Call me a hansum cab
Call me a hansum cab
Bangkok never ceases to amaze me, a good farang night out in the farang spots such as Soi Cowboy or Nana Plaza will cost you 5,000baht to 10,000baht, yet you can still see parts of Bangkok for as little as 3baht.
The river boats on the Chao Phraya River, in particular the piers at Tha Chang and Tha Wanglang, these are on different sides of the river and cost 3baht on the river ferry to cross to the other, now thats a bargain.
The entrance to the Tha Wanglang Pier.
Getting on the Tha Chang Tha Wanglang river ferry, there aren't many seats on these ferries, I assume during rush hour periods it is standing room only, although we got hit by a wave side on with only a few people on the ferry and it knocked the boat about quite a bit, wouldn't like that happening when it was fully loaded with passengers, also had quite a few life jackets on board, so you may survive the crossing
Another ferry getting ready to land at the pier.
Both ferry terminals are situated in or next to markets, these have the usual Thai stuff including Thai food. Wang Lang Market Review (Bangkok Markets).
These looked quite nice and were soaking in some sauce that even a farang could probably eat
Although if your desperate for farang food they got Dunkin Donuts and several other get fat type of fast food junk places, overlooking the Chao Phraya they got a Black Canyon Coffee place plus some other places including Thai restaurants so probably nice to sit out there waiting for the sun to set.
In the local area there are several Wats and also Wat Arun is within walking distance, or maybe just catch a boat there
Also not forgetting the Royal Barge Museum is also located here.
https://teakdoor.com/thailands-travel...ge-museum.html (Royal Barge Museum)
https://teakdoor.com/thailands-wats-t...rocession.html (Bangkok Royal Barge Procession)
Yup a cheap thrill. The wife loves Wat Rakong so we often take the one from Chang pier to Wat Rakong. Hell for less than a buck you can go all the way from the Oriental pier to Nonthaburi as well. Maximum fare I think on one of the many companies is 29 baht.
Nice little wonders thread.
Last time I went it was 8 baht from Saphan Taksin to Ta Tien then 20 baht entry (if my piss addled brain serves me right) to Wat Po.
Money very well spent !
I've never fancied the canals/open sewers in Bangkok
Keep your mouth closed on those ferries, you wouldn't wanna be swallowing any of thatOriginally Posted by dirtydog
nice pics dd. Theres a lot you can do in bangkok for less than ten baht if you have the time and can stand the heat. The army and navy museums are both free as is a climb up the golden mount .
I enjoy getting around on the waterways in Bkk, only really used them a few times and never during the really busy periods yet..
I took it several years ago north of the bridge to visit the prison that was suppose to be a point of interest. At least that was what this Jewish ex-pat told me. He also wanted to visit the "Thai torture museum. That's near the Royal Wat and adjacent to the military offices buildings with the old cast iron cannons on the lawns.
Thinking back I wonder what was going on in my mind to accompany this young Jewish guy to visit such interesting places?
Good write up DD. No pic's of the Wats along the Chao Praya?
& you could get a free bus (red, no aircon) to/from either pier. Maybe a number 47 from Tha Chang which can take you to Siam Square then Silom and beyond for free... If you were Thai, then you could get the free train from Thonburi train station to Kanchanaburi and beyond; quite a decent trip, for 3 baht...
Cycling should be banned!!!
Thanks DD for some great pic's and an interesting report.
Best thing to do in this part of town, other than the usual sightseeing, is sunset drinks overlooking Wat Arun in "The Deck" bar, part of the Arun Residence boutique hotel. Go up to the top floor, which I think is the 4th, for stunning views of the temple. This is on Thanon Pratu Nok Yoong, just off Thanon Maharat.
Or sit in a bar at Prapadaeng and watch the ships steer straight at you and then veer away at the last minute.
Just take a walk through Chinatown on any given night, and you can have an amazing sightseeing experience. I watched some old man giving some girls hell for the way they were dressed the other night, which I had not seen before. They got back in his face, but I could not understand a word
being able to navigate the river and canals of BKK is a time and money saver as well as allowing one to become more familiar with the in's and out's of the city. It can also be fun, the eye candy is also an advantage of taking the public waterway transportation methods. Well worth the time and effort to learn how to get around the place one lives in.
