Bangkok Dinner Cruise – Trip Report with photos/video

[Big Boy]

NB: Photos/videos will start on Part 2 of the report.

Apologies for the very wordy introduction, but the scene had to be set. On the cruise itself, I opted for video as opposed to photos. It all looked fine on the night, but a lot of video was out of focus (it looked fine on the night on my little point & shoot, but when viewed on a larger screen......). Actually, sights on the river were not that many, with Wat Arun, Rama VIII Bridge, The Grand Palace and Asiatique being the main sights. In my opinion, the video with give a far better appreciation of the sights on the cruise.

Part 1 – Setting the Scene

It was my wife’s 69th birthday a few days ago, and I wanted to do something a little different for her. She basically got everything she needs, so I thought a couple of nights away. She has a few medical problems, so I was a bit restricted where we could go.

I eventually decided I’d like to try a Bangkok Dinner Cruise. The trick would be persuading her that she’d like to do the cruise i.e. she has a fear of boats, although we almost went once before. I’ll never forget that day, because it was the day Hua Hin was bombed. We were away in Bangkok that weekend, and tried to go on a Dinner Cruise that same night. On that occasion, after being stuck in a taxi in traffic for 2 hours, we simply gave up, got out of the taxi and walked to the nearest bar.

Here we were, 7 years on, and I had agreement to do the trip again. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again, this time I decided to get accommodation close to the point of departure. That was my first problem, there were 3 departure points:

• Asiatique
• Riverside
• ICON SIAM

I didn’t have a clue where any of these places were, so sought advice on the Forum. I discounted Riverside almost immediately, when feedback told me it was an antiques market. There were only a couple of departures from here anyway.

The other 2 departure points had much more to choose from, so I looked at the actual cruises and what they had to offer. Of course, they all looked superb in the literature. Some cruises did discos – I didn’t fancy pushing a wheelchair around the dancefloor. Other cruises included free flow alcohol – neither of us could have done justice to a free flow bar. I eventually chose the Meridian Cruise 2 boat for our venture. It was the offer of Indian food as well as many other culinary delights, which swung it for me (I hadn't considered this might attract loads of Indians as well).

Meridian 2 departed from ICON SIAM, so the next job was finding a hotel nearby. About 95% of hotels in the area were well above what I would want to pay for somewhere to sleep. I found one hotel, which looked ideal, and I was even going to pay for a riverside view upgrade. However, when I looked at photos online, the windows were so small, I’d have had to look out one eyeball at a time – forget that. I found some really cheap rooms, but they were little more than cupboards – online photos showed double beds in the rooms, but it must have been dolly furniture. There is no way a double bed could have fitted into those rooms. Then, I found it, The Grand Tower Inn (more about it later), well below my budget (less than half the price of the hotel with peep hole windows, very close to ICON SIAM (0.9 Km) and Asiatique (6 Km), and the photos looked good (I have fallen down the Agoda photo trap a few times previously). I booked the boat online for 850฿/head. Booking was so simple, and the staff were very helpful. The hotel cost 1100฿/night, with breakfast included (about half the price of the peep hole hotel).

When I asked about locations on the Forum, I had been warned about traffic congestion. I looked at the area on Google maps, and concluded it wasn’t somewhere I wanted to drive to. Those who have read previous trip reports will realise my wife has significant medical problems, and when we travel anywhere, I basically take a mobile hospital with me. So regular public transport was out. I decided to book a large (SUV) taxi for trip. I’ve used Bliss Travel’s taxis for about 25 years now, and they’ve never let me down. Cost was 4,000฿ for the return trip. For running around Bangkok, I decided I’d use the Grab Taxis SUV service (at least that was my cunning plan).

Everything was sorted, and my wife’s birthday trip was all booked. At least, that is what I thought. In the 2 weeks leading up to the trip, she was hospitalized twice. I started to think I was going to lose my money. However, after the 2nd visit, she was given some tablets, which worked wonders on her. I was still worried in case it happened again. I asked my daughter if she’d like to join us. She would be fantastic help if my wife had another relapse, and she had been saying how much she would like to do the trip. Thankfully, she accepted, and I had a little helper if I should need it, all for the cost of the boat trip and a hotel room.

…………………………./Part 2 to follow

[buksida]

Looking forward to the cruise report, we were considering it last month when we were up there for a week but gave up due to being on the other side of the city. May stay closer next time if the cruise is worth it.

