In April I had the opportunity to visit a hotel that many people have been talking about for a while, Bangkok Tree House.

Most people don’t realize that just 1.5 kilometers from the Skytrain you can enter a natural oasis of mangrove trees and a wide array of flora and fauna that makes you feel as if you are miles away from Bangkok. The so called “green lung of Bangkok” is protected by government legislation which places heavy restrictions on urban development.

Inspired by Henry David Thoreau’s Walden, owner Joey Tulyanond envisioned and built Bangkok Tree House to leave as little an effect on the environment as possible. Among the environmentally conscious initiatives, they have promised to clean up one kilo of trash from the Chao Phraya River for every booking made.

In the picture above you can see owner Joey, standing in front of one of the art installations at Bangkok Tree House. All of the wood used in this installation was recovered from the Chao Phraya River. PET bottles that are found littering the river are used as planters in the green walls throughout the hotel. Instead of painting the walls of the hotel, bamboo lattice is used and supports plants such as morning glory and butterfly peas. These provide the dual functions of naturally insulating the rooms and also supplying the organic hotel kitchen.

Rooms

I took a look at two different room types when I visited, the Rooftop Nests and the “View with a Room”.