The Chao Phraya river: lifeblood of Bangkok, in pictures
The story of Bangkok is inextricably intertwined with the river that runs through it. Photographer Palani Mohan captures life on the Chao Phraya. Words by Mathew Scott
The Chao Phraya has been the lifeblood coursing through Bangkok since the city's foundations were laid in the 15th century .
The river has long held a fascination for Hong Kong-based photographer Palani Mohan, a one-time Bangkok resident. Recently, Mohan found himself back by the Chao Phraya, to attend the opening of the first of a series of multibillion-baht residential and hotel developments that are set to transform the river's inner-city reaches. A massive park will also be opened along the banks, attracting, the government hopes, more foot traffic to the area.
"I was talking to Ben Taechaubol, whose Country Group is behind the Four Seasons/Chao Phraya Estate development, and he kept referring to the connection that the Thai people have with Chao Phraya, and about how so much of daily life in Bangkok still surrounds it," says Mohan.
Inspired, he boarded a long-tail boat and spent a few days travelling up and down the river and the (canals) that wind their way off it, taking photographs and discovering that life in many places is continuing as it has done for centuries.
A commuter route for some, a place of business for others - such as the operators of the vegetable market boats that serve the houses along its banks - and an attraction for the millions of tourists who pass through the city every year, like Bangkok itself, the River of Kings is in a constant state of motion, adapting to the needs of the people it serves and to the modern world that surrounds it.