[pharvey]

Thanks BB, some great info - have to admit being (pleasantly) surprised at the costs! Had to look-up "The Grand Tower Inn" - looks quite something for the price, a real find there I think!

Also looking forward to the photo's/video(s)

It's been a long while since I've been to Thailand, so will look on with interest!

[Big Boy]

Don't get carried away. Despite being quite a nice hotel, there are quite a few drawbacks that will be revealed.

[caller]

Where did you get that River City was an Antique Market? It used to be full of Antique shops, on the upper floors, there are 3-4 floors, but that was pre-covid. Its now more of an arts centre, in the past they have held exhibitions of such luminaries as Warhol and The Impressionists and there are some very good private galleries and displays of contemporary art.

[Big Boy]

From you I've already had my misunderstanding pointed out to me. However, looking at their web page yesterday https://rivercitybangkok.com/?fbclid=Iw ... XTig6M-UPk , it really does not look my kind of place, and Mrs BB would have been thrusting hot needles into her eyes.

Sorry, my misunderstanding 100%. I do go on in a later installment to say that it would have been a preferable departure point for the dinner cruise.

[Big Boy]

Part 2 – Day 1a

Grand Tower Inn/ICON SIAM

We set off from home at 10:00hrs. Bliss had upgraded us from a SUV to a mini-van. As there were only 3 passengers, this was, in my opinion, a downgrade – 3 people and 7 empty seats. However, a mini-van costs 700฿ more, so in the eyes of Bliss they were giving me a lot more than I’d paid for. OK, I was used to travelling in mini-vans to the footie, so I’d just sit back and enjoy the ride – at least there was plenty of room for the medical accessories. Journey time was just under 3 hours.

Check-in wasn’t until 14:00hrs, so we had a bit of a delay in the hotel reception, which was quite large/spacious.

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Rooms were quite OK, a touch on the small side, but more than ample for the area and price. The main thing was they were spotlessly clean.

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The view from the room left a lot to be desired, but we later found out this was a bit of a blessing.

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The view from the other side would have resembled looking out over Spaghetti Junction, with a railway passing through the middle (I’d imagine quite noisy). The hotel was most definitely wheelchair friendly. However, getting the wheelchair in and out of the elevator was a bit like getting cash out of Arkwright’s till (Open All Hours reference).

We knew ICON SIAM was less than a mile away, and check in for the 19:45 river cruise was at 17:30hrs. We hadn’t had lunch, but we knew there was a buffet dinner that we wanted to do justice to. Not wanting to get caught up in the traffic that had been predicted, we decided to set off for ICON SIAM at 15:30hrs to have a light snack before checking in. It was now that we realised what a mistake our hotel was. It was bang in the middle of a hideous one-way system. Even when traffic was light, it took 20 minutes to negotiate the road system. As planned, I ordered a Grab SUV – 17 minutes. 17 minutes became 29 minutes, which reduced to 13 minutes before the driver cancelled. I re-ordered – 7 minutes, which became 21 minutes before the driver cancelled. Third time lucky, I ordered again – 5 minutes, which was real.

We got into the taxi, reached the end of the road, turned left, and there was ICON SIAM directly in front of us. If I didn’t have my wife or her wheelchair with me, it was easily walkable. However, with the wheelchair, it would have been like negotiating the surface of the Moon to the end of the road, where there then would have been several impossible roads to cross. So, the wheelchair friendliness of the hotel is agreed, but once outside, anybody wheelchair bound was basically trapped.

When we arrived at ICON SIAM, I guess the taxi mafia/Grab wars are still very much still in force in this area. The driver had to take us somewhere secluded to drop us, and he informed us we would never get a Grab taxi to pick us up later. Oh flump – the wheelchair would not fit into a standard Bangkok taxi, and as I’ve just said, it was impossible to walk.

Exploring ICON SIAM was planned for the next day, so we didn’t want to venture beyond the ground floor, which is supposed to be floating market. As floating markets go, it wasn’t. However, the decoration was colourful. Although wheelchair friendly, it was very busy. We were in tourist Bangkok now, and it was heaving with Indians, Chinese, Koreans plus a splattering of other nationalities. When you’ve got a shop full of Indians, Chinese, Koreans, you just know they are going to be ignorant, and stand in your way. My patience did become rather drawn at one stage, and there were a few ‘accidental’ shin and ankle collisions with the wheelchair. Funny actually, they suddenly knew how to get out of the way, with me giving out a few very insincere apologies. This ignorance was going to become a feature of the next couple of days, as was the mystery outbreak of sore shins and ankles.

