For a fully paid-up claustrophobic, there’s
no danger of cabin fever and I’m happy to loll
on the chaise longue or hunch over the desk
that points out directly to this ‘River of Kings’.
In fact, the ‘all bells and whistles’ in-room
internet TV only gets a look-in once and that’s
to tell me that I’m late for an appointment to
get really up close and personal with the river.
I’m sorely tempted to saunter up to AVANI’s
26 th floor ATTITUDE Rooftop Bar & Restaurant
to play in the afternoon sun. It’s the kind of place
I could spend some serious time, an exercise in
urban cool with its laidback beats and infinity
pool chic. The kind of place where day turns to
night too easy, the kind of place that adds a little
swagger to your stride. The kind of place you can
pretend you’re Paul Newman cool, for a moment.
But, only for a moment.
But, the river calls and so does the
concierge. He breathlessly explains to me the
route to the water, his machine-gun chatter
rattling at me that the only way to the pier is
through the neighbouring Riverside Anantara.
But that’s okay, as they’re related.
Related? What kind of relationship? They
share the same surname or is that first name?
Are they monogamous? Do hotels cheat with
one another? Would the love child of a Sheraton
and a Hilton be called a Stilton? Now’s not the
time, so I grunt for him to continue.
It turns out a sky bridge serves as an
umbilical cord between the two properties
(that counts as family for sure), but it’s also a
partnership that sees both properties share the
Thai river barge that operates as a taxi to ferry
guests upriver. Now here’s a service that’s a
no-brainer. Not only is it a joy to lollop up the
river in these roofed water-beetle like boats,
but it’s also the easiest and calmest way to get
to Bangkok’s Skytrain city transport system
and the witchcraft of the city’s shopping.
But that’s also for later. What I want right
now is to get beyond the main body of the
bulging Chao Phraya River and into the lesser
travelled interior waterways that crisscross the
city’s innards. Decades back, a trip into the back
waters was quite the de rigueur thing to do, now
it seems to have been roughshod by a mountain
of malls and the lure of night time neon.
The only way into the Dao Khanong canal,
my nearest entrance, is on board one of the
Long-tail boats with their converted truck
motor outboards and two-metre propshafts.
It’s an arduous journey in and out with deep
metal locks guarding exits and entrances.
There seems no timing to their raising and
lowering and even my wizened boatman
seems to have little clue. For an eternity, we’re
bobbing in murky brown waters, our only
company the occasional catfish or adventurous
monitor lizard. Then, a loudspeaker rattles out
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