Perfume Stream

For Vietnamese people in general and Hue people in particular, if they have the opportunity to travel to the "land of golden temples", they will almost certainly take a boat trip and experience some services on the Chao Phraya River. Because in most tour itineraries when traveling to Bangkok, taking a boat trip on the Chao Phraya River is an important highlight on the journey to explore Thailand.

Traveling on the Chao Phraya River is bustling day and night. On the river, visitors can participate in unique culinary parties held right on the cruise ships. You can enjoy and explore from traditional art forms typical of Thailand to modern forms.

Why is tourism on the Chao Phraya River developing? Many studies have pointed out the reasons, but in general there are some key factors such as: The river flows through the center of Bangkok city, becoming an indispensable part of the life, activities, and economic development of the people. On both sides of the river along the tour are famous destinations in Thailand. From the river, visitors can stop, move to tourist attractions and then return to the boat to continue the tour. That is why boating on the Chao Phraya River becomes a unique feature.

Tourists experience feeding fish on the Chao Phraya River

Another reason is that there are many types of boats used, from simple, traditional boats to 5-star luxury yachts... Even "open-top" boats serving customers in the "Hop on hop off" style are also exploited a lot on this river. And more importantly, tourism businesses identify this as an important product, as evidenced by the fact that most travel agencies in Bangkok include river experiences in their tours when selling to partners; including partners in Hue City.

From the development of tourism on the Chao Phraya River, there are many thoughts about the Perfume River. Because the two rivers have strange similarities. Both are considered legendary rivers, playing an important role in the history of the formation and development of the cities where the two rivers flow. Both sides of the river have famous tourist attractions, especially traditional destinations, associated with the Thai Royal Family and in Hue, the last feudal dynasty of Vietnam; in addition, both are also exploited for tourism. However, this is also the biggest difference because the level of exploitation has a clear difference.

Although there are no specific figures to compare the tourism development between the Chao Phraya River and the Perfume River, it can be affirmed that there is a huge difference. First, the number of boats operating on tourism and the hustle and bustle on the two rivers are opposite. With the Chao Phraya River, boats are bustling, while on the Perfume River, besides the dragon boats, the number is gradually decreasing, and the number of boats built according to new models is not much. The infrastructure to serve tourism exploitation is also different. On the Chao Phraya River, according to information from the authorities of Bangkok City, by the end of 2023, there will be 29 boat piers along the river in the central section for tourism exploitation, with 3-4 more piers expected to be built each year. On the Perfume River, through the central area, there are only 3 boat piers: Toa Kham, No. 5 Le Loi and Thien Mu Pagoda.

The services exploited on the two rivers are also different. Not counting the exploitation as a type of tourist transport, only considering the services exploited on the boat, such as cuisine, art performances, the Perfume River also shows modesty. On the Perfume River, it only stops at Hue singing service, with a ticket price of only 100 thousand VND/person (if buying more, it is cheaper), the revenue from river tourism in Hue is not large in the total spending of visitors.

The slow development and slow innovation of tourism on the Perfume River has not been mentioned recently, but at least for over 20 years. In terms of potential, the Perfume River is not inferior to the Chao Phraya River. Although there are objective factors that influence and restrain that development, to be fair, we are being passive in our approach. An example is the increasing number of dragon boats on the Perfume River that are due to stop operating, making it difficult for tourists to buy tickets to listen to Hue folk songs on the river. However, the plans to replace, supplement, or increase other alternative services on the Perfume River have not seen any change.

Promoting river tourism is an important factor contributing to the attraction of tourism in the ancient capital. This has been and continues to be raised.

Quang Sang