Wan Fah Dinner Cruise in Chao Phraya River Bangkok

Chao Phraya River is a 337KM long river that flows through Bangkok City and into the Gulf of Thailand. Like most rivers in Metropolis, Chao Phraya has now become a tourist attraction where people visiting Bangkok will choose to take a 2 hours extravagant journey down Chao Phraya river to enjoy the magnificent night scenery of illuminated Bangkok.

Wan Fah is one of the few river cruise companies that offer customers a unique and traditional Thai dining cruise concept on its open air teakwood barge. Compared to others that offer an international buffet on a modern cruiser, Wan Fah’s mission is to promote the traditional Thai culture like Thai traditional music and cultural performances to people through a private and romantic and exclusive river cruise.

For most river cruises, the meeting point is at River City Shopping Complex. There is a stretch of shops representing different river cruise companies and you will have to register with your respective company to get the boarding stickers. Our boarding point was at Pier 1.

The boarding time is quite punctual and at 6:45PM, we are welcomed onboard with warm greetings.

The boat is spacious and is lavishly decorated with wooden fittings and bright yellowish-orange lamps.

The drink menu is not inclusive of the dinner cruise package and will be billed towards the end of the cruise. We ordered a cocktail to go along.

There is a young Thai musician (student) who will play traditional Thai music while you can enjoy the river scenery and the breeze. The best timing for a river cruise will be the 6 plus slot because you will be able to enjoy both the sunset as well as the night view.

Just a couple of minutes after the boat set sail, we are served the first dish. The first dish is the appetizer which includes fried spring rolls and vegetable rolls.

Next up is the Tom Yum Goong which is hot and sour Thai soup with shrimps.

As the sun sets, we are served the main dish. There are two menus you can choose from, one is the seafood platter and the other is Thai cuisine. We opted for the Thai Cuisine as Nicole can’t take seafood.

This is the Thai green curry which is cooked with chicken, mushroom and some other spices. The green curry tasted a bit sweet and it is not spicy at all. (Good news for those who can’t take spicy food)

Not sure what is this but it is basically fish paste and it tastes like Otah.

This is the marinated assorted vegetable salad.

The desserts came last and it consists of sliced fruits and cakes.

During the cruise as you are eating, don’t forget to look out for landmarks like Wat Arun, Wat Phra Keaw, Royal Thai Navy Headquarter, the Royal Grand Palace, Rama VIII Bridge and more. Don’t be worried about missing them out as the tour guide will briefly give some knowledge and facts as the boat passes by the landmarks.

Meanwhile, you can also enjoy the cultural performances by the Thai traditional dancers.

The whole dinner cruise is approximately 2 hours and once you see the River City Shopping Complex, you know it marks the end of the cruise.

Here are some highlights for the cultural performance in Wan Fah Dinner Cruise.