A Simple Guide for Visitors
Bangkok’s river boats are a cheap, quick way to get around and skip the traffic. The catch is that the river has several kinds of boat, and the row of coloured flags and numbered piers can be confusing the first time. Here is the simple version, just the few things a visitor really needs to know. I still take these boats most weeks, and they are the first thing I would show a first-time visitor.
1. The boats that work like a bus
The Chao Phraya Express Boat is the bus of the river. It runs up and down the Chao Phraya all day and stops at the piers along the way. To use it you do two simple things. Look at the flag on the back of the boat, then check which pier is closest to you and which is closest to where you want to go.
There are 4 flags to look for. The flag colour tells you how many stops the boat makes.
- Orange flag. The all-rounder. It stops at most piers and is the one you will use most. It runs mainly at rush hour now, in the morning and late afternoon.
- Yellow flag. A few less stops and a bit quicker. This is the boat you will usually catch in the middle of the day, and it stops at all the main tourist piers.
- Green-yellow flag. A long-distance commuter boat. It skips a lot of stops and runs far to the north. Weekday rush hour only.
- Red flag. The fast express. Very few stops, made for commuters heading to the far suburbs. Weekday rush hour only.
For going up and down the central part of the river, where the temples and markets are, the orange and yellow flags are the two you want. The green-yellow and red boats are really for locals travelling a long way at rush hour. If one pulls in and you are not sure it stops where you need, let it go and wait for an orange or yellow.
How much. Each trip is cheap and you pay a flat price, roughly 16 to 35 baht depending on the flag and how far you go. No ticket gates and no zones to work out.
Where you pay. Cash. A conductor walks through the boat carrying a metal coin tube and you pay on board. At the big piers like Sathorn there is also a ticket desk where you can pay before you get on. Keep small notes and coins handy.
Those 4 flags are the regular service. There is also a blue flag Tourist Boat, which is a separate sightseeing service. Instead of paying each trip you buy a day pass for 150 baht and hop on and off all day, or pay 40 baht for a single ride. It has English announcements and an open top deck, so it is the easiest choice if you would rather not watch for flags. A line of modern blue and white electric boats (Thai Smile Boat) also runs the same river, air-conditioned and around 30 baht, if you want more comfort.
2. The piers, and which side of the river they are on
The piers are counted from Sathorn, the Central Pier. Piers to the north of it go up as N1, N2, N3 and so on. Piers to the south go up as S1, S2, S3. The newest piers, mostly the big malls, were added much later and are known by name rather than a number.
It also helps to know the two sides of the river. The east side is the Bangkok side, sometimes called Phra Nakhon. This is where most of the old city sits, including the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, Chinatown and the Sathorn business area. The west side is the Thonburi side, home to Wat Arun, Wang Lang and ICONSIAM. Most people say the Bangkok side and the Thonburi side rather than the east and the west, so that is what I use below.
These are the piers worth knowing:
Bangkok side
- Sathorn (Central Pier): The main hub. It links straight to the BTS train at Saphan Taksin, so most people start their river trip here.
- Ratchawong (N5): The pier for Chinatown and the Yaowarat street food area. It is also the closest pier to Song Wat Road, the old warehouse street now full of cafes and street art. For the Talat Noi end of Songwat, Si Phraya pier by River City is just as close.
- Tha Tien (N8): For Wat Pho and the reclining Buddha. The cross-river ferry to Wat Arun also leaves from here.
- Tha Chang (N9): For the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
- Phra Arthit (N13): For Khao San Road and Bangkok Old Town.
- Asiatique: Asiatique is an immense riverside night market well to the south, good in the evening. It is shown as pier A on the tourist map and has no normal number. Reach it on the free Asiatique shuttle boat from Sathorn after dark, or the blue Tourist Boat.
Thonburi side
- Wang Lang / Prannok (N10): For Wang Lang Market and good, cheap food, on the Thonburi bank opposite the old city.
- Wat Arun: The Temple of Dawn. It has its own pier, but the easiest way over is the short ferry from Tha Tien.
- ICONSIAM: ICONSIAM is a massive riverside night market. It has no number in the old system. The simplest way there is the free ICONSIAM shuttle boat from Sathorn, or the short cross-river shuttle from Si Phraya pier. The blue Tourist Boat stops here too.
