Lumphini Park

Hundreds of Asian water monitor lizards — some over two metres long — live wild in the park's lakes, strolling past joggers like commuters. A 2016 cull relocated the 40 biggest and made world news; Bangkokians mostly shrugged.

The park is named after Lumbini in Nepal, the Buddha's birthplace, and sits on royal land Rama VI gave the public in the 1920s — his statue still guards the gate. At dawn it hosts mass tai chi; in the evening, open-air aerobics to blasting synthpop.