Bangkok Riverside

A boat cruise along the Chao Praya River is one of the highlights of any visit to Bangkok. River travel offer a rare opportunity to enjoy Bangkok without the hassles of congestion and pollution, plus it opens up fresh vistas impossible to experience from a public bus of taxi. Passengers of other boats seem ready to smile, plus you get an exhilarating sense of speed and a wonderful breeze on your face.

The Chao Phraya River & Bangkok's Canals (Khlongs)
Nineteenth-century Bangkok was laced with canals, giving the capital the designation 'Venice of the East'. Surviving canals, and the Chao Phraya River (River of King) provide memorable vignettes of a traditional waterborne way-of-life that has remained essentially unchanged over the centuries. The river and canals may be conveniently explored by public transport.

A visitor's reaction to the Thai capital is often as confusing as the city's geography. It's worth putting up with the coronary-inducing traffic jams, pollution, annual floods and sticky weather to experience one of Asia's most exciting cities. This city is full of palaces and shrines and maintains a sense of history and timelessness. You can visit one of over 400 Wats or take a leisurely cruise along the Chao Phraya River. Bangkok has dominated Thailand's urban hierarchy, as well as its political, commercial and cultural life, since the late 18th century.

There is no downtown. Bangkok proper seethes on the east side of the Chao Phraya River and can be divided into two by the main north-south train line. Old Bangkok glitters in the portion between the river and the railway and it is here that most of the older temples and the original palace are located. The new Bangkok is east of the railway, covering many times more area than the old city. It incorporates the main commercial and tourist districts, which give way to a vast residential sprawl.

In the last 30 years, Bangkok's population has mushroomed from 1.5 million to 8 million, and space in which to live and breathe is minimal. Like sparkling temple walls comprised of myriad tiles, Bangkok is the sum of its parts--pungent smells, frenetic energy, exotic architecture, and a culture shaped by centuries of Buddhism and political independence. You may not come to love Bangkok, but neither will you forget it.

Thailand is a warm and rather humid tropical country with monsoon showers. Temperatures are at it's highest in March and April with an average temperature of 28ºC to 38ºC, humidity averaging between 73% to 83%. There are three seasons in Thailand - summer, rainy and cool. Summer from March through to May, rainy from June to October and cool from November through to February.