Bangkok you can experience it best from a boat. Check especially the front seat, back are always tourists, for they know not that's in the din and stench of the engine's exhaust, and the full Sun Leading blow you meet the most pressing, in the fresh air.
Sailing through Bangkok is a great enjoyment. What a festive reunion with this tropical metropolis of ten million inhabitants, who live in the water, but sometimes get too much of a good thing.
Dry feet
In the central and north-eastern provinces of rice drops the water again. For weeks, twenty percent of Thailand was flooded, although tourists have little marks, because they usually go south with his dream islands.
The energetic Bangkok still largely dry feet, comes mainly from a Dutch engineer Jan Homan van der Heide.
In 1902 King took Chulalongkorn (Rama V) this engineering from Batavia to Siam to Thailand in order to bring water and who these days with Co van Kessel (thirty years in Bangkok and as renowned for his spectacular cycling) will sail down the Chao Praya river, lifeline of this giant city, can see for themselves what is currently being built concrete walls to the former capital of Thonburi, on the west side of the river and now part of large-Bangkok, to protect against the advancing water.
Warming
Thailand, with about 200,000 annual visitors our Dutch top destination in Asia, is gaining more water to process due to global warming.
But these are the tropics and Thailand may be an acceleration in economic sit here decisions are not taken in haste. The construction of a dam on the Chao Praya River 150 km north of Bangkok, January Homan 1903 to the Thai king proposed as the main part of a major irrigation project, there was only a half-century later, the same place and under the original design.
Co can say nice about how Homan, also known as "red in January was called, the first self-organized strike in Thailand when his long-time workers were paid.
And how the Dutch were already 450 years ago successfully by King Narai the Great insisted to the construction of canals the most difficult corners, away from the Chao Praya River to the former capital Ayutthaya, an important trading post for our VOC. Bangkokianen still call the old river course Klong To the detour.
Especially those old turn of the tidal river is so fascinating, because you, as it were sailing through the living room of Bangkok, you can enjoy the real Thai life.
Just past the terminus of the infamous Death Railway to Burma and the Siriraj Hospital complex, the largest hospital in 6000 doctors in the world these days, the ailing king Boemibol being nursed, there are huge locks.
There you can order on Klong. An experience of pure water, because it looks like the old river is polluted, but that's too bad: everywhere in the water grows Phak top chawa, zegmaar water hyacinth and Phak Bung, a purple IDE-type, but there's plenty of fish .
Five times around the world
Around one million in the delta city of Bangkok, an area the size of the Netherlands each year are still dozens of new channels created especially to improve water management and irrigation of rice fields, which sometimes four times a year can be harvested. In total, in Bangkok area now about 200,000 km navigable water, a distance of five times around the world.
Irrigation Projects
King Chulalongkorn of Thailand hit by a visit to Batavia, now Jakarta, so impressed by the irrigation projects engineer Jan Homan van der Heide had developed in Java, Dutch hydraulic engineer that he invited to come to Siam.
"Water King" John Homan van der Heide, who worked in Thailand from 1902 to 1909, joined after returning to the Netherlands in the 30s out of frustration with the NSB, though he had no use of Nazi crimes. After the war he was transferred to a special prison camp, where he died on November 14, 1945, almost 80 years old.
Five liners
On the Chao Praya River in Bangkok to fly, but dozens of ferries, five different liners:
Yellow flag: the speedboat, stopping only at the main staging scaffolding.
With green flag: the second is the fastest, most sails upriver, to the district in Nonthaburi Pakkret.
With orange flag: on one after seeing slowest, stops at 70 percent of (floating) staging scaffolding. The most fun for those who have all the time.
No flags: the slow-boat stops at every stop.
Blue Flag: luxury tourist boat stops at major attractions.
For timetable on http://www.chaoprayaexpressboat.com/
van: http://www.telegraaf.nl/reiskrant/stedentrip/thailand/8066562/__Ommetje_Bangkok__.html
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