Traditional wooden house on concrete stilts
The Chao Praya is Thailand's biggest river and as it reaches Bangkok to begin the final stretch of its slow journey across the central plains there is an island that isn't really an island. Four centuries ago a canal was dug across the neck of a big meander loop to shorten the journey for all the trade vessels plying the route to the old capital of Ayutthaya. Thus, a large area of land was cut off and the river island called Ko Kret was born. It also happened to produce a great circular route to paddle my inflatable kayak around.
In itself the island is a lovely place to visit with no cars, lots of bicycles to rent and plenty to see including a chance to join in the living history of local pot-making. In many ways it feels like a step back in time to a quieter, slower pace of life than what's on offer elsewhere in the heart of the city. But on this visit I wasn't even going to set foot on Ko Kret, my aim was to paddle the 7 kilometers around the outside of the island to get a different angle on the place, and to do so in the hope that I had judged the tides well enough to minimise having to work against the flow.
Potential as a great place to live
I took a taxi from home 15km away and arrived at my starting point as the sun was rising. As always I had chosen a temple as a launch site because they always have some kind of jetty or convenient steps down to the water. Temples are also always open to the public.
Sanam Nuea Temple is next to a regular ferry jetty for people going to and from the island. Knowing that getting into my kayak can be a bit awkward and feeling a little shy of the reaction I might receive I waited until the jetty was clear of people before launching. Appropriately, my starting point was directly opposite the landmark of the Leaning Pagoda of Poramai Yikawat Temple on the far shore that marks the corner where the river and canal split.
The Leaning Pagoda of Poramai Yikawat Temple
One of the more-powerful long-tailed boats plying the river as a taxi
My competition
This was my first time on the waters of the mighty Chao Phraya river, which at this point is about 200m wide with the canal itself still a substantial channel at half the width. It felt a bit intimidating being in the presence of the river traffic which included the busy long-tailed boats hurrying in all directions and the seemingly sluggish but very powerful river barges used to transport goods. They are a very pleasing shape but from water level they look enormous. However, once I got used to the choppiness of the water created by these vessels it never felt in any way dangerous and there was always a little old lady in a tiny boat of her own somewhere to make me feel more confident.
I entered the main river channel and headed with the flow downstream. It was surprising just how isolated I felt once away from the traffic around the ferry jetty. Apart from the constant drone of the long-tailed boats it actually felt quite peaceful.
Nice colours of the wooden riverside homes
Perhaps a sign of deeper floods - the floor of this house has been raised to the base of the windows
A well-cared for riverside home
With the water itself being fairly featureless my eye was drawn to the buildings along the shores, and what a variety there were. There were a few warehouses and factories, some of them in a state of collapse, but it was the domestic homes that stood out. All of them quite small and stilted often with steps or a jetty down to the water, but the striking thing was that every single one of them was different. That makes such a difference. No ranks of identical houses built to be efficient. These were individual homes with individual character and an overall impression of community. This style makes it so aesthetically pleasing particularly when the homes are well tended with hanging plants and inquisitive dogs.
An old abandoned factory with a chimney pretending it's a tree
An abandoned warehouse slowly getting smothered
A frustrated house-dog unable to investigate me properly
After a while I dashed across the river and had a short tour up a side canal where I met a woman sitting on her ricketty old jetty doing her dishes in the canal water. From her I heard a tale of how difficult things had become since her husband had died, and I could see how much the home behind her could do with some serious repairs. All I could offer as I bobbed up and down beside her was a little of my time to chat and listen but she seemed content with that.
Unhappy in life but very happy for a chat
Back on the main river I slowly paddled around the less populated end of the island. Instead of stilted houses side-by-side there were more boats moored to the shore, many of them apparently being used as homes. Some were in a sorry state but there was also one wonderful barge that had been renovated and redesigned. I'm not sure what it was used for but I immediately coveted it as a floating home. The presence of a lecturn and microphones suggests it has some other purpose but whatever it is I've never seen such an attractive-looking boat.
Isn't that just absolutely lovely?
A less attractive houseboat
My thoughts then drifted to what it must be like to actually live on this river. That boat suddenly felt less attractive. Perhaps many generations ago it would have been more appealing but the noise and wash from the passing motorised boats would quickly get tiring I think. The view was flat with few trees and the opposite bank was just a little too far away. The water quality was also a problem. This river has to bear the burden of so much of the country's agricultural, industrial and domestic waste running into it. Plus the annual risk of your home getting flooded despite the stilts!
Perhaps these are some of the reasons why so many of the buildings I paddled passed were not in good condition and some had clearly been completely abandoned. It felt like society was still in the process of drifting away from the waterside life. But for now it was still lingering and all the charming waterside homes I saw that were clearly looked after with love were heart-warming.
Another well-cared for riverside home
Trash collection river-style
By the time I reached the turn back into the canal I was getting tired and the sun was getting hot. I also had to paddle against the flow. That last 1.5km back to where I had started were a bit of a homeward slog as too often happens on trips like this. However, it didn't detract from what had been a wonderful few hours of paddling in a place with an angle not many outsiders get the chance to see.
I was home by lunchtime and sometimes still wonder how that woman I talked to is getting on. She almost seemed like a symbol of the lifestyle: struggling but with a little bit of attention perhaps still with the chance to thrive.
Some effort has gone into renovating this old house into a lovely home
