Smile Riverside: Chao Phraya Dinner Cruise from ICONSIAM
Highlights
- Two hours on the Chao Phraya past Wat Arun, the Grand Palace and Wat Kalyanamit after dark
- International buffet heavy on seafood, with grilled river prawns, mussels, sashimi and sushi
- Live music from the Smile River Band, plus Khon masked dance and a Latin set
- Open-air upper deck with an uncovered bow and a 180 degree view, air-conditioned deck below
- Welcome drink, drinking water, hot tea and hot coffee included in the ticket
- Boards at ICONSIAM Pier 2, check-in from 16:30, departure 19:15
Description
The Smile Riverside is a two-deck boat that runs one sailing a night out of ICONSIAM, leaving Pier 2 at 19:15 and tying up again at the same pier at 21:15. Downstairs is air-conditioned behind picture windows, and the deck above is open air under a roof with an uncovered section at the bow where the view opens out to a full 180 degrees, so you can eat in the cool and then go up for the temples once the boat is moving.
Pricing
Adult
Age 11+
THB 895Child
Age 4-10
THB 795Infant
Age 0-3
Free
- Step 1
Check in at ICONSIAM
Registration runs from 16:30 to 18:00 at the Sook Siam counter on the G floor, beside the Naraya shop and the Kasikornbank currency exchange, and if you get there later than that you want ICONSIAM Pier 1 instead, where the desk stays open until 19:00. Tables are handed out at this point rather than booked in advance, so there is a real advantage to being early.
Pier 2 sits on the riverfront terrace behind the mall, a couple of minutes from either desk. Staff take you to your table, and from then on the two decks are yours to wander between.
At 19:15 the ropes come off, and the buffet opens more or less as the boat pulls away. River prawns and butter-baked mussels come off the grill, a Japanese counter does sashimi and sushi, and past that sit the Thai and Western hot dishes, the salads and a long dessert table. Water, tea and coffee get topped up all evening.
Wat Kalyanamit comes first, then Wat Arun and the Grand Palace on opposite banks, then Wat Rakhang and the Siriraj museum, all of them floodlit. The boat turns somewhere around Rama VIII Bridge and Phra Sumen Fort. Photographers want the uncovered bow on the top deck for this stretch.
The Smile River Band plays more or less throughout. Set pieces are spaced across the two hours: a welcome dance near the start, Khon masked dance from the classical repertoire somewhere in the middle, a Latin set towards the end. Birthday cakes, where one was requested at booking, tend to appear about here.
The run home goes under the Memorial Bridge, Asiatique and the Saphan Taksin bridge away off to the south, and you are alongside at ICONSIAM Pier 2 by about 21:15. The mall’s riverside restaurants keep going well past that.
Included
- Two-hour dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya
- International, Thai and seafood buffet dinner
- Welcome drink on boarding
- Drinking water, hot tea and hot coffee
- Live band, Khon masked dance and Latin dance performances
- Free mini birthday cake on request during your birthday month
Not included
- Hotel transfers to and from ICONSIAM
- Soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits
- Gratuities
- Gala programmes on Valentine’s Day, Loy Krathong and New Year’s Eve, which are priced separately
- Booking confirmation, printed or on your phone
- Smart casual clothes - beachwear and flip-flops look out of place on board
- A light layer for the open-air upper deck
- Camera or phone for the temples and bridges
- A card or some cash for drinks from the bar
This tour starts at a fixed meeting point. Please make your own way there.
ICONSIAM Pier 2
ICONSIAM is on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya in Khlong San, and the boat boards at Pier 2 on the riverfront terrace behind the mall. Take the BTS Gold Line to Charoen Nakhon, which exits straight into ICONSIAM, or use the free ICONSIAM shuttle boat from Sathorn Pier next to Saphan Taksin BTS exit 2.
Check in between 16:30 and 18:00 at the Sook Siam counter on the G floor, next to the Naraya shop and the Kasikornbank currency exchange. If you arrive later than that, go straight down to ICONSIAM Pier 1 instead, where check-in stays open from 18:15 until 19:00.
Boarding is at Pier 2 and the boat leaves at 19:15, so allow for Bangkok traffic - it does not wait. You are back at the same pier at about 21:15.
The boat seats a few hundred people across its two decks, so the evening is a busy and sociable one with a full room around you. Tables are assigned when you check in, which is the real reason to turn up at the start of the check-in window and not the end, because registering early gives you a better chance of a window table downstairs or a place near the rail upstairs. Nothing is reserved ahead of time and there is no surcharge for sitting on the open deck.
What the ticket covers is the buffet, a welcome drink, drinking water, tea and coffee. Everything else at the bar is paid for on board, soft drinks included, so carry a card or some cash if you intend to drink through the evening. A birthday cake has to be asked for at the time you book rather than on the night, since the kitchen loads it before the boat leaves.
The upper deck is open to the weather and gets breezy once the boat picks up speed, so a light layer earns its place even in the hot months. Water levels and river traffic can shift the route on any given night, and the boat casts off at 19:15 whether or not the traffic into ICONSIAM was kind, so leave more time than the map suggests.
FAQs
Check-in is at ICONSIAM on the Thonburi side of the river, and where you go depends on the time. Between 16:30 and 18:00 register at the Sook Siam counter on the G floor, next to the Naraya shop and the Kasikornbank currency exchange. From 18:15 until 19:00 check-in moves down to ICONSIAM Pier 1. Either way you board at Pier 2 and the boat leaves at 19:15, returning to the same pier at about 21:15. The easiest way in is the BTS Gold Line to Charoen Nakhon, which exits into the mall, or the free ICONSIAM shuttle boat from Sathorn Pier next to Saphan Taksin BTS.
It is an international spread with a strong seafood side: grilled river prawns and butter-baked mussels, salmon sashimi and assorted sushi, tom yum kung, pad thai kung sod, massaman chicken curry, crispy fried fish with Thai herbs, som tam and other Thai salads, plus Western dishes like spaghetti, caesar salad and fries. Desserts run to Thai sweets, cake, red ruby in coconut milk and seasonal fruit. Vegetarian dishes are on the line. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday the kitchen adds steamed salmon custard and salmon soup. Note that some dishes contain pork.
A welcome drink when you board, plus drinking water, hot tea and hot coffee through the evening. Soft drinks, beer, wine and spirits are not in the ticket and are sold at the bar on board, so bring a card or some cash if you plan to drink.
Both are included and you can move between them, so it comes down to what you want from the evening. The lower deck is air-conditioned with big windows and is the more comfortable place to eat. The upper deck is open air under a roof, with an uncovered section at the bow that gives a 180 degree view and is the better spot for photographs of Wat Arun and the Grand Palace. Tables are assigned when you check in rather than booked ahead, so arriving early in the check-in window gives you more choice.
Children aged 4 to 10 pay the child fare and have to be booked with at least one adult. Infants under 4 travel free and do not take a seat of their own. There is no upper age limit and no minimum age, so the cruise suits families as well as couples.
Yes. Cancelling or moving your booking to another date is free up to 24 hours before the tour starts, and anything you have paid is refunded in full. Cancellations made less than 24 hours before the start time are non-refundable, and no-shows are not refunded. If we have to cancel, for example for weather or safety, you can move to another date or take a full refund.
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