Chao Phraya River

The river quickly accepted the short cut, so that thechannel right now looks like the river below.  The initial course had gradually silted up, and it is nowcalled Klong Bangkok Yai.

This channel, calledKhlong Lat Bangkok, shortened the distance to Ayutthaya by about 14 kilometers.

The third shortcut, the Khlong Lat Kret Yai, was dug in1608 in Pathum Thani. It reduced the trip from 18 kilometers 18 kilometers toseven. The northern part of the original river bed isnow called “Khlong Bang Phrao,” the South “Khlong BangLuang”.

In 1636, the Khlong Lat Muang Nonthaburi was created, whichreduced a distance of 22 kilometers to 17. In 1722, Khlong Lat Kret Noi reducedthe trip from the river from six kilometers to two. Thisalso created the present-day island of Ko Kret.

Chao Phraya River The Chao Phraya, after the Mekong andSalween, is the most important river in Thailand,in Southeast Asia. It starts at the confluence of the Pingand Yom rivers, at Nakhon Sawan. The Nanand its largest tributary, the Yom, flow nearly parallel from Phitsanulok tillChumsaeng, north of Nakhon Sawan. Andit is the largest tributary of the Ping, whichunites with Wang at Wang Chin.

In Nakhon Sawan the Chao Phraya flows through the central plains about 370 kilometers to Bangkok, where it flows along the interface of the Indo chinese and Malayan Peninsula in the Gulf of Thailand.

At Chainat, the riversplits into the main branch and the narrower Tha Chin River, which flows west to Samut Sakhon about 35 km from Bangkokin the Gulf of Thailand.

The Chao Phraya Dam is also in Chainat. It is an important waterwayof Thailand and also serves, with its many channels (khlongs), to irrigate therice-growing areas. Besides Bangkok, the ancient capital of Ayutthaya,the smaller provincial capitals on the Chao Phrayaare Uthai Thani, Chainat, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi andSamut Prakan.

On historical maps, the Chao Phraya is usually shown only as “Menam,” or “Mae Nam”, which isthe Thai word for river.  In theEnglish-speaking world it is also frequently known as River of Kingsfor its historical significance.
The current run of the lower Chao Phraya Riverhas been established since the middle of the nineteenth century.

Previously, after the annual floods the river often looked like a new bed, which flowed south following the example of the Chainat down to Ang Thong to recognize aformer river course, which is located a few miles west of the present-dayriver.

Later Siamese engineers tried to influence the course;in 1813 they built a dam in Ang Thong to straighten the river to Ayutthaya. The dambroke again, so this project was eventually abandoned.

South of Ayutthaya, the engineers were more successful;from 1538 to 1722 they constructed a canal that shortened by 62.3 kilometersthe distances that trade ships had to travel from the Gulf of Siam to thecapital, Ayutthaya. First, in 1538, they built a three-kilometer long shortcut channel called Khlong Lat.  This canalshortened the route by about 13 to 14 miles. This is not part of Khlong Bangkok Noi.
The second Khlong Lat has a great significance forthe Siamese history, because it created the geographic events that led to the founding of Bangkokand Thonburis. About the exact date, there is conflicting information; it is said to be both in 1538 and1542.

Thetwo-kilometer long canal began around the former railway station of Bangkok Noiand led to a point just south of the Wat Arun.

The sixth Khlong Lat runs south of Khlong Toei in AmphoePhra Pradaeng. The 600 meters-long channel should actually save19 kilometers. Since the Chao Phraya Riveris dependent on the tide, it soon turned out that seawater penetrated through the new channel at high tide, reaching too far to the north and damaging thelives in and around rivers.

In 1784, a dike was constructed that prevented the ingress of seawater.

Today Pak KhlongLat the only channel that is not a part of the river course.   The German botanist Johann Gerhard Konig undertook a tripon the Chao Phraya in November 1778, andreported that numerous crocodiles swam in the river during the day and madehorrible noises.

Also,the reports of incredible number of monkeys were still in question. But both are no longer mentioned by the travelers of the late first half of the nineteenth century, so they appear to have disappeared sometimebetween the end of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.