How to be a cheap Valentine's Day date in Bangkok

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, long-stemmed roses and fancy candlelight dinners are the traditional way to go. So don’t go that way. Impress your loved one with your fiscal prowess.

To help you get started, we’ve put together our own affordable romantic day out for this coming Valentine's Day.

9am: Dusit Zoo

Known as Khao Din to the locals, the Dusit Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Thailand, opening in 1938. It is also a perfect place to take your other half for a Valentine’s Day outing.

After all, nothing inspires the mood for loving quite like the sight of hairy beasts in cages. You might even catch a couple of them engaging in their own acts of affection, plucking bugs from hair and that sort of thing. 

There is plenty here to offer in the way of animal voyuerism and if you get tired of the furry and not so furry you can always rent a boat and paddle around the zoo’s peaceful pond, enjoying the romantic old parliament building nearby as a backdrop.

Entrance price: 50 baht per person, 100 baht if you’re a foreigner. Hey, we don’t make the rules.

Dusit Zoo, 71 Rama V Road. Open daily, 9am to 6pm.

12pm: Lunch atop Bangkok

Enjoy a lunchtime rendezvous at the top of Bangkok’s highest building, the Baioke Sky Hotel. For a fraction of the cost of Bangkok’s famous sky high restaurants like Breeze or Vertigo, head for the Baioke Sky's Sky Restaurant and stuff yourselves at its 550 baht lunch buffet.

222 Rajprarop Road. Tel: +66 (0)2 656 3000.

2pm: Star gazing

Located within walking distance from the Ekamai BTS station and directly opposite to the Major Ekamai cinema is the Bangkok Planetarium and Science Museum.

For just 10 baht for adults and 5 baht for students this is one of the best bargains in town for couples looking to gaze longingly at something.

While all the contraptions and models might look and seem dated, trust us when we say there are good times to be had here. The science museum is filled with numerous gadgets and gizmos from the 1980s -- designed to teach physics lessons and help pass the time between shows in the planetarium.

Outside in the courtyard there are life size models of various spacecraft and planes. Then there is the planetarium itself, which, during the 30-minute light show, is the most romantic place in all of Bangkok.

4pm: A date with the Chao Phraya

Few places in Bangkok inspire romance quite like the Chao Phraya River. The best way to take it all in on the cheap is via one of the boat tours available in the afternoon and twilight hours that cost just 200 baht or lower. The money saved can then be spent on a bottle of wine, perhaps.

Tours usually launch from the main pier on Phra Arthit Road, and tickets can be bought onsite. These boats cruise through the various klongs and canals, giving glimpses of how little life has changed for river people in the last half century. While the smell might be offensive and the sites mediocre, nothing beats coming out of a side canal to the view of a setting sun over the river of kings.

Next up, dinner. Remember, you don't need to go to a five-star hotel to enjoy riverside dining. From Phra Arthit, take a quick tuk tuk ride down to Krung Kasem Road and enjoy dinner riverside in the aptly named In Love restaurant, where you’ll get fantastic views of the river and excellent eats.

In Love, 2/1 Krung-Kasem Road, near Wat Sam Praya. Tel +66 (0)2 281 2900