Grand tours: Tales from Thailand's riverbanks

Lisa St Aubin de Teran takes to the water in Bangkok

Married at 16 to a schizophrenic Venezuelan revolutionary who picked her up in south London as she was on her way home from school, Lisa St Aubin de Teran has never had what you might call a conventional life. But it has provided plenty of fodder for her books. Her exploits in Venezuela, from where she escaped with her daughter Iseult, are recounted in terrifying detail in 'The Hacienda' (her husband's behaviour had became increasingly bizarre), and her later doomed but often hilarious attempt to restore a crumbling Umbrian villa with the painter Robbie Duff Scott resulted in the hugely entertaining 'A Valley in Italy'. 'Memory Maps', from which this extract is taken, weaves strands of both these lives with travels in all parts of the world and memories of her time spent bringing up three children fathered by three different men. St Aubin de Teran is in her late 40s and now lives in Amsterdam.

Thailand began for me on a gliding ferry from the airport to Bangkok. I was a willing piece of flotsam on the river that divided the city. A smiling guide on the boat fed me and the other passengers information. The river was the Chao Phraya, the moored boats rocking in our wake were sampans and the swordfish gondolas with outboard motors that swished up and down were water-taxis. There was a lot more, but my mind wandered, snagged on the golden temple pagodas shimmering beside a jumble of ornate wooden shacks on stilts and the concrete blocks and occasional palaces on either side of us. Tamarinds and flame trees and bursts of bougainvillea cascaded over rich and poor alike, trailing confetti petals in the muddy water.

I leant over the railing of our boat and scanned the steady flow of passing debris, not wanting to miss a thing. There were scraps of paper, plastic bags, a child's thonged sandal, bamboo, a Pepsi can, fat teak logs, and the recurring tracery of lily fronds – a rosary of waste threaded on the water with the green beads of water hyacinths. I spent two days in Bangkok, most of them watching the river. I had never confined myself to quarters before in a city, but there was so much to see from the gardens and jetty of the Oriental Palace Hotel. I was entranced and sated by the drifting clues and the little bits of the city across the bank. I had never been to the Orient proper before either, and the impressions overlapped so fast I felt punch-drunk with pleasure. There were orchids everywhere, literally thousands of them, and everywhere I walked was wrapped in the heady scent of pomelo flowers.

On the third day, my tour began with a rude awakening to the jostle of the railway station. It was packed and both porters and passengers seemed to be competing in some kind of relay race, running everywhere instead of walking, touching base, handing over packages and then running back. There were people in silk suits and people in rags, there were vendors yelling, selling everything from food to lottery tickets. The photographer Knut and I had a guide, for which I was truly grateful. There seemed to be arcane rites involved in getting a ticket and finding our platform, which also turned out to be that of about five hundred commuters, a third of whom were in crisp school uniforms and spoke to each other in semi-hysterical giggles. The noise at the station was prodigious. It and the bustle suddenly stopped as strains of music played out of loudspeakers. There was total hush; and like musical statues in reverse, no one moved until the music stopped. Then everyone resumed their activities. That, I learnt, was the national anthem, played every day to honour the king.

Lisa St Aubin de Teran's new memoir, 'Memory Maps', has just been published by Virago. Readers of 'The Independent on Sunday' can buy the book for just £14.99 (RRP £17.99) p&p free. To take up this offer, call 01832 737525, fax 01832 733076 or write to Memory Maps, PO Box 121, Kettering, Northants NN14 4XQ.

Follow in the footsteps

Bangkok gridlock

Economic boom and slump in Thailand have encouraged migration to Bangkok from across the country in the past 20 years. Consequently, the city now has 40 times as many inhabitants (at least six million) as Thailand's second largest city, Chaing Mai. Overpopulation is particularly evident in the appalling traffic congestion and the shanty towns springing up along the river and railway lines.

Lisa St Aubin de Teran avoids the crowds by taking to the water from her riverside hotel. The river Chao Phraya – "River of Kings" – divides Bangkok into east, Bangkok proper, and west, Thonburi, which forms part of Greater Bangkok.

There are regular stops along the river's banks and as well as the ordinary boat services there are plenty of tour-boats operating throughout the day, offering trips such as the Rice Barge Cruise and the Manorah One Cruise. The former – costing around B1,440 (£23) – takes place in a long-tailed boat and follows the waterways and canals of suburban Bangkok, visiting a typical farmer's house along the way. The latter is a dinner cruise – costing around B2,145 (£34) – and passing sights such as the Wat Arun, "the Temple of Dawn", and the spectacular Grand Palace (www.palaces.thai.net), open weekdays 8.30am-3.30pm, entrance B200 (about £3).

A room with a view

St Aubin de Teran stayed at the 124-year-old Oriental Hotel (00 66 2 659 9000; www.mandarin-oriental.com). This is widely reported to be one of the world's best hotels – and one of Bangkok's most expensive – and has been favoured by writers past and present. Its popularity with the literary set has inspired the "Authors' Wing", with suites named after writer-guests including Joseph Conrad, Noël Coward and Gore Vidal. In September, prices start from £123 for a Superior River Wing Room to £409 for a Deluxe Suite per person per night, based on two sharing.

Return flights from Heathrow to Bangkok in September start from £405 with Swiss (0845 601 0956: www.swiss.com). Austravel (0870 055 0201; www.austravel.com) offers eight- or 10-day tailor-made packages to Bangkok combined with either Koh Samui or Phuket. For the Bangkok leg of the trip, visitors are offered the chance to stay at the five-star Shangri-La Hotel, on the banks of the Chao Phraya. An eight-day break with Austravel at this time of year costs around £1,000.

Get out of town

If you can face the bustle of the train station, take a day trip to Kanchanaburi, where the atmosphere is far more relaxed. Leaving twice daily from Bangkok Noi, it follows a scenic route to the valley of the Mae Nam Mae Klong. Get off the train one stop after Kanchanaburi, the River Kwai Bridge Train Station, if you want to see the infamous "Death Railway" Bridge. Thousands of Allied prisoners of war, forced to build the railway by their Japanese captors, died at this site. The bridge is still in use.

If you find yourself in a public place when the national anthem is played, like St Aubin de Teran, do as the Thais do and stand silent until it ends. Not to do this will be seen as a mark of disrespect. And be careful not to drop your coins or banknotes – which bear the image of the King – as stepping on one is equal to stamping on his face.

By Polly Morgan