Icon Siam/Bangkok River Cruise re-visited (with photos)

[Big Boy]

I've been in 2 minds whether to add this to July's report, or create a new thread. I've decided new is more appropriate. It is a bit word (just for a change), so I'll post it in 3 quick parts.

Part 1

Following July’s fairly successful visit, we returned to Icon Siam yesterday. It was my granddaughter’s graduation ceremony, and it was held in the convention rooms on the 7th floor of the giant shopping mall. She finished Uni 2 years ago, but because of Covid her graduation was delayed. Yesterday was a double graduation for the years of both 2022 and 2023. Of course, this meant twice as many graduates, and twice as many families and friends. The downside was family and friends were not allowed inside the hall for the ceremony, which spanned from 10am until 4pm. So, there were thousands of people mooching around for 6 hours. However, there were a few giant screens where we could watch proceedings if we wanted to. Most didn’t.

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We spent most of the day mooching around various eateries and coffee shops, although that wasn’t a cheap pastime either. They did have a break for lunch between 12 and 1, but that meant even more bodies just mooching around. We used the break for a few family photos. Everybody was so proud of their little Johnny or Mary.

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[Big Boy]

Part 2

Icon Siam had changed a lot. Back in July we were mainly confronted with Chinese, Koreans and Indians. This time the main demographic (outside of families and friends) was from the Western world. In July the upper floors were deserted. This time it was heaving, and people were actually buying.

We spent some of our spare time looking at the store’s preparations to be the centerpiece attraction of Thailand’s Countdown 2024. Such a transformation – my first look at the waterfront area from the 7th floor veranda, I took a while to get my bearings. Yes, the river and Bangkok were all in the right places, but everything else was different. The Countdown features were quite colourful when the sun went down.

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............... To be continued. I'll give it a few hours before posting the final part.

[Big Boy]

Part 3

Other family members were quite impressed with my wife’s birthday celebrations on a Bangkok River Cruise, so I decided to take the whole family this time as a Christmas treat. Because this is Thailand, and it doesn’t rain, even in Bangkok at the back end of December, I thought I’d go one step further, and book a boat with an upper deck, so we’d be dining under the stars.

I’d said after our July cruise, I would not depart from Icon Siam again, but this was pre-determined by the venue of the Graduation Ceremony. Actually, we had learned the hard way in July, and just avoided the same pitfalls this time – a much better experience.

Our vessel for the night was the White Orchid. This boat was an older boat, and it was clear the 3rd deck was an ‘add on’. Getting to the 3rd deck was quite a challenge for my wife, who despite using a wheelchair can still walk a little. Some of the other passengers were totally wheelchair bound, and just watching the crew carrying them up the very steep, high stairs to deck 3 looked very scary indeed. Once there, I decided I was not going down again until the cruise had ended. Even scarier, when the cruise was over, there was no assistance for the wheelchair bound. Probably one of the scariest things I’ve seen in Thailand watching families getting their loved ones down those stairs. It was a very slow process, with crew members just looking on.

Once we were at our table, it was fine. Nice little solar lights giving a little illumination. We had a welcome (soft) drink waiting for us, plus a glass of water, which was regularly topped up throughout the cruise. There was also an empty glass, which was to be used to collect our free flow beer, which was include in the cost. Problem was, beer was served on deck 2 – I’ve already given my thoughts on access to deck 2. As a funny aside, 3 of our party took the 8 glasses from our table down to the bar to get them filled. I never saw it, but the story goes that the barman had a hell of a job filling 8 glasses, because as soon as he’d filled one, my son was emptying it again. The 3 did eventually re-appear with 8 full glasses, but my son did run the gauntlet several time to keep us supplied. My drinking days are virtually over, and I managed 2 glasses of beer throughout the cruise, but it was nice to know at least one of our party was going to get our money’s worth.

Food was plentiful, although we were pretty late booking the boat, so we booked a boat which served mainly seafood, which I don’t eat. However, I had some fried rice, sweet and sour chicken (the chicken tasted fantastic) chips, which were frozen and awful and garlic bread. I also had a couple of cakes from the sweet trolley. I wasn’t expecting too much, so wasn’t really disappointed. My only criticism is the food could have been a touch warmer. Everybody else seemed to really enjoy the food, and I think everybody else on our table had at least 3 helpings, so no complaints. The best thing about the food compared with the July trip is that the passengers knew how to behave and queued in and orderly fashion. Chinese, Koreans and Indians haven’t learnt those skills.

