This tour takes the group on a small boat along the canals where they can enjoy observing the fascinating lifestyle along the canal banks in Bangkok. On the way the boat will stop at Wat Arun where they will change boat and board a big rice barge to cruise along the Chao Phraya River (fresh fruits and soft drinks are served).

In 1855 British envoy Sir John Bowring wrote, ‘the highways of Bangkok are not streets and roads but the rivers and the canals. Boats are the universal means of conveyance and communication’.

The wheeled motor vehicle has long since become Bangkok’s conveyance of choice, but fortunately it hasn’t yet became universal. A vast network of canals and river tributaries surrounding Bangkok still carry a motley fleet of watercraft, from paddled canoes to rice barges. In these areas many homes, trading houses and temples remain oriented towards water life and provide a fascinating glimpse into the past, when Thais still considered themselves “jao nam” or water lords.

The 82 m prang (Khmer-style tower) was constructed during the first half of the 19th century. The unique design elongates the typical Khmer prang into a distinctly Thai shape. Its brick core has a plaster covering embedded with a mosaic of broken, multi-hued Chinese porcelain, a common temple ornamentation of the Ratanakosin period when the Chinese ships calling at Bangkok used tonnes of old porcelain, as ballast.

Recommendation: This tour is best taken on the first day of arrival in Bangkok, after a long flight the group can relax and enjoy the cool river breeze.