Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WALK 19
RAMA III ROAD AND BANG KRACHAO
The Hidden Island
There are two sections to this walk and it is necessary to take a taxi from Rama
I
II Road to
Phra Pradaeng and on to Bang Krachao, where it is also advisable to travel by car or by bi-
cycle in order to cover the entire island.
Duration: 1 day
Looping around Bangkok is an inner ring road made up of sections of urban road that
were already in existence and which over the course of several years were upgraded to
arterial road status. The stretch that runs alongside the river from the Rama
III
Bridge to the
port district of Klong Toei, where it changes its name and heads out through the northern
suburbs, is Rama
III
Road.
Despite its riverside route, there is little that is scenic about Rama
III
Road. It had earlier
become a semi-industrialised zone, with industries such as cement and sheet metal spread-
ing down from the port and taking up large plots of land on the bank of the river. In the
late 1980s, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration decided to designate this as a second
business district, and cut a road directly through to Sathorn and Silom roads, alongside the
old Chong Nonsi canal. Bangkok Bank established part of its head office here, the Krung Sri
Bank set up its head office, the SV City mixed-use complex was built, and Montien opened
their five-star Riverside Hotel. The Asian financial crash of 1997 put paid to most of the
other grand schemes, scarring the district for years with half-built projects. Recent years
have seen some life emerging in this area, greatly encouraged by the feeder bus that serves
the Skytrain station at Sathorn Road, but dreams of a thriving riverside business district
still seem rather remote.