(Note that ICONSIAM and Asiatique do not have a normal N or S number. They were added long after the numbered piers and are signed by name, so do not waste time hunting for them in the number order.)
The daytime yellow flag and the blue Tourist Boat both stop at the main piers above, so either one gets you to the big sights. The malls are easily accessible by their own free shuttle boats.
3. If you just want to cross to the other side
Sometimes you do not want to go up or down the river. You just want to reach the opposite bank, for example to get to Wat Arun. For that you take a cross-river ferry, not the express boat.
How it works. It is a separate, smaller boat that shuttles straight across and back all day, every few minutes. You pay about 5 baht at a small booth or gate, walk on, and you are on the other side in two or three minutes.
How to know which pier. Most of the main piers have a crossing ferry. Look for a separate gate or sign marked for the cross-river ferry, away from the express boat platform. If you are not sure, the pier staff will point you to it.
The one almost every visitor uses is Tha Tien across to Wat Arun. There is no easier way to reach the temple.
4. The canals (klongs)
The river is not the only water network. Branching off it is a web of canals, known as klongs, and they are still part of daily life. The thing to understand is that the two sides of the river work in completely different ways. On the Bangkok side the canal boats run like buses. On the Thonburi side the canals are something you explore on a hire boat.
Bangkok side: canal boats that work like a bus
On the Bangkok side the main one is the Khlong Saen Saep boat. It is a long, narrow boat that runs a fixed route along the canal, straight across the middle of the city from west to east. Because it ignores the roads completely, it is often the fastest way across town when the traffic is jammed.
It works just like the river express boats. You wait at a canal pier, hop on, pay the conductor and hop off at your stop. It is handy for the Jim Thompson House, Pratunam and the Golden Mount. The two lines meet at Pratunam, so for a longer trip you change boats there. The boarding is quick and the boats get busy, so it is a livelier ride than the river.
There is also a small free canal boat, the Phadung Krung Kasem, on a quieter and prettier canal near the edge of Chinatown. It runs a fixed route too, so it is another bus-style ride rather than a tour.
Thonburi side: canals you explore by boat tour
The Thonburi side is different. The canals there are not scheduled routes, so there is no bus-style boat to jump on. Instead you hire a long-tail boat, the long wooden boat with a car engine and a propeller on a pole, and take a tour along the canals. This is where you see the older, quieter side of Bangkok: wooden houses on stilts, riverside temples, and life going on at the water’s edge.
You can book a tour ahead, or arrange one at a pier such as Tha Chang, River City or Sathorn. You hire the whole boat by the hour rather than paying per person, so it works out better in a small group. Expect roughly 1,000 to 1,500 baht an hour for the boat, and agree the price and how long you want before you get on.
A tour like this can take in Wat Arun, the Royal Barges, the giant golden pagoda at Wat Paknam, the Artist’s House, and at the weekend a floating market such as Taling Chan. It is the one boat trip that feels less like transport and more like a day out.
5. River cruises
The boats so far are about getting from one place to another. A river cruise is different. You book it ahead, the boat does a loop along the river and brings you back to the same pier, and the point is the evening rather than the journey. Almost all of them run after dark, when the temples and the bridges are lit up and the air is cooler. Seeing Wat Arun and the Grand Palace glow from the middle of the river is the main reason to go.
How they work is simple. You pick a boat, book a seat online a day or two ahead, turn up at its pier before the set departure, and you are out on the water for about two hours with dinner served on board.
There are three kinds worth knowing:
- Big buffet dinner cruises. Large boats with a buffet, a live band and sometimes a short Thai dance show. The most common and the cheapest, from around 1,000 baht, and good fun if you do not mind a busy boat.
- Boutique and fine-dining cruises. Smaller boats, including beautifully restored old teak rice barges, with served menus and far fewer people. They cost more but feel calmer and the food is better.
- Sunset cruises. Shorter early-evening trips with drinks and snacks rather than a full dinner, good if you mainly want the golden light and the photos.
Cruises do not leave from the ordinary express boat piers. The main departure points are ICONSIAM and River City at Si Phraya, with some boats leaving from Asiatique and a few from Sathorn. Book ahead, give yourself plenty of time to reach the pier through the evening traffic, and in the rainy season pick a boat with a covered deck.
For a first trip, ride the BTS to Saphan Taksin, walk down to Sathorn pier, and take the blue Tourist Boat or a yellow flag from there. That covers almost everything you will want to see.
