Ko Kret is a great little get away to get away from all of the cars and traffic, although it is difficult to get away from people due to it is a tourist destination you still find parts where its only you, mainly on the pathways around the island.

It is somewhere I would go again as I really liked the area and the style of the markets.  And there was one part I didn’t get see due to it becoming dark, this was the garden at Wat Bang Chak.  The garden has many statues depicting different Yoga positions and this is something I would have liked to have seen in the day light.