Nice post and photos DD. Thanks.
"Don't Sweat the Small Stuff....and it is all small stuff"
I used to get the longatail canal boat from near Phra Pokklao; across the river and up the canals for about 15 mins, 5 baht
then just sat in the boat and returned for 5 baht, a really nice boat trip, but they discontinued the service when they built the new bridge
you can still get a canalboat from near Jim Thomson's house and MBK down to near Kao San road, that is Ok for 7 baht
I have reported your post
I reckon traveling on the river is a brilliant entertaining trip at a bargain basement price.
The 6pm ferry from Taksin pier back up the river is fully loaded with Office lovelies making there way home only trouble is there all sleeping as there foked from the days work.
Spent many years being a scum backpacker hanging on the Kao San road so I've done many a trips to different venues in various stages of intoxication.
Love that river trip.
How come when I mention a discount priced thread I'm called a fkkin Balloon Chaser
Well it was time to go through my Thai Baht change jar for another expensive 3 Baht journey across the Chao Phraya River, this time to Wat Mahathat, again this was from Tha Wanglang Pier, actually next to Tha Wanglang Pier are 2 others, I mean right next to it, 1 is for he river boat express service, the other I am not sure about at the moment.
The Tha Wanglang Pier, note no roof or shade, this stops people hanging around there and blocking people getting off of the boat, good idea I thought as you know what Thais are like, just watch them trying to get on a lift before the other people have got off, they just can't stop themselves.
One of the piers next door to Wanglang, this is Phran Nok Pier for the River Express Boats.
Tha Wanglang from the river, upstairs is the Black Canyon, next door to that is an open air coffee place, bet that one is half the price for coffee.
Lots of Temples in Thailand called Wat Mahathat, but not many have a pier named after them, so you get off at Wat Mahathat Pier after paying your 3 baht fare, wander up the Soi towards the Temple, this is full of stalls selling Buddha items such as statues, amulets and just about everything else you can think of related to Buddha and Buddhism, many of the stalls have No Photo signs, not sure why unless some of the stuff is a bit dodgy, plenty of them don't have the signs but its not really worth wasting too much film/memory on the stuff.
Wat Mahathat is in the same area of Bangkok as the Grand Palace and the National Museum, if you are travelling by river boat other than from Wanglang Pier you want to get off at Tha Chang Pier which is right next to Wat Mahathat Pier, to be honest unless your into meditation there really is no reason to visit this Temple, it is of course famed for being the Mahanikai school of Buddhism and Vipassana Meditation centre, other than that it is just an over crowded mish mash of buildings, due to construction starting in the 18th century some are old and some are new.
One of the more modern Temple buildings.
And one of the older buildings, shame they just didn't leave the older buildings there.
The courtyard is surrounded by gold leafed Buddha statues.
Another nice old building.
I quite like the Chao Phraya River, there is always something interesting to see and take a photo of, this river boat with it's chromed up lorry engine I thought was quite smart, just wish I was a teenager again.
Anyway we did decided to splash out today and visit Wat Arun, The Temple of Dawn, cost a bit more than 3baht I might add.
Right so it is back to Wanglang Pier, got two choices on getting to Wat Arun, the 30baht River Boat Express, or the 15baht River Boat Express to Tha Tien and then the 5baht boat to cross the river over to Wat Arun, yes we saved that 10baht each.
So here is our express boat, they are quite smart.
Tha Tien is the second stop if I remember rightly, so doesn't take long, didn't see a market but it hassome Thai food stuff, also a place selling beer, and of course a second floor coffee shop.
Beer place on the far right.
The coffee shop and bakery, really great location for the views I reckon.
3 baht!
Thats one more than the Isralies will spend...!
Well I did take quite a few photos of Wat Arun, but bobcock has taken a lot better so I will only post the one photo, you can check out bobcocks thread here https://teakdoor.com/thailands-wats-t...-wat-arun.html (Bobcock at Wat Arunrajawararam Rajaworamahavihara (Wat Arun, Wat Chaeng))
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