Tips and Tricks : True Love Café

One of the compelling reasons for me to visit Bangkok is to visit this Husky and Malamute dominant café (Well, it portrays more as a dog playground, but we'll get more into that shortly).

The inviting café façade

Getting there, the nearest BTS would either be Ari or Sanam Pao, but by all means they are not *exactly* walking distance (approximately 1.65 km from either stations), highly advisable that you chart a taxi or a tuk tuk for to go this street called Soi Ari Samphan 2 (it is located in a housing area, and the street is a long stretch towards a dead end, so no short cuts if you are thinking of attempting one)

Bro Tips : There are allocated slots for each sessions; 1230 and 1530 Tuesdays to Sundays, and an additional slot of 1830 on weekends (subject to weather conditions as well).

Be there slightly before the allocated slots, as they do charge per entry - 350 bahts per person. Before entering they also requested that you fill in a questionnaire, one question in particular bothers me - "Any of your pet have recently deceased?". Not too sure if they are trying to detect if the guest are having Post Pet-loss Depression, Bringer of Animal Disease or Animal Sadist (If you know the reason do enlighten me as I didn't ask the owners the reason).

The cover charge entitles you to one dessert, one drink, and of course the interaction experience with the dog. It will be unjust to fully review on their dishes because frankly I (and I am pretty sure 95% of the guests at that time) only tried out their dessert (a choice of cake or ice cream cake) and a drink. Was not impressed with either one of them, but hey, we're here for the dogs.

So I was told that the dogs are only released (from their air conditioned rooms - Bangkok can be ridiculously hot) at 4pm during the 3.30pm time slot, which gives diners ample time to eat/drink before the interaction. The café is extremely particular about hygiene and guests have to follow the house rules diligently or they can be denied interaction with the dogs.

After donning and unflattering, disposable blue footwear, and sanitizing our hands, we were greeted at the enclosure just outside the café. One of the staff laid the house rules again and briefed us on how to interact with the dogs.

Bro Tips :
i) The Huskies are not exactly the most obedient breed. Photographing them could impose a challenge.

ii) Chasing the dogs will only tire yourself. So just wait for the next available, stationary dog for your selfie or photo opportunity.

In the enclosure there are three sections, mainly designed to separate the dogs that do not fancy each other that much (high school much?).

Unfortunately for me I couldn't stay for the dog stampede back to their air conditioned rooms for dinner (it'll be great for those phones in slow-mo mode to capture them) because I was chasing time to hit to the airport, but if you are staying on the whole run, do remember to get your gizmos ready. 

Bro Tips : Getting out of the café towards the airport could be a little bit of a challenge.
i) Walk - Not exactly near to Ari station, but walkable if you don't mind the heat.

ii) Tuk tuk - There won't be as much ready-to-ride tuk tuk available as this café is pretty secluded, but the staffs would be more than glad to call one for you (Just get ready around 50 baht, that should suffice).

True Love Cafe
153 Soi Ari Samphan 2, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Opens Tuesday to Sunday, 1230-1430, 1530-1730 (additional slot of 1830-2030 on weekends)