The Beauty of Bangkok Isn't Skin Deep

As cities go, Bangkok isn't pretty. It's a concrete and smog-filled quagmire of cab to tuk-tuk to cab "rot tit" (traffic jam). Steel and glass canyons block what little sun can battle through the haze. At street level, emaciated trees, strapped to concrete poles, fight an uphill battle for survival--combating both lack of sun and lack of breathable air. Overhead, thick black vines lace the boulevards, avenues and narrow soi--telephone and electrical lines from another era.

In short, much of the city is ugly.

But Bangkok is a beautiful place to visit and perhaps live. To embrace this "City of Angels" one must step beyond the obvious to the people, the Chao Phraya and the wats.

The Thais I have encountered are, for the most part, a friendly outgoing people. Don't look to the obsequious, sickly sweet deferential hotel employees. Instead, bask in the warmth of everyday, real encounters: the busy shopkeeper who helps the befuddled tourist decipher a street name; the rushing businessman eager to pause and practice his English; the wizened elders squatting in only shorts and sandals by the edge of a klong, who take the time to wave at yet another passing long-tail boat laden with tourists. I encountered all this and more in one weeklong visit.

Chao Phraya, the River of Kings--and its adjacent canals or klongs--also will wash the dust from your eyes to reveal a true view of the essence of this great city. Join the crowd, tourists and locals alike, for a dramatic ride up the liquid spine of Bangkok. Rusty coastal steamships, slow-moving barges laden with rice, and zippy river taxis all negotiate the olive green waters. Chao Phraya is spawned by the confluence of two great northern rivers, the Ping and Nan, which marry in the Central Plains and continue south to the Gulf of Thailand. Much of the river splicing Bangkok is actually a canal built in the 16th Century.

The river is a major transportation artery within the city and north to the ancient city of Ayuthaya and beyond. Visitors can take the regular express boats, jumping on and off at the many "bus stops" for mere pennies. The views are magnificent. Fifty-story modern condos compete with golden-spired chedi in wats along the riverfront. Some old wooden shacks still resolutely stand on stilts, reminders of a simpler time. The Grand Palace, temples and colonial buildings all catch the eye as the crowded Chao Phraya Express pushes upriver. At each stop, the captain backs and fills with forward and reverse to the coded directions twittered by his mate on a boatswain's whistle. Stern finally tucked into the wharf, tourists, monks and city folk stream ashore to be replaced by their waiting counterparts. Moments later, the express pulls away, plunging up the river towards the next stop. Eventually, the frenetic shoreline will become more rural and peaceful, the city left behind. It is a people-watching, scenery-catching experience that is not to be missed. Cost? A whole three baht (about nine cents), the best E-ride on the planet.

You can experience another, more intimate, view of the river and klongs by hiring your own boat. 500 Bt(under $14.00) will get you a long-tail boat or other such craft for a couple of hours. (The long-tails are powered by car engines and have ingenious tillers. The propeller twirls at the end of a long pole easily maneuverable by the driver. This enables him or her to lever the prop away from flotsam and jetsam in the river).

Able to pick your own course, a good choice is to explore the canals of Thon Buri, a suburb on the other side of the river. It was the capital for 15 years in the 18th Century before King Rama I relocated across the Chao Phraya. Only in this century has Thon Buri been connected to Bangkok by bridge and much of the rural charm still remains--best viewed by boat. Narrow klongs wind peacefully past spanking new homes and battered teak shacks. Ornate wats share the shoreline with two tourist venues--the Thon Buri Snake Farm and a floating market.

From the long-tail one glimpses the ordinary daily life of the suburb's inhabitants. Women wash utensils in the murky water. A man dressed only in shorts hopefully tosses a fishing line. Local water taxis buzz by, carrying neighbors returning home for lunch and solemn shaven-headed monks, resplendent in their orange garb. Perhaps a young boy will dive into the water, snake an arm through the rubber tire "bumper" dragging in the water, haul himself aboard your boat, scamper across the transom and launch himself into the canal--just for the fun of it.

Wats, the Buddhist temples, are a third place to look for the beauty of Bangkok. Now, if I were a wat, I think I would prefer being a countryside wat, away from the city and the smog. However, as a human, I can enter the enclosed grounds and escape from the hectic urban personality of so much of Bangkok.

You've all seen pictures of these temples with their inlaid orange and green roofs and their golden chedi (the spires) reflecting the sun on clear days and bathing in the electric glow of evening floodlights. Some are small, tucked away along klongs, or down insignificant alleys. Others, like the Grand Palace, are ornate walled fortresses. In either case, they are wonderful refuges from the frenetic pace of the city. Visit, and respect them and the reverence in which the Thai people hold these sites.

When you return to your homes, remember these images: the helpful, genuine people; the beauty of the river and the klongs; the holiness and serenity of the wats. Recall that you had to absorb the cultural shock of a totally alien, yet exotic, environment to find these treasures. Think of the old line that beauty is only skin deep. Look past that skin of smog, jammed streets and towering buildings and you see the beauty that is Bangkok.

Enjoy.

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Last updated: January 9, 2000.