Bangkok's River Canals

The Venice of the East

Bangkok was founded on canals and at one point was called the “Venice of the East.” The canals are home to the floating markets, where small wooden boats carry vendors in straw hats that peddle food, drink and souvenirs. The floating markets have been around for hundreds of years and are a welcome stop for hungry Intrepid travelers.

The highways of Bangkok are not roads, but canals

 "The highways of Bangkok are not streets or roads, but the river and the canals...boats are the universal means of conveyance and communication" - British envoy sir John Bowring (1855).  In the middle of the 19th century, the klongs were the lifeline of Bangkok, feeding into the meandering Chao Phraya River, which bisects the city. Three quarters of the city's 400,000 inhabitants lived in floating houses on the river and the rest lived either in houses on stilts or on canal banks. The city center was the river itself.

Today's problem with Bangkok's city rivers and canals today is that they are filthy. The city is working on measures to decrease pollution and increase water quality, although based on present conditions it will be many years before the water can be considered sanitary again. Meanwhile, it has been approved for transport. It's often much quicker taking a boat down the canals than it is sitting in traffic on the jam packed roads.