Malati and I have visited Bangkok on many of our trips.We had always centred our activities around Sukhumvit and the city. I had perceived that the River Chao Praya was a small and inconsequential river that did not warrant a place on our itinerary. More so given the “distance from the city centre. Last month on our way home from Chiang Mai we stopped by for a few days at the Anantara resorts on the banks of the Chao Praya. I reasoned that if a well known luxury brand can locate themselves on the river maybe I could be wrong in my perception. And I was !!

The Chai Praya river flows past Bangkok and meanders its way into the Gulf of Thailand some 15 km down stream of the city. The river is about 1200 m wide and a muddy brown in colour with tidal variations, And there is a lot of activity on the river – For one many hotels and attractions are situated on both sides of the river ; many of them having their own private fleet of boats which shuttle between the hotel, malls and the jettys connecting to the BTS and tourist spots. Add to this the river cruise ships often offering lunch and dinner cruises, And more in the form of water transport buses operating along the river and stopping at all the jetties .These boats fly orange , blue and yellow flags depending on the class and route covering a stretch of approx 35 km along the river. Add to this fleet a few police and marine boats, fishing boats, barges and launches which makes it quite a busy water way with a large flotilla.

Our resort had its own fleet and operates a shuttle every thirty minutes between the hotel , Sathorn Pier (the BTS connection), the River city Mall and thence onto the ICON SIAM – the second largest mall in Bangkok. We had an interesting routine where we took the hotel ferry to ICON Siam and back more than once a day and night enjoyed the cool breeze of the river and observed the maritime activity and an occasional meal at the mall. Another suggested excursion is the water taxi to the the Emerald temple . Take a water taxi from any one of the jetties closest to your hotel to Ta Chang Pier and it is a short walk to the Grand Palace and temple. Do also check out the Asiatique on the water front which is an outdoor amusement park at the Wat Rajchasingkorn water taxi pier. There are many temples and other tourist attractions along the river. We had more than our share of Wats in Chiang Mai and skipped them all. There are many more attractions along the waterfront and offer a completely different landscape and perspective from the bustling Bangkok city . See the gallery below for some of the attractions accessible from the river front.