Having never been to Venice, I would only be able to guess that it’s the same kind of story there as it is here in Bangkok. At least, when it comes to the canals.

One of the most often overlooked forms of transport available in Bangkok, at least by tourists, is the Khlong Boat. Khlong, in Thai, means “canal”, and in the same way as Venice relies on it’s canals for the transport of people and goods throughout the city, so did Bangkok. Did, being the operative word – with improvements in the road network, the skytrain and the subway, the canals are still serviced by the Khlong Boats, but the number of commuters and tourists using this service seems to be far less than those using the “more modern” services.

Khao San Road (Thanon Khao San) is the backpacker district of Bangkok. First impressions of this street seem to stick in peoples minds long after the novelty has become more of a monotony. Provided you arrive sometime before 2AM or after 8AM, then, no matter what day of the week/month/year it is, chances are your first impressions are/will be “It’s like a massive street party / market!”

The constant noise from nearly every shop, using a mixture of semi-English Thai music and Western hits which were “the in thing” about 12 months ago. The persistent tailors who will try as best they can to convince you that you really need a custom-made suit. The bucket vendors trying to convince you that 300 baht for a plastic tub containing a concoction which can be used as paint stripper / antifreeze / emergency fuel is the cheapest on the street (only through a complex system of price-fixing). Everything seems to be happening all at once – it’s an ADHD sufferer’s nirvana.

One of the many problems with Khao San Road, however, is that relative to most of the rest of the city, it has been, either through design or neglect, left on the outskirts. The main way tourists get around from KSR tends to be walking (The Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Pho are within walking distance, at least so long as you don’t consider the walk from the couch to the TV to be an expedition requiring 12 stout men with dogs and sleds), Tuk Tuk (where you are taking a chance that the driver will either try and convince you to see a “Ping Pong Show” in Patpong or to visit another tourist establishment where he will be given free fuel as a commission) or Bus (which are cheap, but knowing where they are going is a challenge, as all signage is in Thai, and you are at the whims of traffic, which in Bangkok can turn a 10 minute drive into an hour of sweaty hell).

But, one option, for getting around the rest of the city, which is rarely used is the Khlong Boats.

From Khao San Rd, you simply walk South towards the main road, and then follow it to the River Fort, near Golden Mountain. From the pier, it costs the princely sum of 8 baht (under AU$0.36) to ride from there all the way to the Interchange Pier, which is located on the canal just north of Siam Skytrain Station.

Once you get off the boat, it’s no more than a 5-10 minute walk to the centre of Bangkok’s non-market shopping (Siam Central and associated shopping centres/malls) or onto the Skytrain to travel throughout the city (or interchange to the Subway if needed).

On top of that, you get to see Bangkok from a different angle – the shanties backing onto the canals, the people going about their day-to-day lives, etc. A very different view from the stores and insanity seen more often from the windows of a car.

The only precautions? Be careful getting onto and off of the boats (the gap between the pier and the boat can vary dependant on canals levels, boat load, and the driver’s skill) and when travelling down the canals remember just what you see people in Thailand, and Bangkok in particular, put down the street drains (which most likely feed into the canal) and wipe away any water splashes which may get you in the eyes or mouth.

That is, unless you like drinking from an open sewer…