We bought a few street food type snacks (my daughter was shocked/appalled at the cost of street food in ICON SIAM), and went outside to munch them. We’d forgotten water, so my daughter went back inside to buy some. It was so vast inside, she completely lost her bearings, and re-appeared about 20 minutes later, with water, but from completely the opposite direction.

We ate our snacks, and I went for a wander to snap a few photos. I love all things maritime, yet this was my first time along the Bangkok river front. I don’t like Bangkok (I may have mentioned that before), but every time I’ve travelled across the big bridges on the way to the airport or football, I always look down and think I’d love just to have a look, and here I was after about 35 years. I was like a kid in a sweetshop, and it was as if my camera was on steroids with all of the photos it was taking (don’t worry, I won’t bore you with all of them).

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I was quite impressed with the frontage of ICON SIAM as well.

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The plumbing for the water fountain show was quite impressive as well, although that will be better seen on day 2’s photos. As I was wandering, the fountains kept springing into life in very short bursts.

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It was now time to check-in for the cruise, which was painless, and the staff were very helpful. We were checked in, but there were now a couple of hours to kill before departure time. The sky was blackening and the daily Bangkok evening thunderstorms were imminent.

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We went back inside for a coffee or two.

[migrant]

Great report, thanks! Looking forward to the next installment.

[caller]

Seriously BB, you would have had none of that hassle had you stayed the other side of the river. Okay, the cruise you wanted went from iconsiam, but River City would have been the best departure point for you, with a wheelchair to consider. The building is quite narrow, and easy to get from one side to the other in a matter of seconds. there are places to sit and have coffee etc and far less crowds and hassle. The so called floating market at Iconsiam is just a tourist trap, as you say. But at least you got there and I look forward to the next part of your report.

And yes, I am guilty of my own prejudice as well, as a shopping mall, iconsiam is great on the outside, but more normal when you get above the mad ground floor. I have been there a few times and now it is accessible by BTS (with a lift).

[Big Boy]

Not disagreeing with you at all, but you are pre-empting the next 4 instalments

Even my choice of cruise was ill-founded - I hadn't considered Indian food would attract Indian passengers. I was very naive

[Lost]

Even my choice of cruise was ill-founded - I hadn't considered Indian food would attract Indian passengers. I was very naive

I eagerly await your next installment.

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[Dannie Boy]

Even my choice of cruise was ill-founded - I hadn't considered Indian food would attract Indian passengers. I was very naive

I eagerly await your next installment.

بكوري-السلام.gif

Join the queue for a vindaloo!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Big Boy]

Part 3 – Day 1b

Meridian Cruise 2

It had poured down while we enjoyed our coffee. It was now 18:30, the rain had stopped and it was time for the ICON SIAM water fountain show (the largest such show in Asia). So out we go again, and take our place amongst the crowd. As soon as the fountains started, we and about a thousand other people realised our mistake – we were standing downwind of the fountains. With my wife’s medical condition, we have to avoid her getting wet. Well, like one of those blockers in American Football, my daughter threw herself onto my wife, and with her little legs working 9 to the dozen, pushed the wheelchair backwards to safety. Stupidly, I stayed put, filming the fountains for a minute, and got very wet.

As the fountains ended, the nightly Bangkok thunder storms returned with a vengeance. We had to decide very quickly. Queueing for the boat. which was under cover, or did we go back into the overcrowded store, and drink even more coffee? There were covered walkways all of the way from the store to the departure docks. We opted to queue for the boat – what a HUGE mistake. When we got there (about 45 minutes early) there were about a dozen other people in an orderly queue. Then the Indians, Chinese and Koreans joined the party. The queue tunnel was about 4 people wide, and we were 6 abreast in the tunnel. With a wheelchair, we were trapped, and couldn’t have chosen to leave. Humidity was extreme (already wet from the fountains, I was now sweating profusely, to the extent it must have become quite unpleasant for others queuing – yes, too much information), and if ever there was a place for Covid to strike, this was it. Being less than 2 months from coming out of Covid, hopefully we had natural protection. The Indians, Chinese and Koreans weren’t just queuing, they were all pushing to the front of the queue, realising it wasn’t time for their boat, and then pushing their way back up the line again – it was pouring down outside. There was an uncovered route back to the store, but they didn’t want to get wet. Queuing for our boat was pure hell. It was chaos. It was probably our own fault for queuing early, but we didn’t expect the Indian, Chinese and Korean version of sardines. Anybody else thinking of doing the trip, I’d suggest joining the queue 10 minutes before departure time. Your seat is reserved, it will be there waiting for you when you board.

