Had a great cruise down the Chao Phraya river recently. You have great views of all the major sights like the Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Rama VIII bridge, all lit up at night.
The cruise itself was very good value, great food and good on board entertainment from, what i presume, are the local stars of the karaoke scene. Quite a good game to see who can be the first to guess which song it is they're destroying! All part of the fun.
A top evening out.

Please be careful when going on the river trip. The boat ride itself is really enjoyable and well worth going on but please do not pay to go in the 'snake farm' that most of the trips will try to take you to. This awful, awful place does not just have snakes but also has crocodiles, monkeys and even deer that are kept in the most squalid and cramped conditions. The most upseting was a beautiful bengal tiger that was kept in a bare cage no bigger than 20ft x 20ft. The crocodile was in a stagnant pool and the poor deer (about 8 or 9 of them) were kept in a cage smaller than the tiger. I could carry on writting paragraph after paragragh about this horrible place but hopefully I've already said enough to stop anyone from going.

A great way to see the sights of Bangkok illuminated at night. As soon as you leave the pier, the buffet is opened. This may sound cliche but there really is "something for everyone"! Even the kids are catered for, with chips, pizza etc.

During dinner there is a display of classical thai dancing, a sax player and some singers. A guide also points out the various places of interest.

Once the boat has travelled to a certain point, it turns around and a DJ plays some classic tunes. The dining area turns into a disco. Don't think you're not going to join in, the waiters/waitresses won't have it!!

From our hotel, the Amari Atrium, we took the subway to the Skytram's Saphan Taksin station and took a very short walk to the Central Pier on the river. We bought a One Day River Pass for the Chao Phraya Tourist Boat, which "...provides service to nine piers, which gives access to Bangkok's most famous attractions... You can freely get on and off any pier to explore..." Price was 100 baht and operates 9:30 - 15:00 hrs. Includes drinking water! You can also take any other Chao Phraya Express Boat within the same route area.

It came with a small guide describing the sites and places to visit at the nine piers, from the Central Pier to the Banglumpoo Pier north of the Grand Palace. (The river is main transportation cooridor and you can take normal commuter boats further north and south).

This is a great way to get to the various tourist sites on the river and there's a cool breeze! No traffic jams! No scams! Grand Palace area, Oriental and Shangri-La hotels, Rivercity (mall), Markets, Wats on both side of the river.

We viewed this as merely a way to get to River City for our Rice Barge Tour, and didn't take advantage of this enough (jet lag!). We should have planned a day of traveling up and down the river and stopping at each of the nine sites, from Central Pier to the Grand Palace. The view of the city from the boat is worth the trip in and of itself. Definitely plan a day around this Tourist Boat.