Last weekend I had to attend a couple of events and functions in an area of Bangkok around the Chao Phraya River. I don't go to that part of the city very often, but every time I do I'm always pleasantly surprised once again about how beautiful it is. When you spend most of your time in the thick of other parts of Bangkok, it's easy to forget that the City of Angels is among other things one of the world's great river cities. Having lived a lot of my life in Sydney, I guess I'm quite partial to cities that have big romantic expanses of water as one of their features.
Riding on a boat on the Chao Phraya River is always an atmospheric experience, and despite the neon-lit restaurants and hotels that crowd both sides of the river banks, it can easily give the impression of travelling back in time.
I'm always amazed to see the huge cargo barges being towed along the river by tiny tugboats, just as they've been doing for decades. I also love seeing the different ways of daily life that exist on the river, from river transport operators to food vendors to people fishing on the banks of the river. Seeing ancient temples like Wat Arun along the way is also a breathtaking experience.
At night, the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok is arguably even more picturesque, with a constant cool breeze creating ripples in the water that reflects a mosaic of multi-coloured lights.
Of course, what can be seen in Bangkok is only a tiny part of the Chao Phraya River, which runs for some 372 kilometres from Nakhon Sawan province all the way to the gulf of Thailand. One of these days I'd love to take a nice long boat trip up the river and out of the city.
From the 8th floor window of our Student Weekly office here in Klong Toey, we also have a great view of part of the river — at least when the air is clean and clear enough to see it! Whenever I'm stuck for ideas or need to give my eyes a rest from staring at the computer screen, it's nice to know there's a majestic river nearby to look at.
Ben Edwards
Editor
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