Weekly Travel Feature

Plan Your Cruise Now on The Chao Phraya

Prepared by Harold Stephens
Travel Correspondent for Thai Airways International

      The northeast monsoon is near an end in Thailand and the mighty Chao Phraya will soon he back to normal. Now is the time to begin your plans for a river cruise.
      The Chao Phraya is a magnificent river, one of the great rivers of Asia. It is not a long river, compared to the Mekong or the Ganges, and it’s only navigable from the mouth up to Ayutthaya, some 130 kilometers, but what a 130 kilometres they are. No river anywhere has more action, and more drama, than the Chao Phraya, Thailand’s River of Kings. 
      For those who plan to visit Thailand, from now until the end of the year is a great time to witness some of this action on the river. There are river festivals of every kind, including the magnificent Royal Barge Procession scheduled to be held on His Majesty the King’s birthday in December. We will inform readers more about these festivals as the time approaches. But in the meantime, we would like to tell you something about the River of Kings. You don’t have to attend a festival to enjoy it.
      Boats of every description ply this mighty waterway—rice barges, ferries crossing from one side of the river to the other, government launches, long-tail skiffs speeding up and down river, naval vessels, speed express boats each 40 or more metres long, cruise boats from the larger hotels, house boats converted from rice barges and even tiny sampans sculling across the river. The river barges with cabins aft are homes of many river families. These you know by the potted plants along the railings. The barges carrying sand are loaded to the gunwales and they appear to be almost swamped. The tugs that pull them use the currents and incoming tides to their advantage. 
      At one time, before bridges spanned the river, ocean-going ships travelled all the way upriver to the old Siamese capital to engage in trade. One European traveller who visited Ayutthaya in its heyday, 300 years ago, reported seeing more than 200 junks and various ocean-going craft anchored mid river down from the capital. Today cruise ships and freighters and those with masts and superstructures too tall to pass under the bridges drop anchor or moor at the docks at Klong Toey south of Bangkok.
      The pulse beat of the river can best be felt at Samut Prakan, a bustling river-port town down at the mouth where the river is as wide as a lake. Seven kilometres south of the town, the river crosses a sandbar and flows into the Gulf of Thailand. Stand at the quay at Samut Prakan any morning of the week and watch fleets of fishing boats charge upriver to market, bringing their cargoes of more than 300 tonnes of fish every day to feed a hungry city 28 kilometres farther upriver. Watch the tramp steamers and rusted freighters anchored midstream, awaiting customs, and witness old sailing junks taking advantage of the current and winds and beating upriver side by side with smart cruise ships with passengers lining the rails, waiting for their first glimpse of the splendid Oriental capital, just as Joseph Conrad described it 90 years ago. 
      The excitement of any visit to Thailand is to take a cruise on the river, be it a fifteen-minute trip from the Oriental Landing to Wat Arun or an evening dinner cruise to an overnight voyage to Ayutthaya. No river in the East offers more variety of choice than the River of Kings.  
      The Oriental Landing, sandwiched between the East Asiatic Company and the Oriental Hotel, is without doubt, the busiest and certainly the most interesting public pier in Bangkok. River traffic here differs from that at Sumat Prakan. Vying for positions at the landing is everything from long, slender express boats to snub-nosed cross-river ferries carrying throngs of school children and white-collar workers from one bank to the other. Here too well-kept and polished hotel launches with smart crews in nautical dress carry hotel guests to the River City Shopping Complex and to the Skytrain terminal at the Sathorn Bridge. Nipping in and out of all the confusion, long-tail boats appear with their helmsmen shouting out to potential passengers, hoping to lure them to use their services.      
      They call this section of the river, that divides Bangkok into two cities, the Golden League. Here we might see, aside from the vessels just mentioned, privately owned yachts along with teak rice barges that have been converted into luxury cruisers. Not to be forgotten are the many garish floating restaurants.
      The Oriental Hotel boasts of two luxury river cruisers, the Oriental Queen I and the Oriental Queen II, while the Shangri-La has its splendid Horizon. All three vessels make day trips to Ayutthaya and at night turn into luxury dinner cruise boats. Nowhere in this Oriental capital can romance be captured any better than a night cruise past the Grand Palace when the building and grounds are all in lights, reflecting golden domes and red tiered roofs.  
      There are three principal types of public-transportation boats that operate on the river. The most obvious are the noisy and fast moving long-tail boats (hang yao), with narrow beams and high-pointed bows. They zoom up and down the river, sending out high wakes. They carry passengers to the outlying canals. The long-tail service on Pratunam Canal from Pratunam Market to Democracy Monument is recommended.
      Next are the shuttle boats (kham fale), flat-bottom boats with square bows that enable them to push right up to landing piers. They are slow and make short hauls across the river, useful for quick crossings to Thonburi and for visits to temples such as Wat Arun. The charge is usually one baht to cross the river. 
      Also there are the express boats (Na duan). They are the long white boats flying different coloured flags that designate their destinations. Operated by the Chao Phraya Express Boat Company, these run daily 0600-1800 every 20 minutes from the Krung Thep Bridge in south Bangkok to Nonthaburi, a suburb 18 km north. The one-way journey includes a total of 36 stops (26 on the Bangkok side and 10 on the Thonburi side) and takes approximately 75 minutes. Fares are government-controlled. The Chao Phraya Express Boat is the best way to move between any locations on the river and is especially useful between Banglampoo and the General Post Office. These open-air boats are fast, cheap, exciting, and offer a refreshing escape from the traffic congested streets of the city.
      The Chao Phraya, much like in days past, offers every type of service.  You can do your banking from a boat that passes up and down the river every day, or you can have a cup of Thai coffee served in the traditional style from a coffee boat. You can even go to school aboard a special river barge.
      The school boat is operated by The Magic Eyes Chao Phraya Barge Program, a non-profit organization, one of the most innovative educational programs in Thailand. The school provides classroom and outdoor experiential learning opportunities for Thai and foreign students and adults to discover the environment, history, and culture of the Chao Phraya River.
      The history of Thailand revolves around the river. To travel upriver from Bangkok to Ayutthaya is  not only to move forward over leagues of water but also to travel back through passages of time. And the best way to re-live the history, to feel the very soul of Thailand, is to take an overnight river trip to Ayutthaya aboard a converted rice barge. Some barges, like the Manohra Song, which belongs to the Marriott Royal Riverside Resorts, is more than 50 years old, but with a cost of more than half a million dollars to turn it into a luxury river cruiser with private cabins and meals prepared by honoured chefs. 
      That is the Chao Phraya River in brief. Unlike other rivers, the Chao Phraya, the River of Kings, bares its soul to the voyager and doesn’t hide jealously behind closed gates.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Q. Dear Harold Stephens, I read with interest your enthusiastic report on ROH holidays. I've noticed descriptive info online but no pricing. Are prices available anywhere online or only phone/snail mail booklet? Would like to just sit down and fiddle with some options Thank you, Helen, Sonoma CA

A. Dear Helen, You bring up a very interesting question. You nust contact ROH at your local THAI office. The reason I didn’t list prices is that they change. ––HS

Harold Stephens
Bangkok
E-mail: ROH Weekly Travel (booking@inet.co.th)

Note: The article is the personal view of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the view of Thai Airways International Public Company Limited.