Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine November 2016 | Page 95

Travel | Bangkok
© Mark Eveleigh

Where to stay

Chakrabongse Villas
Chakrabongse Villas offers wonderfully
regal accommodation in traditional Thai
style. The property, on the banks of the
Chao Phraya River, was built in 1908 by
Prince Chakrabongse, and rates start at
US$160/night for a double room. The
property has its own longtail boat for
cruising the canals.
www.secret-retreats.com/chakrabongse
Chakrabongse Villas menawarkan
akomodasi yang indah dan megah dengan
gaya tradisional. Properti yang terletak di
tepi Sungai Chao Phraya ini dibangun tahun
1908 oleh Pangeran Chakrabongse dan
tarifnya mulai dari 160 USD/malam untuk
double room. Tempat ini juga menyediakan
perahu ekor panjang untuk melayari kanal.

The Siam
The Siam is quite simply one of the most
luxurious and evocative boutique hotels on
the Chao Phraya River. There’s a VIP launch
to take you down the river, but be sure to
stay long enough to enjoy the facilities –
from the Opium Spa to the antique cinema
and the gym (surely boasting the most stylish
kick-boxing ring in the country).
www.thesiamhotel.com

Bang Luang Wat temple
rises above us on the
river bank, richly gilded
with ornate sweeping
roofs that seem to be
reaching like twisted
fingers for the heavens.

Mr Lek dulls the roar of his engine to
a steady throb as we ride along Khlong Mon
canal. This is the narrowest of central
Bangkok’s main canals (known here as
khlongs), and it was originally inhabited by
Mon people from Myanmar who acted as the
king’s tax collectors. The royal tax collectors
may have moved on, but in many ways life
has changed little over the centuries, and
people still bathe, fish and wash their laundry
in the waterway that serves as their
community’s main street. Miniature houses
stand in front of many of the homes: ‘God
Houses’ on their single sturdy pillars and
smaller ‘Spirit Houses’ ra