We had the usual singer and cabaret acts, which were fine, but the July entertainment was a notch better. Maybe sound wasn’t coming across so well because there was no roof – I don’t know, but it was fine for what it was.

The cruise itself was most definitely better this time. There is a Chao Phraya light festival throughout December and there was more colour, and more things were illuminated. I love boats, and just love being on the water, so I was easily pleased there. One big advantage though was being top deck. No obstructions and a 360 degree view. Perfect for taking photos, of which I took many. You will see several apparently similar photos, but colours are changing all of the time. One of my favourites was Wichai Prasit Fort, which I didn’t even notice in July. You will also see photos of the same place twice due to the boat doing a large circle, so we passed everything twice.

I really enjoyed the cruise, but comparing July’s cruise with last night’s cruise is a bit like comparing a long-haul flight with BA and a long-haul flight with Tarom. They both get you there, but one is so much nicer. I have heard people talking badly about river cruises, and until now I couldn’t understand why, but I can now see choice of boat is key to the perfect cruise,

It was a very nice day, and we ticked all of the boxes that needed ticking. Only real thing to go wrong was the journey home. Roadworks added 2 hours to the journey time – 2nd time this month.

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[buksida]

Nice. Its something I'd still like to do, you didn't mention the cost per head or how you booked the cruise.

[Big Boy]

The cost this time was actually cheaper at 699฿/head, but we did book early. We had some friends just turn up about 10 days ago, and the paid 1500฿/head for the boat we were on in July.

My daughter did the booking this time, but used the company I used for the July trip https://en.theicity.com/? who I see are currently advertising the boat my friends paid 1500฿/head at just 650฿/head. She contacted them on Line and they were very responsive, and gave us many options. A very helpful company who do not try to rip you off. Quite the opposite actually. Booking with these guys is simple.

[Big Boy]

If you go, I'd still recommend getting your boat at River City. We knew the ropes regarding queuing this time, and had priority with the wheelchair. If you're doing it for the first time you will find the queues less than friendly at Icon Siam or Asiatique. My granddaughter's graduation dictated our departure point, and we'd hired a mini-bus for the day, which had emergency medical supplies if my wife needed them parked in the underground car park. I would not recommend departing from Icon Siam.

[buksida]

Sounds very reasonable, will look into it next time we're in the Big Mango, whenever that will be.

[Big Boy]

Yes, it will be interesting to see the photos your decent camera can take. My son has a fairly cheap phone, but the photos he produces are so much nicer (2 examples).

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[buksida]

Night photography is all to do with your ISO and shutter settings, and phones are usually crap at this unless you've spent 20k on one!

I'll probably be at the Ratchaburi light festival before going anywhere near Bangkok again!

[Big Boy]

His phone was under ฿7K, but his night photography is quite amazing. Daytime is pretty good as well.

[joelle]

His phone was under ฿7K, but his night photography is quite amazing. Daytime is pretty good as well.

Great photos again.
Also you definitely recommend the 2nd cruising boat ?
If you don't mind my asking what phone does your son have ?

[Big Boy]

He's in Buriram at the moment so I can't ask. Realme something.

The White Orchid was fine, but the Meridian 2 was 100% better.

[joelle]

He's in Buriram at the moment so I can't ask. Realme something.

The White Orchid was fine, but the Meridian 2 was 100% better.

Thank you for your reply.
I am about to change my phone and looking for something not too expensive which, my prior criteria, takes good photos.
Making a note for the Meridian 2, as we have visitors coming soon.

[STEVE G]

The cost this time was actually cheaper at 699฿/head, but we did book early. We had some friends just turn up about 10 days ago, and the paid 1500฿/head for the boat we were on in July...

That is very reasonable for a trip down the river with food and free-flow beer.
If I lived in Bangkok I'd be doing it every weekend!

[Dannie Boy]

Free trip - food and beer on their own could easily exceed the cost of the ticket.