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The boats take about 300 passengers each, and I think ours was about the 6th or 7th boat to depart. So, there were about 2,000 people to go before us. When our time came, boarding was very efficient. A crew member came to collect my wife/wheelchair, and we were given priority boarding. It sort of made up for the 45 minutes of Hell we had just experienced.

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We noticed the back end of the boat was where all of the food preparation was done. I did glance in on the kitchens, and they looked very clean.

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Initial sitting down on board was not a good experience. If you consider 300 excited mainly Indians, Chinese and Koreans were boarding, the racket was quite unimaginable. I thought 2 hours of this was going to be unbearable. However, as soon as they announced the buffet was open (immediately the boat departed), it was as if somebody had flicked a switch, the noise just stopped, and the entertainment began.

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I think organisation of the buffet could have been better. 150 mainly Indians, Chinese and Koreans on each level was chaotic to say the least. I had to use my size to get what food I did i.e. me leaning on Asian persons in front of me sort of made them melt out of the way – an operation I became quite skilled at. I didn’t take too much food as I don’t eat much anyway, but the quality of what I took was surprisingly very good. Ironically, I chose the cruise because of the Indian food corner, but with about 80 Indians clambering around it, I didn’t bother. There was plenty of food for everybody, and some people were still going back for about their 10th course 2 hours later. However, as each dish finished, it was not topped up. I did take a wander around the food when things had calmed down, and there was still plenty left, and the range of food was amazing – I was just not hungry any more. Alcohol was not cheap i.e. 120฿ for a small Heineken, so if any drinkers are thinking of such a cruise, a cruise with free flow alcohol would be the recommendation.

Entertainment on board was quite pleasant. A couple of Filipino singers taking the lead, with some cabaret dancers doing a turn during their breaks.

My wife was one of 9 people on board celebrating their birthday, and receiving a complimentary cake, which was very tasty, as birthday cakes go.

Promotional videos were quite misleading. They all show the sights, but those sights were basically Wat Arun, Rama VIII Bridge, The Grand Palace and Asiatique. It was quite colourful, but I was expecting to see a lot more ‘famous’ landmarks. I was quite gob smacked at the size and elegance of The Grand Palace. I’ve been there several times previously, but had never really appreciated how big it was. There is no wonder ‘The Grand’ features in the name. Here's my movie:



Disembarkation was very efficient. Because of my wife’s disability we were offered priority disembarkation, which I declined saying it would be easier to wait until everybody else had left the boat. I’ve always advocated with aircraft, it is correct for disabled, etc. to be given priority boarding, but am then left totally gob smacked when the same people join in the hustle and bustle when disembarking. The crew helped my wife all of the way to the dockside. The crew were actually fantastic throughout – very professional. The only problem this evening were the passengers.

Getting a taxi back to the hotel was going to be a challenge. Grab SUV was not an option. We had a ginormous wheelchair, and we had to fit it into a regular Bangkok taxi, who refused to use his meter (we know the correct fare should have been around 75฿ – we had a guy who did use his meter the following day). The driver asked for 300฿, which I agreed to (these guys have a captive audience, it was way past law enforcement’s bedtime, and queues were long). The wheelchair was unsecured in his open boot. This guy drove like a lunatic (I was expecting to lose the wheelchair), and when he got to the hotel turning, he totally missed it. Such was the stupid one-way system around our hotel, it took him 20 minutes to go around again (cursing all of the way). So, one way or another, we got our 300฿ worth.

A funny ending to what had been a very long day.

…………………………./Part 4 to follow

[buksida]

Great report, you've completely put me off ever taking a trip like this, I was expecting something similar to what we did in Cambodia!

[Big Boy]

It is a good trip, but you need to learn from my mistakes. We made a few unfortunate choices.

You have to remember, I hate Bangkok, and this was my first social visit for over 30 years. I was as green as green can be.