As Bangkok has traditionally been a water city with many canals, for a long time its residents traveled around it mainly by boat. The royals were no exception and also had their own boats, which, naturally, could not be compared in any way with the flimsy craft of ordinary people.
At one of the piers on the Noi Khlong canal, not far from the Phra Klao Bridge, is the Museum of Royal Barges. Here you can appreciate just how majestic such a simple, at first glance, means of transportation can be. About a dozen ceremonial boats are gathered here, having taken part in grand royal processions and official events. In fact, there are several times more of these boats, but there was not enough room for all of them in the floating museum.
Each vessel was built to a special design and with the use of manual labor
of colossal complexity. The boats reach fifty meters in length. The physical strength of several dozen oarsmen was used for movement, with drums setting the rhythm for them.
The largest and most beautiful boat, "Suphannahong," was built in 1911. It is still seaworthy, and the king uses it in the traditional annual ceremony of presenting robes to the monks of Wat Arun temple. The boat, more than forty meters long, was carved from a single piece of teak wood and has the shape of a swan soaring above the waves.
