You think you have to go all the way to Venice in Italy in order to travel around a city in a canal network? Well, you are wrong, for the East also has its version of the famed canals of Venice, and that can be seen in Bangkok.
Bangkok used to be called the "Venice of the East" when the major mode of transportation for Thais were through boats going around the canal system, which is mostly provided for by the Khlong Saen Saep. Getting around the city during rush hour in a canal is a sure fire way of immediately getting to your destination, because it is much faster riding on a canal boat than hitting the roads, not to mention that it is extra cheaper, too. Possibly the only drawback is that the canal waters of Bangkok are not as clean as that in Venice. Another is that the canal boats were not designed for tall foreigners, so it might be difficult to decide where to place your legs.
However, canals are not only utilized in Bangkok. They are also widely used in rural areas all over Thailand. Perhaps what made this system even more famous is the existence of the Khlong Saen Saep, the most famous of the Thai floating markets, which allows tourists to see the traditional Thai way of buying and trading fruits and vegetables.
Sadly, we are already seeing the canal system increasingly getting eliminated. Most of the canals that used to ply Bangkok and the rest of the country have already been turned to roads and streets, and I hate to see the day that all of these canals are gone. Hopefully the Thai government sees the potential tourism value of the canals and maintain it. It is a one of kind of attraction not seen everywhere else, perhaps except in Venice.
