I am thinking of taking a lady for a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya river. Any recommendations? How much does it usually cost for 2 persons?

I am thinking of taking a lady for a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya river. Any recommendations? How much does it usually cost for 2 persons?

Go with either the Manhora Cruise [operated by Marriott Resort] or the Apsara [operated by the Banyan Tree] or the Maeyanang [operated by the Mandarin Oriental], price is between 1900 to 2500 baht.

DO NOT take your lady to one of the larger boats loaded with Middle East/Chinese/Russian/Indian groups! Ugly boats, bad services, really bad quality food and the crowd on board has nothing to do with a romantic dinner...

I took my wife, daughter and folks on the Maeyanang (as mentioned run by The Oriental). It's an old converted rice barge. Really nice and great Thai food. As you'd expect from The Oriental the service etc was top notch. Recommended.

I've also heard good things about the Horizon run by the Shangri-La which runs up to Ayuttaya. I haven't been myself but I think you either take the boat to Ayuttaya and bus back or vice versa.

If you want a nice romantic, pleasant, highly memorable event, good food and service, then I would totally agree, pay the extra and use one of the trips organized by the 5 star hotels etc. They are excellent.

The cheap operators are in a word 'awful'. You'll feel like a herded sheep.

Thanks for the reviews. I will pay for a romantic night with a dinner cruise organized by the hotels you guys recommended. I saw a couple of dinner cruise ads on some free Bangkok maps and they felt fishy to me.

I know it is not Bangkok but the dinner cruise out of Ayuttaya through the Temples is extremely good too. A stop at the confluence of two rivers is a highlight when you are able to feed seemingly thousands of catfish in the lights of the boat.