Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [52]
16 Get a massage
Wat Pho is the national repository for traditional massage and offers massages Click here in the air-conditioned studios near the eastern gate. A thoroughly sensible choice and conveniently open until 6.30pm, which is perfect timing for…
17 Sundowners
Exit Wat Pho beside the Reclining Buddha, turn left on Th Maharat and then right at Th Soi Pratu Nok Yung. Walk past the old Chinese godowns to the end of the soi and The Deck, a restaurant with spectacular views of the river and Wat Arun. The upstairs Amorosa bar, which opens at 6pm, is easily the best place to watch the sun set behind Wat Arun.
Return to beginning of chapter
THONBURI
Thonburi has lived in the shadow of Bangkok for more than 200 years and is today a not entirely fashionable suburb of the capital. Fashion, of course, is a subjective thing. Particularly in the older area opposite central Bangkok, there aren’t that many raised freeways, expensive cars or modern transportation systems. Instead Thonburi retains enough of the traditional transport corridors – the klorng that once caused Bangkok to be known as the ‘Venice of the East’ and Thais to call themselves jôw nám (water lords) – to give it a decidedly different feel. A day exploring them is likely to be one of the most memorable of your stay in the Thai capital.
The network of canals and river tributaries still carries a motley fleet of watercraft, from paddled canoes to rice barges via ear-splitting longtails. Homes, trading houses and temples are built on stilts with front doors opening out to the river. According to residents, these waterways protect them from the seasonal flooding that plagues the capital.
Khlong Bangkok Noi is lined with greenery and historic temples, reaching deep into the Bang Yai district, a brief five-minute ride from the concrete entanglements of central Bangkok. Khlong Bangkok Yai was in fact the original course of the river until a canal was built to expedite transits. Today the tributary sees a steady stream of tourists on longtail boat tours en route to floating markets, the Royal Barges Museum or Wat Intharam, where a chedi contains the ashes of Thonburi’s King Taksin, ceremonially assassinated in 1782. Fine gold-and-black lacquerwork adorning the main bòht doors depicts the mythical nah·ree·pǒn tree, which bears fruit shaped like beautiful maidens.
Most tourists meet only the river-facing part of Thonburi between Khlong Bangkok Noi and Khlong Bangkok Yai, directly across from Ko Ratanakosin, leaving the interior of the community predominantly Thai with hardly an English sign or pestering túk-túk driver in sight. As the river ferries ricochet from stop to stop, a steady stream of commuters is shuttled to and from jobs in downtown Bangkok. There are nine bridges spanning the Chao Phraya, but you will probably end up on a husky cross-river ferry plodding from one side to the other in stress-relieving slow motion.
The giant-sized southern bus station sends services west to Kanchanaburi and south as far as Malaysia. Meanwhile Thonburi has two minor rail terminuses: one departs from Bangkok Noi (near Siriraj Hospital and about 900m from the Thonburi Railway ferry pier) and trundles west to Kanchanaburi; the other is the Mahachai Railway that goes from Wong Wian Yai to the gulf coast suburbs (see Click here).
WAT ARUN
Map
0 2891 1149; www.watarun.org; Th Arun Amarin; admission 50B; 8am-6pm; from Tha Tien (N8) to Tha Wat Arun
The missile-shaped temple that rises from the banks of the Mae Nam Chao Phraya is known as Temple of Dawn and named after the Indian god of dawn, Aruna. It was here that, in the wake of the destruction of Ayuthaya, King Taksin stumbled upon a small local shrine and interpreted the discovery as such an auspicious sign that this should be the site of the new capital of Siam. King Taksin built a palace beside the shrine, which is now part of Navy Headquarters, and a royal temple that housed the Emerald Buddha for 15 years before Taksin was assassinated Click here and the capital moved across the royal river to Bangkok.