Life on the Chao Phraya?

[dave_tf-old]

An internet friend of mine is planning an extended visit to Thailand with wife and kids. He's a high end chef and that's his primary interest. Their budget is fairly high (I think) but they are not looking for luxury....they just hate hotels.

I am sure he is capable of locating rental properties on the riverfront in Bangkok (if such exist), but has no idea what life is really like on the river. He has visited Thailand on two other occasions and has taken the obligatory river tours and got this idea from that experience.

So I told him I would ask around and see if any of you might have some impressions of what is available on the river and what actually living on it is like.

He's a Floridian and not unaccustomed to heat, humidity, and large insects...but I'm sure they would prefer Air Conditioning.

I should clarify. They want to rent a house, not a condo with a riverview. They want to be right on the river.

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[PeterUK]

There's a guy called Steve Van Beek who has written extensively about the Chao Phraya river. If I remember rightly he has a house right on the river himself. I read one of his books called 'Slithering South' in which he describes a trip he made in a small boat starting on the Ping river in the North of Thailand and ending where the Chao Phraya joins the sea; I enjoyed it, it was full of colourful detail. Might be an idea to tell your friends to google his name. Googling the river will bring up lots of practical info re accommodation etc too.

[dab69]

does it smell as bad as some of the canals I have been near?
or is it cleaner and do people swim there?

[dave_tf-old]

Thans for the info, Peter. Have passed it on. Looks like a good read, even if it's maybe not geared exactly to his immedicate questions.

As far as swimming. I haven't been on a river tour that I didn't see kids in the water and people bathing in the River. But I wouldn't do it myself. Would be concerned about the smell.

I went back to one guy's place maybe 50 meters from river's edge a few years ago. He didn't want me to follow him into his apartement, so I sat and waited on a bench, talking to a few people and tossing a ball with a little guy. I don't remember it being 'smelly'. I remember it being oddly quiet for Bangkok.

Just remembered...I spent about a year and a half on Okinawa when I was just pre-teen. We lived for several months on the edge of a large 'benjo' ditch (open sewer). It took a while, but we got used to it.

Perhaps this place would suit:

Chakrabongse Villas

W W W. CHAKRABONGSEVILLAS. COM

Watch out that those sewer rats don't come out and bite yur new nylons Dear

I am sure he is capable of locating rental properties on the riverfront in Bangkok (if such exist), but has no idea what life is really like on the river. He has visited Thailand on two other occasions and has taken the obligatory river tours and got this idea from that experience.
So I told him I would ask around and see if any of you might have some impressions of what is available on the river and what actually living on it is like.
.

Your friend's best best is to hire a riverboat and take a trip along the length of the Bangkok riverbanks and look at properties from the water. He can then hop off whenever he sees something that he thinks looks a possibility to him.

This will give him the chance to look at properties in that immediate area as well as the suitabilty of that area for shopping/safety and the environment in general.

There are a lot of properties along the riverbank that are rentable but they do vary considerably in the amenities they offer and the a/c stipulation will restrict his choice.

As for swimming in the river, don't. Not unless you have been raised on the river and have built up a resistance to the infections that can be picked up from the water. Yes you do see lots of kids playing in the river and many of them do not suffer any harm from that, but there are also a lot of kids who do suffer quite severe intestinal problems caused by the water.

As for the smell, like any river bank there will always be parts that are a blackspot for the build up of effluent and others that are not, which is why a trip on a riverboat trip will narrow down the areas that your friend feels would suit him and his family. If he really wants a riverfront property then he is going to have to accept that there are drawbacks that come with that. The noise, the smell and the added problems that occur especially in the wet season. There is a vast difference in living in a riverfront property than a riverside suburb.

[Marsilius]

"Yes you do see lots of kids playing in the river..."

Several years ago, I did the usual touristy thing of hiring a private long-tailed boat for a few hours and going along the river and canals. I had my video camera with me and was busily making a little home movie.

As we passed a bank, several kids aged about seven or eight, I'd guess, were climbing up onto some structure or another and jumping off into the water. They were having great fun.

I shot them for a minute or so and got a great sequence of one little boy jumping high into the air and diving into the river with a great big splash.

He came up for air and gave a wonderful broad smile, straight into the camera.

And, as he did so, he brought and arm out of the water and, still smiling broadly with gleaming white teeth, raised his dripping arm, stuck up a solitary middle finger and shouted as loudly as he could (all captured on tape in glorious stereo)...

"FUCK YOU!"

[dave_tf-old]

A priceless treasure no doubt, Marsilius.

Thanks again, Gentlemen. Al comments forwarded. Naughty, especially helpful just knowing such rentals exist. Your plan sounds like a good one to me.

Watch out that those sewer rats don't come out and bite yur new nylons Dear

I'd be more worried about those big Monitor lizards. They scare the bee-jeezuz outta me.

I've noticed some rentable apartments and condo's on the river but not many houses (at least that aren't slum shacks). I have noticed some nice houses when you get off the main river and head into the klongs esp on the Thonburi side of town.