The river of Bangkok, lined with temples, palaces and floating markets.
Length
372 km
Source
Confluence at Nakhon Sawan
Mouth
Gulf of Thailand (Bangkok)
Continent
Asia
Countries
Thailand
Did you know?
Its name means roughly 'river of kings', and its banks hold Thailand's grandest royal and temple architecture.
Little-known fact
A web of canals, the khlongs, once made Bangkok the 'Venice of the East', with boats instead of streets.
Highlights
- The river of Bangkok
- Name means 'river of kings'
- Fed Bangkok's canal network
Life in the Chao Phraya
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Waterbirds
Sarus crane
The tallest flying bird on Earth; its lifelong pairs dance and call in duet across Asian wetlands.
Common kingfisher
A dazzling blue-and-orange dart that plunges from a perch to spear fish in an instant.
Grey heron
A patient, statue-still angler that stalks the shallows of rivers and lakes across the Old World.
Water plants & reeds
Sacred lotus
A revered Asian water plant whose leaves are so water-repellent that dirt rolls straight off them.
Water hyacinth
A beautiful but notorious free-floating weed that can choke entire waterways in a matter of weeks.
Mangrove
Salt-tolerant trees whose stilted roots build the nurseries of the great river deltas.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here