Bangkok, Thailand is one of the world’s most vibrant and fascinating cities, there is always a lot to see and do! It’s a big place, so today we will focus on the Khlong Ton Sai district, which lies just to the northwest of central Bangkok. Khlong Ton Sai borders the Chao Phraya, which translates as the ‘River of Kings’, and is one of the capital’s original districts. The district has a terrific transportation network that includes two Skytrain stations, Krung Thonburi and Wongwain Yai. The river’s west side houses a major bus station, and there are public docks all up and down both shores serving the flotilla of passenger boats that cruise back and forth, and up and down the wide river all day long.
Khlong Ton Sai boasts gorgeous riverfront views making it a very popular area to visit, with a number of 5 star hotels to choose from. It is also an amazing place to live, it’s easy to find a Riverside condo in Bangkok for sale that you can call home, providing you with a truly world class lifestyle and a base for exploring this exciting area and beyond!
There are so many things to see and do in Khlong Ton Sai it’s hard to choose where to begin, but here are a couple of our favourites to inspire you!
SookSiam – Inside the massive ICONSIAM shopping complex you will find the unique SookSiam floating market. Amazingly, the floating market is housed entirely indoors, the slowly moving waters passing through representations of Thailand’s four main geographic regions, each showcasing their unique cultural heritage including quaint handicrafts and thrilling performing arts. Like any market there are plenty of shopping opportunities on hand, you can choose items from over 3,000 Thai shops that each represent a famed local business from various locations in the kingdom.
You will feel as if you have actually stepped into these far flung places as the themed areas feature architecture and goods from the region they are representing! For example, you can eat barbecued fresh caught fish as if you were visiting the southern beaches right here in Bangkok! The SookSiam indoor floating market is a wonderful way to get an authentic taste of Thailand’s diverse regions so you can then decide on which ones you want to actually visit the most!
Guan Yu Shrine – This historic shrine celebrates Lord Guan, the Martial God of Loyalty and Righteousness in Chinese beliefs. The brilliantly coloured, multi-story pagoda is truly a spectacle to behold as it is covered with fanciful carved dragons that look as if they might actually be crawling up and down the exterior! The 286 years old shrine was constructed near a once thriving Chao Phraya river port frequented by junks carrying goods from China, and was built partially from the unique materials they carried. The august shrine houses and honours 3 different sized Guan Yu gods, small, medium, and large. The Guan Yin shrine is an active place of worship to this day, many of Bangkok’s Chinese descended citizens come to pray there regularly.
Bustling Bangkok’s Khlong Ton Sai district is a truly magical place, come and experience it for yourself!
