Bangkok turned a golf course into a park. Is Manila ready to do the same?

BANGKOK, Thailand – Before it became one of Thailand’s most beloved public parks, Rotfai Park was once a golf course.

That’s hard to imagine now, with the trees grown tall and the green grass open to all. There are no golf carts here; the air hummed with bicycles and chatter. Families picnic by the grove under the shade, runners pound the paved paths, and food vendors set up their tents near the entrance for the weekend market.

FAMILY. A couple and their children picnic on the grass beside a small lake where visitors can kayak. Lance Spencer Yu.

For the locals, it’s an ordinary Saturday. But as a visitor, I couldn’t help the ache of longing and envy. Back home, we’d have called all this private property — which brings us to Intramuros.

Intramuros: A park for the people?

This story used to end with a frustrated question — why can’t we have open spaces? Intramuros was one of the clearest reasons it felt impossible. A vast expanse of green in the heart of Manila, that, for more than a century, has largely been reserved for a narrow pool of people. The argument often goes that it has always been this way, and heritage dictates that we have to uphold this privileged access.

But something has changed. Since November 23, the Club Intramuros Golf Course has been opening its greens every Sunday as a public recreational space, with golf pausing for the day. It’s a start. A cautious one, yes, with boundaries still in place, as if the grass might be ruined by ordinary feet. But the direction is there.

Is it enough? Hardly. Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso has been blunt about what he wants next: converting the site into the Intramuros Forest Park, a long-term project he frames as inclusive and sustainable, on the argument that the land is underutilized and benefits only a few.

“Recently, may mga nagwawalang golfer. Akala mo ba sila ang may-ari at karapatan. Nanggalaiti sila na bakit daw gagawing park? Tingnan n’yo ang argument. Talagang mahahalata mo na mga taong makasarili,” Moreno said on December 3 as reported by Manila Bulletin.

(Recently, there have been some angry golfers. You’d think they owned the rights to the land. They’re angry at it being turned into a park? Look at their argument. You can really tell they’re selfish people.)

BRIDGE. Rotfai Park is full of quiet spots like this, where tree-shaded bridges cross over creeks and open into wide spaces. Lance Spencer Yu.

Moreno will face an uphill battle prying Intraumuros away. And to be fair, the pushback isn’t only emotional. There are real concerns about jobs and tourism revenue if the golf course is converted. But it’s not like the land will vanish; it will be repurposed.

A forest park conversion can be done in phases, with Sunday openings serving as a test run rather than a token gesture. If anything, the fact that Intramuros can already open one day a week proves the point: the city can share this space.

Beyond Intramuros, think of Wack Wack, Veterans, Villamor, Manila Golf, and more. It’s not that the metro lacks green space, or that every “park” is really just a concrete slab with tufts of dried grass. Though, to be fair, the few parks we do have fit that description.

No — the land exists. In fact, we have dozens upon dozens of hectares kept green for the same purpose. So why do we keep reserving it for the few?

Now, back to Thailand, so you can see what this looks like when a city commits to the idea fully.

Rotfai Park: What Intramuros could be

PET-FRIENDLY. Dogs are welcome in special areas by the lake, where visitors walk and play with their pets. Lance Spencer Yu.

Bangkok’s Wachirabenchathat Park, popularly known as Suan Rotfai, shows what could happen if we chose differently.

Rotfai Park wasn’t always open to the public. The land once belonged to the State Railway of Thailand and served as its private golf course.

In 2002, the government decided to turn it into a public park and renamed it as Wachirabenchathat Park in honor of then-Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn’s 50th birthday. It was a symbolic gesture, opening up the exclusive green as a shared space.

Much of the park’s layout still hints at its past, with wide fairway-like lawns now repurposed into jogging and cycling paths. In fact, the name Suan Rotfai literally means “Train Park.”

We start at the weekend market by the entrance, a field of white and blue tents. Vendors sell everything from mango sticky rice to grilled chicken and some of the best salmon katsu I’ve tasted.

FOOD. The weekend market is packed with affordable eats, from traditional Thai dishes to grilled chicken and sweets. Lance Spencer Yu.

Though the market is nowhere as big as nearby Chatuchak, it’s still lively, laid out in neat rows, and easy to navigate. In fact, it feels like a bigger, better-organized version of the Salcedo or Legazpi weekend markets back home. Despite being so wildly popular, both are pretty much confined to a narrow stretch of road and a parking lot. But that shows Filipinos have the appetite for that kind of gathering; if we built better, greener community spaces, weekend markets of this scale would surely follow.

PALENGKE? The market has stalls selling fruits, vegetables, and all kinds of fresh produce too. Lance Spencer Yu.

Before you enter the park, you also have the option to rent a bike, and you’ll definitely need one if you hope to see every part of the enormous 60-hectare property. How big is big anyway? Well, Rotfai Park is more than 200 times the size of Arroceros Forest Park, Manila’s so-called “last lung.”

Once you step inside Rotfai Park, you’ll find that there’s more than enough room for everyone. Cyclists glide through the biking lanes, safely apart from joggers who keep to their own separate path. Couples sit on benches. Families nap on picnic mats.

CYCLE. Whether you bring your own or rent one, the park is best experienced on a bike from end to end. Lance Spencer Yu.

There are basketball courts, beach volleyball areas, tennis courts, football fields, and even a fitness center. If team sports aren’t your thing, there’s plenty of outdoor gym equipment and a big playground, where children chase each other and the elderly work up a light sweat.

PLAY. If you’re the sporty type, Rotfai Park has plenty of space for you – be it basketball or tennis. Lance Spencer Yu. KIDS. A children’s park in Rotfai Park, Bangkok, Thailand. Lance Spencer Yu

There’s space not just for people but for nature too. Wooded areas have enough trees to almost feel like small forests. Ravens squawk overhead and idle by the streams, ponds, and creeks that cut through the park. If you’re lucky – or perhaps, unlucky – you might even catch a monitor lizard sunbathing by the water’s edge.

NATURE. Ravens, monitor lizards, butterflies, and flowers all thrive in the park. Lance Spencer Yu.

Rotfai Park is actually part of a larger complex of interconnected parks, including the Queen Sirikit Park next door. Though smaller than Rotfai, it lives up to its regal name. The entrance from within Rotfai hides itself like a well-kept secret: a narrow bridge shrouded by foliage that suddenly opens into promenades lined with flowers. Fountains ripple in the distance, and pools of water cradle blooming lotus flowers.

REGAL. With its rows of trimmed hedges, flowers, fountains, and stone walkways, Queen Sirikit Park truly feels like a queen’s garden. Lance Spencer Yu.

In some corners of the park, the creeks run quietly beneath the trees, and between the leaves you can see Bangkok’s skyline glittering in the distance. It’s easy to forget, but this refuge lies right in the center of one of Asia’s busiest economic centers.

The air here is warm and heavy, but not uncomfortable. It smells faintly of earth and blossoms. People stroll quietly, their conversations soft and unhurried, lost in the open space.

URBAN. Bangkok’s towering skyscrapers remind you that this oasis is right in the city. Lance Spencer Yu.

And what space it is. That, perhaps, is what people forget they need – room to breathe, to move, to simply exist. That, too, is what the Philippines keeps missing. So if Thailand could turn an old golf course into a park where anyone can walk, sit, or think, why can’t we? – Rappler.com

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