An interesting aside: Three Kingdoms Theme Park
Pattaya’s tourist attractions are a many and varied lot, some are so well-known and popular they are the first items many people conjure up in their minds when thinking of Pattaya: eg, Nong Nooch Gardens, Underwater World, Mini Siam, to name just three.
Yet there are a myriad of other attractions which are less imposing yet worth a visit. Some of these are situated off the well-worn tourist trail and one of these is the rather lavishly named Three Kingdoms Theme Park.
To be fair, it’s not really a ‘blow your socks off’ tourist attraction, rather more of the ‘keep your shirt on’ variety. Nonetheless, if you’ve been visiting Pattaya for a while and want to explore an interesting diversion to take up an hour or two of a lazy day, then the Three Kingdoms Theme Park is worth a look.
To reach it, turn into Soi Siam Country Club (or more correctly known as Praphanimit Road) and head east in the direction of Horseshoe Point for about 12 kilometres. You’ll pass Mabrachan Reservoir before seeing the signs for Three Kingdoms.
As with so many other places, prices are typically two-tiered. That is, one price for foreigners and one price for Thais. Foreigners pay 150 baht as an adult or 80 baht for children to get in. Thais are charged just 60 baht for adults and 30 baht for children.
Three Kingdoms Theme Park is open every day from 10:00am, and closes at 5:00pm during the week and 6:00pm on weekends. There is no parking inside the park, but plenty just outside.
Three Kingdoms was the brainchild of one Kiarti Srifuengfung, a businessman of Chinese-Thai descent as the name might suggest. He was fascinated by the famous Chinese novel written by Kong Ming entitled The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
He decided to create Three Kingdoms as a physical rendition of the novel and all it represented as well as hoping to create a better understanding of Buddhism as practised by the Thais and Chinese.
Three Kingdoms consists of three pagodas that are very clearly Chinese in architectural style, at least from the outside. Internally, the style is more Thai. The three pagodas are linked by a covered colonnade.
The main pagoda houses a large statue of the now-deceased Mr Kiarti. Flanking this are the East and West Pagodas. The East pagoda is dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, ‘Kuan Yin’, and has a statue made of pure marble of her.
The West pagoda is dedicated to the charity established by Mr Kiarti and that continues to raise funds.
For further information call them on 038 421 428 or check out the website: www.3kingdomspark.com.
