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Bangkok canal cruise longtail boat

January 7, 2015 by David Herd

Bangkok canal cruise

Bangkok canal cruise in a long-tail boat, which is known as Ruea Hang Yao, a type of watercraft native to Southeast Asia, which uses a common automotive engine as a readily available and maintainable power-plant.

As you can see many of the waterfront homes resemble shanty towns, unlike other parts of the world including the Gold Coast in Australia and Fort Lauderdale north of Miami,where any home on the waterfront is usually an expensive mansion.

No luxury here

In real estate terms this is what we call the poverty pack.

The daily catch

Lunch is ready. 🙂

Bangkok canal cruise in a longtail boat

The craft is designed to carry passengers on a river & may include a lightweight long canoe hull, up to 30 meters long, and a canopy. There is a great variation among these boats, some have evolved from traditional craft types, while others have a more improvised look, the sole defining characteristic is a second-hand car or truck engine.

What a huge engine

And bloody noisy as you can imagine.

Waiting in the lock for the water to rise.

Until recently, the canals of Bangkok accommodated many social, cultural, and commercial activities, functioning as important public places for residents of Thailand’s capital city. Dating from the founding of the city in 1782, the canals in Bangkok are of cultural importance to the Thai people, having originated as a means of providing security against attack, as a source of sustenance (food and water), as the focus of religious ceremonies and celebrations such as the Loy Kratong Festival, and as a site for recreational activities such as swimming and boating activities and competitions.

Luxury waterfront home, I don’t think so.

Faced with the combined threats of land subsidence and rising temperatures and sea levels, the World Bank has predicted that Bangkok’s flood risk will increase four-fold from now by 2050. Bangkok is among the top 10 cities in the world facing the biggest potential impact from coastal flooding by 2070. The Thai capital, built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging Bangkok could be merely a foretaste of a grim future as climate change makes its impact felt, experts say.

She does not instill confidence

The river and canals are very busy with water craft buzzing past at a rapid rate, on this day out driver was not at all concerned, but I can assure you we were. 🙂 Not everything goes to plan when you take a Bangkok canal cruise, here is a story from a Thai lady who works for the Bangkok Post. So my advice is if an operator seems angry of unfriendly simply try another one until you are comfortable with your choice.

Bangkok canal cruise Wat Khun Chan

From the Phasricharoen canal

Wat Khun Chan Buddha

Lots to see on a Bangkok canal cruise.

Genuine Louis Vuitton copies?

A little river shopping for a bargain.

Waiting for a customer

In the distance is Iconsiam shopping mall.

That’s all folks.

Many thanks for joining me on my Bangkok canal cruise photo blog.

Not everybody is happy on the river

A Vietnamese cargo ship ploughed into riverside houses along the Chao Phraya River in Phra Pradaeng district yesterday April 5t 2017, damaging three homes.

Residents fled to the streets in panic as the cargo ship loomed over them. Three houses were damaged, one badly, but nobody was injured.

iCheck Inn Soi 11

When I’m in Bangkok I like to stay in Sukhumvit Soi 11, here is an excellent budget hotel, if you USE THIS LINK you will get a great rate of around B1100 per night, or $30 USD.

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