Current Affairs

he Chao Phraya River is one of Bangkok’s most underrated attractions, its curving banks lined with skyscrapers and gold-tipped temples all too often overlooked by even seasoned travelers. All the more reason to applaud the ) involves a sleek double-deck riverboat that raises anchor from either the Icon Siam or Asiatique piers and then plies its way along the watercourse to take in scenic highlights such as the Grand Palace and the ever-fabulous Wat Arun, or Temple of Dawn. Conceived by Banyan Tree’s founder Ho Kwon Ping as a sybaritic floating restaurant and bar, the 38-meter-long can be booked for private charters to stage cooking classes, weddings, or even indulgent spa outings manned by staff from the hotel’s spa. The boat’s regular offerings, though, are one-hour sunset cruises or longer jaunts capped by a five-course dinner. Prefaced by a cocktail around the alfresco bar on the Moon Deck, the menus for the latter, conceived by Banyan Tree head chef Renu Homsombat, feature Thai standards such as tom yam soup and massaman curry.